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Well it’s the end of the year and that means time for lots of parties and get-togethers. It’s also time for me to ressurect the weekly Cool & Strange Music Countdown… Countup… Whatever.

Why is the end of the year the best time for the revival of the Cool & Strange Music Countdown? That’s easy! Year end means, like I said, lots of parties and get-togethers. And parties and get-togethers means that you are going to have a bunch of people drinking and partying at your house and they just won’t leave!

How do you clear the room and get everyone to go home? Play the Cool & Strange Music Countdown for your party animals and friends and just watch how quick the room clears out! Of course! As soon as they hear the Cool & Strange Music Countdown tracks, they’ll be out of there faster than that slob of a politician Chris Christie signing up for free tickets to an All-You-Can-Eat Butter convention!

Ah! Immediate peace and quiet!

Since this is the first, I’d like to slide dear reader into the marvelous tracks slowly… We’ll get real weird later on. But today, first up is Mrs. Miller! Mrs. Miller is probably one of, if not thee classical “Strange music” vocalist. Mrs. Miller sang in an untrained, Ethyl Mermanesque, vibrato-laden style. Miller’s voice has been compared to the sound of “roaches scurrying across a trash can lid.” Nevertheless, “Downtown” reached the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in April 1966, peaking at No. 82. The single’s B-side, “A Lover’s Concerto,” barely cracked the Hot 100 that same month at No. 95. She has also, by the way, sold more than a million records! So just let that sink in for a minute!

#3) Mrs. Miller – Downtown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw07CDid0JM

So, OK, you laughed at Mrs. Miller, did you? Ha! I wish I could sell a million records.

The next guy up is another Cool & Strange Music standard. His name is Ray Stevens. Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian. He has also won Grammy Awards for two super pop hits he made in the sixties; “Everything Is Beautiful” and “Misty.” But I loved his funny tunes such as today’s “Gitarzan.” Ray Stevens been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and the Christian Music Hall of Fame; and received Gold Albums for his music sales. Wow! Listen carefully to the lyrics of Guitarzan. This is hilarious!

#2) Ray Stevens – Guitarzan  https://youtu.be/D3_1KN5c4BU?t=28s

Well, folks, don’t get spoiled because usually these Cool & Strange Music Countdown hits will usually never have a proper music video like Guitarzan. But….. are you sitting down? Guitarzan hit #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts in April of 1969! So now you know why there is a video.

Finally, today, we’re at one of the most bizarre songs ever to grace the record books of the Cool & Strange Music Countdown: Barnes & Barnes – Fish Heads. Barnes & Barnes is a fictional twin brothers unit of Art Barnes and Artie Barnes and they are a comedy rock duo based in “Lumania”, a fictional mythological civilization (similar to Atlantis). Does Billy Mumy sound familiar to you? Billy Mumy was Will Robinson in the the classic American sixties TV series, “Lost in Space.”

Barnes & Barnes – Fish Heads? This is some weird stuff! I love it!

#1) Barnes & Barnes – Fish Heads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTpUVAcvWfU

Well, that’s it for today! See you next week!!!!! Have a great weekend! – Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers

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