Jerry Samuels to his friends, this recording engineer and occasional songwriter worked a small miracle of bad taste with just a drum and tambourine in a bare 90 minutes of studio time.
They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! (1966) – a song about a character who is deranged by the loss of his dog – was banned by most American radio stations for offending the mentally ill, but the punters loved it.
Such follow-ups, however, as I Live In A Split-Level Head, Marching Off To Bedlam and I’m In Love With My Little Red Tricycle proved how soon the public could tire of taking potshots at the potty.
The B-side of the original single, incidentally, is the first instance of the A-side recorded backwards for the flip.
