Well, I won’t be needing a censored bar for that…
It may be getting hotter and hotter as the summer wears on, but here at The Nest, it’s the music that’s gonna make you sweat. Particularly on Mondays when we dig out another fucked up song that’s sure to be much more welcomed at a children’s birthday party than some registered sex offender in a clown suit. It’s time for the next entry in the Top 30 Novelty Songs of All Time countdown! DJ Scratchy is….. oh dear. She may be putting the needle on the record, but she apparently forgot to put any threads on her bod. Don’t look Sponkies!!!
#26. “The Streak” – Ray Stevens
The 70’s were a strange time in music, and were the last true bastion of the mainstream novelty song. It was the decade when a rock and roll legend could score his only #1 hit with an off the cuff song about penis innuendo. It was also the time when two fledgling, but off-kilter country singers managed to cross over to the pop charts with a collection of snicker inducing oddities. There was Jim Stafford, who will not be appearing in this countdown… and it has nothing to do with me actually being his girl friend Bill. And there was the much more successful Ray Stevens…
How to successfully mix ghetto and redneck fashion.
You would probably think that if I was going to include a song from the corny Mr. Stevens in this countdown, I’d likely be partial to “The Mississippi Squirrel Revival”… especially since it’s about the only song ever recorded by a major artist to contain the word squirrel in it. But no… Ray Stevens is the rare artist whose best known song is indeed his greatest work. Here’s a blast from the past when TV news covered the stories that actually mattered…
Running around naked in public, particularly where you knew there was going to be a crowd of horrified onlookers, was actually a popular fad back in the early 70’s… and it’s a good thing nobody had cellphone cameras to capture these impromptu flash mobs. “The Streak” captures all the fun of this disturbing trend for those of us who were too young to remember it through the eyes of some poor country bumpkin who tries unsuccessfully to shield his upstanding wife Ethel from the free peep show. At least until Ethel joins in at the end. I don’t know about you, but the thought of someone named Ethel baring it all and bouncing it up and down just doesn’t seem to appetizing… especially since I don’t think there’s anyone on earth named Ethel who isn’t currently at least 87 years old…
Wanna see my Gypsy Rose Lee impersonation?
Come back Monday, and I promise the next song won’t have a wardrobe malfunction…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
love it!!! I had a school mate who did this once, the police got him and my merciful mom gave him a blanket to cover his stuff … many moons later I saw him again… he was the attorney in my traffic offense case …he laughed as I said that my mom still waits for her blanket and then he reduced me to a pedestrian for 4 weeks… ;o(
Maybe the judge should have known about how Mr. hot shot attorney chooses to dress…. or not dress. But I had to laugh when you said “many moons later!”
yes… omg… the penny dropped… :O))))
OMP. We ❤ ❤ ❤ Ray Stevens here at the Hotel Thompson. He is like an idol here in the south… this song followed by The Mississippi Squirrel Revival. OMP – you have a pawty starting. XOXO – Bacon
We had a cassette tape of some of his greatest hits that got played a lot on road trips when I was a kid. There are not enough comedy musicians out there…
Amen to that!! Let me date mom. When she was growing up, they had a 8-TRACKS of comedy singers on road trips. Man that had to be way before the dinosaurs, you think? XOXO – Bacon
This one sure takes me back! It was well played and well loved on the radio stations in my branch of the boonies. Thanks, this was the perfect day for this one as some news from home and plans for my 30th reunion are on my mind.
Streaking at the reunion would be a swell idea! Not! My old high school class has apparently been unable to contact me, which is good. This was my class’ 25th anniversary, and damned if I would ever go to a reunion!
I’m sure I would feel that way too if I’d gone to a bigger school. There were only 32 kids in my class and at least half of us started kindergarten together. I don’t necessarily like all 32 people all that well but growing up in such a small group in an isolated place like Concrete created some kind of bond. Enough of a bond to get me, the shunner of all social events, to a social event!
We love Ray Stevens songs! So many good ones that just make you smile! 🙂
Yes! We had a cassette of his (and Weird Al) in the van that got played a lot when I was a kid!
That was a great song, but now it just seems too silly! I think I sang this while my hubby streaked down the railway tracks back in the days! 🙂
LOL! I don’t know what would possess anyone to want to run around naked in public, but to each their own!
What makes most of them want to run around naked is called “Liquid Courage!” lol…
That is funny. You gotta love Ray Stevens. Do you remember Gitarzan? Another cute funny novelty song. Ahhhh Ray, you knew how to write them.
OMG whenever I get together with old friends from that time we share streaker stories. One time two boys streaked across the high school stage of “Bye Bye Birdie.” The ran out the back to where the pool was. Unfortunately they didn’t know a teacher was in the gym so they got locked in the pool yard with the bright spot lights showing the world everything they had to show.
Yep! We had an old cassette of all the Ray Stevens classics! I guess the thrill of streaking goes away when you have nowhere to run and everyone can get a good look at the…. um…. goods.
ody N biskit……heerz one song we rememburrz… N we think sum one streeked cross de playin feeld at a major league BB game onze ~~~ ??
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I’m sure it’s happened at some point with enough beer being sold at ballgames. Ball 2!
Remember this once you put your undies back on…”Everything is Beautiful” is Ray Stevens most well-loved song! Tsk. For shame!
Among fans of Ray Stevens’ entire body of work, that may be true. But among those of us who only know Ray for his comedy songs, The Streak will always be his signature piece…
I agree. Just trying to be a nice person and shit.
I love Ray Stevens has some very funny stuff.
Don’t look Ethel! The Streak was very funny to an 11 yr old. And this 55 yr old because I could not stop laughing. We streaked when we were 18, skinny dipped, too.
Fantastic choice. Especially since I love it!
Streaking and skinny dipping are a much better idea at 18 than at 55….
Yes, no one wants to see that from me at 55 anyway 🤣🤣
I remember streaking. I was young. I was stupid. I was crazy. But I thought streakers were even wackier than I was — and that’s rally saying something.
It takes a special kind of nuts to run around in front of everyone with nothing on but a smile…
Ah, the ‘good old days’ where public snickering at these doufases became practically a reason to hoist a toast in their honor.
Yep, good natured doofusing has definitely gone out of style…
Aw, poor guy. “Say it isn’t so, Ethel!” None can resist The Streak.