Useless but essential pop culture tidbits and trivia from the worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror that will not help you with any upcoming exams.
Anybody remember that odd little ditty from the late 70’s by Barnes and Barnes titled “Fish Heads”? It was a regular in the rotation on the Dr. Demento show (link included to the Wikipedia entry for those unfortunate souls unfamiliar with that beloved radio program) that lamented the inability of the aquatic craniums’ to do such simple things as play baseball, wear sweaters, or drink cappuccino in Italian restaurants with Oriental women (and here’s the link to the lyrics to enjoy more of the insanity). It’s a great little piece of pop culture absurdity and a song that everybody should have buzzing through their noodle on a regular basis (and trust me, it’s one of those songs that once you hear it you can never get it out of your head). But did you know . . .
That one of the two members of Barnes and Barnes was genre veteran Bill Mumy? Yes indeed, Will Robinson from Lost in Space himself (and later Lennier on Babylon 5) moonlighted as a musician throughout his acting career and teamed up with Robert Haimer to create this comedy music duo. “Fish Heads” would be their biggest hit and currently sits at Number 2 among Dr. Demento’s Top 100 Demented Hits. Also, did you know . . .
That another Bill, a young Bill Paxton this time, directed and appeared in the video for the song which first appeared on television on Saturday Night Live in 1980. Yes, Mr. Paxton would later go on to genre fame as an actor with his roles in Weird Science, True Lies, Apollo 13 and most notably as Hudson in Aliens. But he apparently had an early interest in the director’s chair which he indulged with this bizarre, pre-MTV music video. You can see the full video on You Tube at this link, and prepare yourself for a journey to the far side of absurd!
Buy the Barnes and Barnes CD from Amazon.com or
Download the song as an MP3 for 99 cents
