Legendary radio personality Barret Eugene “Barry” Hansen, better known to his legions of fans as Dr. Demento, announced last month that he will be retiring in October.
The genesis of his show came from guest appearances on KPPC (now KROQ, 106.7 FM) in 1970 when he would stop by “The Obscene Steven Clean” Segal’s program to play records from his collection. These included unusual recordings, novelty songs and strange or weird songs dating back to the earliest 78 RPM records.
Segal thought the songs were at times a bit odd … and thus started calling Hansen by the name “Dr. Demento.”
“I had no warning of this,” Hansen told me in an interview long ago, recalling he picked up the name on perhaps the third time he guested for hour-long expanded segments that began in October of that year. “He just decided he’d start calling me Dr. Demento.”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Hansen got his own two-hour shift on KPPC at the end of 1970; he moved to KMET in 1971 as did many others from KPPC, where for four hours every Sunday night he’d play his version of hits … from artists such as Spike Jones, Jimmy Durante, Ray Stevens, Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, Nervous Norvus, and of course “Weird Al” Yankovic, who became a star due to the exposure on Dr. Demento’s show of “My Bologna,” a parody of The Knack’s “My Sharona” recorded in a men’s restroom at Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo.
Hansen remained at KMET until the station changed formats in early 1987 — The Valentine’s Day Massacre. After that, he could be heard on KLSX (now KNX-FM, 97.1 FM) and later KSCA (101.9 FM), where it remained until 1997. The show was also syndicated nationally in a two-hour format from 1974 to about 2010, when it became available only on the internet.
KMET is where he made his true mark and developed his fiercely loyal following. If you were of a certain age, your Monday at school was often spent discussing the songs he played the night before. Who could forget “Star Drek,” “Pencil-Neck Geek,” “Dead Puppies (Aren’t Much Fun),” “Shaving Cream,” “Fish Heads,” “They’re Coming to Take Me Away,” and many more. I may be misremembering this, but I believe it was on Dr. Demento’s show where I first heard “Earache My Eye” by Cheech and Chong.
He even had a series of albums; I still have “Dr. Demento’s Delights” and “Dementia Royale” in my collection. He has many more such albums available on his website.
His last regular new show was early June; since then, he has assembled retrospective shows that will run through October 11th, culminating with the top-40 songs played during the show’s 55-year history as his final broadcast. You can access the programs at DrDemento.com, which features recordings of programs going back to 1974.
Mike Stark and I did a long-form, career-spanning interview with Dr. Demento, who is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, back in 2013. Sharp as a tack, he described the genesis and development of his show, his record collection, the stations he worked with, and the evolution toward his online presence.
Dr. Demento, who has a master’s degree in ethnomusicology, was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2009.
I found a Spotify account with some of the most well-known songs from the show. It’ll be interesting to see how this list compares with the “official” one that will be presented by the good Doctor on the final show. Find it at https://bit.ly/4kdXke9
“It’s been a blast, but I have come to the decision that I need to hang up my top hat soon,” he said in a released statement. Considering the multitude of his multi-generational fans, the dedicated Facebook page that is still active, and his more than five decades of introducing “demented” records to listeners, I’d say he deserves some time off for himself.
Thank you, Dr. Demento, for all the memories. Here’s to a long, well-deserved retirement!
Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email rwagoner@socalradiowaves.com