The definition of "novelty song" is debatable. If a record has little musical quality I consider it a novelty song -- this would include spoken word records such as "Cinderella." If a song makes extensive use of weird sounds or distorted voices, it is probably a novelty song, such as "Witch Doctor."  A song that is a parody of other music such as "More Money For You And Me" qualifies as a novelty song.  Most novelty records are humorous, but some can be serious, such as "Old Rivers."  Some records of The Elvis Era were excluded, even though they had humorous intent, but seem to me to be too musically appealing, e.g. "M.T.A." by The Kingston Trio or "Charlie Brown" by The Coasters (or most any of The Coasters' records).  Pat Boone's "Speedy Gonzales" perhaps could have been disqualified for the same reason, but is such a great example of racial stereotyping, I just had to include it.  Foreign language records do not automatically qualify, as the classic " Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" ("Volare") is excluded, but Lou Monte's "Lazy Mary" is not. 

All the songs on the playlist made Billboard's Top Twenty except for The Chad Mitchell Trio's "Lizzie Borden" and its flip side "Super Skier." This record should probably also be included on the "Under Rated" playlist as "Lizzie Borden" peaked at #44. I find both sides to be very funny, and if you've never heard "Super Skier," you should give it a listen.

David Seville and his Chipmunks are the kings of The Elvis Era novelty songs. Including "Witchdoctor," Seville has four records on the list, the highest rated being the seasonal favorite, "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" which was one of the six novelties to reach #1. Three other artists had double entries on the list: Buchanan and Goodman, Lou Monte, and Ray Stevens.

Two songs on the list will probably make you wince today due to their political incorrectness: Pat Boone's "Speedy Gonzales" and Jose Jimenez's "The Astronaut."  "Speedy Gonzales" got Boone back in the top ten for the first time in over a year, but it probably wouldn't get played today with its offensive lyrics such as, "He, Rosita, come quick!  Down at the cantina they're giving green stamps with Tequila!"  Jose Jimenez was a persona of comedian Bill Dana and "The Astronaut" was a recording of his comic act in which Jose was a reluctant astronaut:  Interviewer: "And what is that called, the crash helmet?"  Jose:  "Oh, I hope not."  It was funny, but much of the routine made fun of racial stereotypes to the degree that Dana dropped the character in 1970.

Buchanan & Goodman's "Flying Saucer" records were mock interviews that made use of clips from other records.  The record companies didn't like the practice of "sampling" their copyrighted music and they filed suit in July of 1956.  A judge eventually refused to offer the injunction requested, considering the record to be a new work.

The most popular of the novelty records was "Witch Doctor."  It was ranked by Billboard as the #4 record for 1958.  It was the first record that Seville used his technique of speeding up the voice on the tape – in this case, the voice of the Witch Doctor ("Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang Walla walla, bang bang").  He used the same technique to produce his Chipmunk voices.