Actor and singer Sheb Wooley would be a century old today. As an actor, he appeared in Westerns in the movies and on television, and was the creator of the Wilhelm Scream. As a singer, Sheb did mostly novelty songs, including "The Purple People Eater," which was a #1 hit in 1958. The orchestra and chorus were directed by Neely Plumb, whose daughter Eve played Jan Brady on the ’70’s comedy The Brady Bunch.
I love this funny song which came out when all those B horror films were all the rage. Funny to know the conductor was the dad of Eve Plumb. It just shows how many people already have their “foot in the door” when it comes to acting etc…
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It certainly didn’t hurt….
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Thanks a lot, John. Coincidentally, this song has been playing in my head for the better part of two weeks. It had finally disappeared. Until now.
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You’re welcome… 🤣
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That’s an evil laugh
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I still have every word memorized. We drove our parents crazy with that song.
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Mine was “They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaaaaa!”
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We had that one memorized, too, John. 😊
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Go MN Vikings
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Ah, the Black and Blue Division: the Bears, Vikings, Packers and Lions…
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A fun song but one of those that was over played!
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They needed an FCC regulation to limit the number of times certain songs came on the radio…
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Yep! There are a few songs that were over played!
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I remember this song. Must show you how old I am! Some of my first memories are of songs like this. Winchester Cathedral and that Snoopy and the Red Baron song–I played my radio full time to hear those two songs. I loved Snoopy. I know I was in elementary school then. And I had a 45 of Mellow Yellow someone gave me. 🙂
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I was almost 8 when The Beatles made their first appearance on Ed Sullivan and got my first radio not too long after that. I turned it on when I got up and off when I left for school, then had it on from when I got home from school until when I went to bed (and even after that, if the White Sox were playing). I was really into music ….
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I had a purple people eater stuffed animal that played a few lines of the song. My students had never heard it.
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Really? Well, they got a cultural education, then…
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When I retired I gave it to a student who loved to play it during passing period.
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