Rebirth of the Novelty Song?

So Rince and I are listening to Dutch radio this morning, and a song comes on in the 40’s/50’s nightclub, jazzy, torchy style.  Kinda fun.  It ends rather quickly, and the announcer explains that it’s an AI-generated song in the style of a Roxy Dekker, whom Wikipedia describes as a “Dutch singer, songwriter and TikToker. “  (A learning moment for me)

More short songs. We’re talking, drinking our morning coffee together.  I’m listening out of the corner of my ear.

Then the DJ announces that we’re listening to the AI Top 30 or something like that.

Hmmm.

On comes a song by “AI Phil Collins” in the style of Dua Lipa.  I wonder aloud whether either singer approves.  (There’s a lot to unpack here, but the songs are likely too short for royalty payments to be required.  And what about the use of their names?)

More songs “in the style of”.  It’s starting to get old even as background music.

Then comes “AI Johnny Cash”.  Now I’m listening.

The “song” is based on Folsom Prison Blues.  AI JC sings, “If they freed me from this AI. . .”  The voice is well rendered, but the whole thing is pretty caricaturish.  It’s admittedly amusing.

Then it occurs to me: These are novelty songs!

I’ve thought for many years now that the novelty song was dead.  They were common when I was growing up.  

I broke a friend’s juke box once because I repeatedly punched in “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron”.  

I loved the silly “news reports” of Dickie Goodman with song clips interspersed as answers to the reporter’s question.  I even made some myself using songs from my record collection.

My friends and I guffawed as we sang Chuck Berry’s “My Ding-a-ling” together–we felt especially connected since there was a town, Turtle Creek, located nearby.  

We must have annoyed the heck out of our parents, teachers, and other authority figures as we delightedly belted out the punchlines of  Benny Bell’s “Shaving Cream”  (It was enjoying a revival when I was in elementary school.)

Ray Stevens made a whole career out of novelty songs.  We were convulsed with laughter as we listened to “The Streak.”

For the most part these moldy oldies don't have a whole lot of staying power, but that’s besides the point.  

I’m happy to see that musically , at least, we’re not taking ourselves quite as seriously nowadays.

The Royal Guardsmen: “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron”

Dickie Goodman: “Energy Crisis ‘74”

Chuck Berry: “My Ding-a-ling”

Benny Bell: “Shaving Cream”

Ray Stevens: “The Streak”

4 November 2025

“It’s never gonna happen, my friend!”

Why do I say this?  

Well, why do we listen to music?

1. We like it.  This is really not as important as it seems.  That said, AI is now so good that it can create music that many people find to be listenable.  You’ve surely heard AI-created music without even knowing it.  AI can definitely compete on this level.
2. We identify with the image created by the music and the performers.  This is more important.  Just about every one of us has posters, T-shirts, stickers, pins, even musical instruments that we bought under the influence of our musical heroes.   Would there have been Beatlemania if The Beatles had been grandfathers?  Would Taylor Swift be such an economic force if she weighed 50 kg more?  AI can, of course, create images that we might like, but will people really buy into an image that is completely digitally created? 
3. In a related vein, we idolize our favorite musicians.  Will fans really want to share stories about the exploits of AI-created characters?  Will they admire an AI musician for “smashing” his or her instrument on stage?  Will they be aghast or impressed at an AI musician’s drug or alcohol consumption?   Will they want to learn every little detail about their favorite AI musician’s personal life and loves?  Will they get crushes on AI musicians?  Will they want to be like their favorite AI musician (if that’s possible)?  Do you want to get your photo taken with an AI musician: a hologram?  Will they marvel at the “genius” of AI songwriters?   Do you want an AI musician’s autograph done by auto pen :-D?  Legends are connected (often extremely loosely) to fact.  AI is completely fictional.  Will mythical rock stars be as compelling as legendary ones? 
4. Music gives us a sense of belonging to something bigger than oneself.  (We are tribal creatures after all.)This is especially important when we’re growing up.  I loved punk rock back when I was in high school and college.  I genuinely liked the music, but I also felt cool because I was part of a movement that was shaking up popular culture–or so I thought :-D  I also liked that most of my classmates weren’t listening to punk–that made me part of a select group.  A close friend of mine spent a significant part of her teen years looking like Robert Smith of The Cure: haircut, clothes, the whole nine yards.  So did her boyfriend.  Many movements are based around charismatic figures.  Will AI be able to create characters charismatic enough to inspire emulation?  
5. Live performance really helps foster this sense of belonging.  There’s nothing like hanging out with 50-50,000 of your closest friends, dressed in the same “uniform,”  grooving, singing, dancing, and sweating to the music you love, to make you feel as though you’re part of something bigger.  Will AI-generated “live” performances (holograms or robots) still inspire once the novelty has worn off?  

On the other hand…

The world is becoming less and less attached to reality.  So maybe it won’t matter whether our musical heroes are real.  (The real ones aren’t completely real anyway–that’s where the legend part comes in.)

Fans of AI-generated music will do like fans of various fictional genres who go to conventions and dress up as their favorite characters (Think Manga, Comicon, or Harry Potter).  

Upshot:

I’m inclined to think that AI rock stars won’t be a big cultural phenomenon.  There’s not enough there there.  The AI-created band, The Velvet Sundown, didn’t even last long enough to get 15 minutes of fame.

But maybe the era of the rock star is itself fading.  Popular music becomes more faceless by the day.  It’s almost Muzak now.  Think about how you listen to Sp*tify (Please switch to another streaming service if you do!).  You find a playlist that you like and then go about your day while the music plays in the background.  You rarely check to see who’s playing an unfamiliar song that you like.  As a result you didn’t even realize that the aforementioned streaming service has already been slipping AI music into your mix.

AI-generated music is here to stay.

We’ll see about AI rock stars.  

*Do you remember that “Mad About You” episode in which Paul Buckman keeps repeating this phrase?

23 October 2025

It’s old news now, but everyone’s freaking out about AI and music.  Will musicians be replaced?  Spotify has been covertly featuring AI content for a while.  The Velvet Sundown created a fuss when it fooled a lot of people into thinking it was a real band.  The best analysis I’ve seen, though, is that AI isn’t a musical problem; it’s an economic one.  The primary impact is on profits from recordings.

I’ve heard a few AI songs that sounded decent.  The Velvet Sundown, for instance, sounded pretty convincing, if not inspiring musically.  The lyrics struck me as rather insipid though.  Not that people listen that closely to lyrics (or even care whether they make a whole lot of sense).  To me, though, AI-generated music generally sounds cliche.

Some songwriters are using AI to help them write songs.  (AI is helping me to write this blog in the form of spellcheck and the image :-D) Some say that it helps them with musical ideas.  Others use it for lyrical inspiration.  I haven’t used it and am not sure I ever will.

I’ll explain.

I currently have a melody on heavy rotation in my head.  I woke up with it a couple of mornings ago.  I pretty quickly came up with a  form for the song.  Lyrically, I’m still at a loss.  The phrase “Can’t you see…” naturally came to me, but I haven’t gotten much further.  It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s also wonderful.

Why?

The PROCESS of writing a song is just as important to me as the actual end result.   I’m at my happiest when I have song ideas bouncing around in my head: melodies, lyrics, riffs.  

Sometimes the process is almost immediate.

Sometimes it takes days or weeks before the song feels complete.

Sometimes it takes months or years: I periodically review old ideas and sometimes come across one that strikes a chord :-D, and I go on to complete it.  

Some ideas just end up being duds.

And this is what I love about being a musician: the creative PROCESS (inspiration, development, performance, refining and even rearranging a so-called “finished” song–they’re never actually finished; songs are living entities just like we are!) 

I’m so lucky to not be under profit pressure.  

I can work at my own pace and ENJOY. 

14 October 2025

If you want to make money making music, streaming is most definitely NOT the way to go.   For small, independent artists, Spotify is pretty much the worst bet going.  The going rate on streaming sites is less than half a cent per play.  Spotify has decided that small artists don't even deserve that.  The money generated by small artists' streams is basically confiscated ($47 million when all the tenths of a penny are added up) and given to big label artists who are already sitting pretty.  You might argue that dispensing pennies to millions of little artists means a lot of extra administrative work, but that's not the case.  Spotify still has to do the same amount of paperwork whether or not they pay small artists.  And what about the publicity and prestige of having one's music on Spotify.?  All very well, but people will just keep listening there and never go to You Tube, Apple Music, Deezer, or another site that pays.  And now Spotify has reserved the right to remix and modify any music or photo one puts on their platform.  We small musicians are providing the raw materials that make the rich even richer.   So, goodby Spotify!  I urge music lovers to move to other streaming services.  The above-mentioned YouTube Apple Music, and Deezer, all pay us little guys.  Tidal, Google, Pandora, and Amazon do too.  Just about everybody else does!  Like so many things in this high tech, modern world, Spotify's end product is very slick and convenient, but the people who are actually creating the essential thing are paid sweatshop wages. 

 8 October 2025

A friend arranged for us to get an old piano that was being given away. The brand name is “Fiedler”, German for fiddler—funny that a fiddler would be making pianos. It was built in 1919 in Leipzig, Germany. Obviously it’s been through a lot, since it’s over 100 years old. It’s in decent shape, but some of the hammers are worn and a few strings have seen better days.

It has a warm sound, and the old, tan wood has mellowed in color, adding to the coziness of our living room.

I love it!

There’s something about an acoustic piano (the vibrations maybe) that even the very best electric keyboards just can’t replicate.

Even when our old piano is out of tune, it’s still a pleasure to play. Admittedly, I’m not playing any Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, or whatnot where the purity of tone is more important. But for country and rock n roll it’s great.

My old mandolin (also over 100 years old) and my harmonicas also have this soulful quality of being just slightly out of tune. So do Frank Sinatra and Johnny Cash when they sing. Or a blues guitarist who bends a note ever so slightly to put it a tiny bit out of tune.

These are the Greek imperfections that carry us beyond perfection to inspiration.    

Nov 7 2024

You've probably heard it a little differently, but I remember a light bulb flipping on in my mind when I first heard this stated by an educator, Mr. Purdy (sorry don't remember his first name).

Several times now I've heard about rock musicians who as they were starting out sat around playing one chord for hours on end.

Dave Grohl said something to the effect that rock and roll is about three guys practicing in a garage, sweating and sounding terrible until they eventually start to sound good.

I remember my stepmother commenting on my "enthusiasm" as I played my drum pad set for hours.

Not an original idea (see Sir Ken Robinson), but I think a lot of us are educated out of our enthusiasms.

I know that I've spent a lot my life fighting against some of these "educated" feelings.

Many an artist will tell you that children are wonderful artists up until a certain age when they begin to "know better."

Picasso said, "It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."

I believe that talent is enthusiasm demonstrated over and over.

Help yourself and those around you to rediscover that childlike enthusiasm and reap the benefits.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Photo from oiamusic.com

Jan 10 2021