"I'M NOT ANSWERIN' THE PHONE" - When I recorded this in '84, things were very bad financially.  This song was purely biographical.  I had just left a job as radio D.J. because they started bouncing our paychecks, and I couldn't continue supporting my wife and child under those circumstances.  When I got rehired at the radio station I was at before, I reacquainted myself with the production facilities and equipment.  Writing, producing and performing this song was a catharsis for me at the time, and I was glad Dr. Demento played it.  Not only had it allowed me to deal with a downer through the gift of humor (the way I deal with most downers), but it opened a door to a whole new land of creative outlets for me. One that would end up changing my life in some small, but pivotal way.  The instrumental music bed came from the flipside of Eddy Grant's 12" single for "Romancin' The Stone."

"CHILLER (Local version)" - Chiller was first written as a local parody, to convey my sheer hatred for winter.  I threw in a lot of local references so people would know that it was done exclusively for a Sioux Falls audience.  It was played on KELO-AM radio for a little while. I also had the weather rap performed by local KELO-TV weatherman and legend Dave Dedrick.  His presence on the song added a touch of class to the effort.

"CHILLER (National version)" -  I liked the idea of "Chiller" so much, that I wondered if Dr. Demento might be interested in it, providing I change the localization aspects of the song.  After all, his show was national and I was positive that I wasn't the only Dementite in his listening audience that was fed up with winter.  Plus I knew that Dr. D himself hailed from snowy Minneapolis, MN! The complete instrumental music bed was on the B side of a 12" single of "Thriller" that was available to radio stations only.

"CHEAPEST TATTOO" - While some parodists try and sound as much like the original recording as possible, I've always liked the idea of expanding the subject matter into other areas by using character voices.  I had been doing character voices since I was a kid, and my introduction into radio at the age of 16 provided me with a perfect venue for my vocal experimentations.  Though the smooth, sultry Sade sang the original, I wanted to do a complete 180 on the song, and have it sung by a nasally, obnoxious nerd who was trying to be cool by having his body illustrated with all sorts of low budget tattoos.  The instrumental bed was the B side of the 12" single which was another one of those "for radio only" releases.

"TOO LATE TO GET FRIES" -  For some strange reason, it seems that people remember this song above all my others (with the possible exception of "Adam West").  When I started working at Universal Studios theme park in 1994, one of the other performers came up to me at lunch, shook my hand and said he loved that "Too Late To Get Fries" song.  I was flabbergasted beyond belief, and touched that he even remembered!  Again, the song touched on my small-town frustration, that some restaurants would actually shut their fry machine down in the late evening.   Remember, that this song was recorded before the proliferation of fast food chains on every block! I built the instrumental bed from the extended version of Julian Lennon's "Too Late For Goodbyes," since a complete instrumental version wasn't available.

"HARDEES ALL THE TIME" - One of my favorite fast food dining establishments in Sioux Falls was Hardees.  I wrote this song as a concept piece, to get them to buy advertising on the radio station I was working at.  But nobody really "got it" (including the salesman at the station!) so this is as far as it went.  But I still have fond memories of eating those hot ham & cheese sandwiches! MMMMM! And I don't believe they EVER turned their fry machine off!

"POTTY ALL THE TIME" - Dr. Demento never played this one, because he was overwhelmed with numerous potty parodies of Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time."  The idea started as a song I would sing to my baby daughter as I was changing her diapers.  But since I didn't think a diaper parody would be interesting for a national radio audience, I changed it to a story about a dog who accidentally ate a laxative.  It turned out to be not much more appropriate.  I didn't own a dog at the time, and didn't realize that chocolate was bad for dogs.  So please ignore that line about feeding my dog chocolate. Do NOT feed your dog chocolate!  It's bad for them.  There. I feel better.  The instrumental bed was on the flipside of the "Party All The Time" 45 that was sent to radio stations.

"THE WORLD IS MINE" - I liked Ronald Reagan, so I wanted to do something where I could do an imitation of him in a parody song.  Again, I was able to use character voices in a musical setting, which I truly loved.  But instead of Michael and Paul fighting over a girl, I had Mikael and Ron fighting over the very world in which we live!  My friend The Amazing Skippy laid down the tracks; drums, bass, guitar (this guy could play it all!) and then I did a sub-mix of the bed.  I added the background vocals and then set about doing the character voices.  Nobody really knew what Gorbachev would sound like speaking English, so I just did a traditional, cartoony Russian voice.  I did one pass as Gorby, then went back and recorded the Reagan part.  It got a lot of requests on the Dr. Demento Show, and got me my first piece of Demento-related press coverage in the local newspaper.  (My apologies for using the term "gook" in this song, but I was trying to make a philosophical point and at that time the "PC Police" hadn't been enlisted yet.)

"LOILA (Version A)" - My friend The Amazing Skippy brought his guitar by the radio station one night, and I recorded him playing "Lola" on to the four-track recorder.  One of our Sioux Falls City Commissioners was named Loila, and she was quite a piece of work.  She was very headstrong and driven.  She was responsible for snow removal, which is always a tough job in "snow country" like Sioux Falls.  So I recorded my parody, mixed it down, and played it for Harley my Program Director at the radio station.  He loved it, and he not only wanted to play it on his morning show, but wanted to have it pressed to 45 to sell around town!

"LOILA (Version B)" - Harley was no fan of Loila's, so he asked that I do an alternate version that communicated a little more disdain for the subject.  I changed a few of the lyrics, and recorded a new performance.  By now, the song was starting to get some press.  But Loila herself was starting to lean on the radio station to stop playing it.  Soon the airplay, as well as all plans to release it on 45, were scrapped.  But the funniest thing happened a few years later!  The former mayor of Sioux Falls (and Loila's former boyfriend) was caught on video performing the song in front of a huge crowd at a fundraiser!

"SNOWPLOWED" - The Amazing Skippy was busy in the radio station's production studio one night, playing guitar, kazoo, and manipulating the speed of the multi-track recorder to produce all kinds of cool musical sounds.  When he played me the finished product, I got the idea of inserting little jabs about the city's snow removal policy into the song. This was created as a "B" side to the proposed "Loila" 45 single, which ended up never being released due to political pressure from Loila's office.

 "MRS. PETERSON" - This song was credited to Wally & Skipfunkel.  Mrs. Peterson was the wife of a Sioux Falls City Commissioner.  It seems that Loila (remember her?) and Commissioner Peterson had a rather combative relationship on the Commission.   Sensing that Loila was the source of a great deal of her husband's stress, Mrs. Peterson would crank call Loila by not saying anything once she answered, and then hanging up.  Loila had the local phone company put a trace on her line, and it was soon discovered that Commissioner Peterson's faithful wife was the culprit.  It ended up being a huge embarrassment for everyone involved, but we were determined not to let the scandal slide without putting our two cents in.  So, The Amazing Skippy (who plays guitar AND sings on this one) and I set about to comment the only way we knew how. (By the way, do you recognize the tune that plays on the touch tone phone when our singer is dialing up Loila??)

"APARTHEID LOVER" - This would be my last politically-oriented parody song.  But I figured some things needed to be said about the apartheid situation at the time.  That, and the fact that "Apartheid Lover" fit so well to the tune of Stevie Wonder's "Part Time Lover."  But again, I was trying to make a serious point through the gift of humor.  Dr. Demento played it several times.  The instrumental bed came from the 12" single.

"HIP TO BE BARE" - This song was credited to Wally Wingert & The Nudes.  Writing this was probably the most fun I ever had writing a parody.  It was challenging to walk right up to that "line" without ever really crossing over it.  Most people commented that their favorite part is when I worked in Jermaine Stewart's "You Don't Have To Take Your Clothes Off" at the end.  I feel this song lent itself to enabling the listener to visualize the scenario better than any song since "Cheapest Tattoo."  Years later, when I worked with Huey Lewis on "Just Shoot Me," I had thought about giving him a copy of it on CD, but I chickened out at the last minute.  I compiled the instrumental bed from an extended version of Huey's "Hip to Be Square."  Dr. Demento played it a few times, but stopped after receiving a Cease and Desist letter from Huey Lewis' attorney.  This was back in the day before the courts established that parody was a protected component of free speech.

"SUMP" - Sump pumps are things you need if you live in an area where your basement can become flooded when the winter snow melts in springtime.  Not really a national problem, but to Sioux Falls residents, sump pumps were a necessity of life.  Van Halen's "Jump" had just been released so the timing was perfect.  At the radio station, we aired a religious show whose theme song was a knock-off of "Jump."  The bed was created using part of Van Halen's recording, and part of the knock-off.  It all fit together rather seamlessly.

"A LEW TO A JILL" - Cross-dressing has always made for great comedy ("Charlie's Aunt," "Tootsie," Uncle Miltie, Flip Wilson, etc.), so why wouldn't sex-change operations be equally as effective?  Especially when you find out that your new bride had recently gotten one and you didn't know!  I don't believe Dr. Demento ever played this one.  The instrumental bed was created by flip-flopping the stereo tracks of the original recording, so the center vocal would be "phased" out in the process.  This would be my last parody recorded in Sioux Falls, South Dakota before my move to Los Angeles in January of 1987.

"LADY IS DEAD" - By the time this song came out, the karaoke phenomenon was beginning to make it to the U.S.!  Stores specializing in instrumental versions of popular songs were popping up all over, so finding beds were becoming easier and easier.  I acquired the bed at one of those stores, and took it down to the Wave radio station in L.A., where I had begun working in 1987.  They had very nice recording facilities, and a talented staff of studio engineers that I could talk into helping me with my mixes.  Apologies to Ogden Edsel for borrowing his "Dead Puppies" riff at the end.

"ADAM WEST" (1989) - This song was credited to Wally Wingert & The Caped Club.  Probably the biggest response I've ever had to one of my parody songs!  It's an editorial written out of love, admiration and desperation to see my childhood hero back in action.  No other song I wrote garnered a mention in "Rolling Stone," a TV interview on "A Current Affair," an interview in a book about "Batman," and airplay on radio stations all across the country, and all around the world!   When I first finished it, I sent a copy to Adam West, who had been a friend since 1980.  He said the only thing he would change was the "conventions and shopping malls" line because he thought it would appear as demeaning.  But the fact remained that he DID do appearances at conventions and shopping malls, and the resulting rapport he established with his fans was a very positive thing.  Adam and I shared a manager at the time named Hal Lifson.  Hal was very adept at getting the song played in conjunction with appearances and interviews that he had arranged for Adam, so the song's exposure widened tremendously while riding on Adam's "cape-tails."  We even had the song pressed on to collectible 45 records that we sent everywhere. Even to this day, they'll show up on EBay.  But this is the updated version that sounds a little fresher with the help of today's digital technology, and this version is now in stereo.  The instrumental bed was compiled from an extended version of The Escape Club's 12" single, the horn stabs were put in via digital sampler, and the guitar solos were performed by John  Bitzer.  "Adam West" was the second most requested song on the Dr. Demento Show in 1989.

"BAT TO THE FUTURE (Long Version)" - 1989 was the year of the Bat!  After the success of "Adam West," many people were asking me to write something else bat-related.  I noticed one day that many of the most popular songs from the 1950s all fit in the "1-4-5" blues progression in which the "Batman" TV theme song was written. So I started thinking of ways to string together a medley of 50's hits to the tune of the most popular TV theme song of all time.  I had even performed this song live from time to time dressed as Batman, and doing the famous Batusi during the instrumental break. A few lyric changes here and there to make it more bat-friendly and I was on my way. But the finished product ended up being over six minutes long!

"BAT TO THE FUTURE (Short Version)"  Though some people like Dr. Demento were doing their own cut-down versions of the song, I figured I'd do my own, seeing as how this song was receiving a bit of airplay.  The long version was fun for live performances, but was too darn lengthy for radio airplay.

"FACE" - I had been in L.A. long enough to realize that sometimes it wasn't all about the talent.  This was my commentary about some of the things I was realizing about the show biz industry, and the likelihood of succeeding in it.  Brian Talbot, one of the engineers at The Wave, had digitally pitched my voice up, so the page for "Dr. Skinner & Dr. Cutter" would sound like a female. I thought that was so cool!  The instrumental bed came from the 12" single of the George Michael hit.

"ADAM WEST - Bat Dance Remix (2004)" - When I first contacted studio engineer/friend Dick Schroder about digitally remixing some of my old parody songs, I hadn't planned on doing anything different with the "Adam West" song.  I had worked with Dick for many years at the Cutler Comedy Network and the Premiere Radio Network doing radio comedy and parody songs, and we had a great working relationship.  When we started freshening up the sound of the original "Adam West," I got the idea to update its sound to an all-new remixed "Bat Dance" version.  I'm playing a synthesized techno beat from a keyboard under the entire original track.  I also set about recording soundbites from the original "Batman" TV series to pepper throughout the song.  During the mixing process, I noticed that the final verse was now very outdated.  So, instead of leaving it as the protest song it was originally created to be in 1989, I wanted to make the remixed version an overall celebration of everything that Adam West means to popular culture.  But I still couldn't resist getting a dig in at the more recent movie Batmen. Hearing this remixed version, inspired Adam and his agent Fred Westbrook to investigate the possibility of having Adam do an album!  Funny...Adam inspires me, and through that inspiration I create something that inspires Adam.  The circle is now complete.