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Annoying Music for Mom
Oh, Mama, These Are Some Awful Sounds!
 Listen as Scott Simon and Jim Nayder sift through awful mom-themed music.
May 11, 2002 -- Sunday may be Mother's Day, but every day is Annoying Music Day. Isn't it? Well, today is, anyway, because Jim Nayder sat down with Weekend Edition Saturday host Scott Simon to mull over some highly annoying Mother's Day music.
Nayder, Simon says, is "the evil banality behind the Annoying Music Show." Said show, produced for some reason by Nayder Communications for member station WBEZ in Chicago, is broadcast only hesitantly by public and commercial radio stations nationwide. And who can blame them?
After all, to besmirch an institution like motherhood with the musical abominations Nayder has chosen to inflict upon the finely-tuned ears of the public radio audience is inexcusable. But inflict he did, so let's get through this.
First up is Jerry Lewis, with his very Jerry Lewis-like rendition of the Al Jolson classic "My Mammy." Maybe this is what sent Dino packing.
Moving along quickly, we have Regis Philbin's 1968 Motown arrangement of "Swanee," which Nayder says is from the album An Evening with Regis. "It seems like an evening and a couple of days and an eclipse before it's all over," Nayder concludes. (While his assessment of the album is spot-on, it appears the album's actual title was It's Time for Regis!, which nearly became the network slogan over at ABC a year or two ago -- Ed.)
"Countrypolitan" crooner Dottie West checks in, accompanied by her 4-year-old son Dale, who in 1966 asked the musical question, "Mommy Can I Still Call Him Daddy?" Daddy, it seems, had stepped out for a proverbial pack of cigarettes some time before, so Mommy's answer is a pretty firm "no." This recording is "stunningly interesting," Nayder says, mostly because of little Dale's vocal style. "I know why daddy left -- he heard youngster singing."
Kristen Lems, who used to share stages with folkie troubadours like Steven Goodman and Peter, Paul and Mary, favors us with her ode to "Mammary Glands." When Simon recoils, Nayder scolds. "Let's not be so prudish," he says. "I think we should just enjoy it as Mother Nature… uh, uh… singing."
There's more, but why go on? It only gets worse. Listen in if you really want to subject yourself to the Singing Sisters of Syracuse (with kazoos!) belting out "Ma, He's Makin' Eyes at Me," Tennessee Ernie Ford covering the Beatles' "Let it Be" (if only he would!), or Joan Crawford (the standard by which moms are measured) with a very rare recording of "I Never Knew Heaven Could Speak."
Please apologize to Mom for us.
Other Resources
 Nayder's Annoying Music Homepage
Last Independence Day, Nayder showcased annoying patriotic music. Ah, we were so innocent back then.
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