There's a New Sound explained

There's a New Sound
Type:single
Artist:Tony Burrello
B-Side:Fish
Released:1953
Genre:Novelty
Length:2:30
Label:Horrible

"There's a New Sound" is a 1953 novelty song by Tony Burrello, written by Burrello and Tom Murray.[1]

Burrello, a songwriter and jazz pianist better known as Tony Tamburello,[2] and Murray started writing novelty songs after they were unsuccessful in having their more serious material recorded by prominent musicians.[1] They noted the success of music that was seemingly intentionally bad, after hearing a disc jockey play Harry Stewart's version of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" sung in a faux-Japanese accent. According to Murray, the disc jockey said that the record was a hit but also "one of the most horrible records he had ever heard".[3]

Burrello and Murray responded by creating the songs "There's a New Sound", performed by Burello, and "Fish", sung by Leona Anderson, which they released as a single. "There's a New Sound" consists of a single chorus repeated five times, each time in a higher key, with calliope accompaniment.[4] The lyrics describe "the strangest sound that you have ever heard", which turns out to be "the sound that's made by worms".[1] Burrello was credited as the artist on the single,[5] which was released on Burrello and Murray's own record label, Horrible,[4] as catalog numbers H 100 (ten-inch 78 rpm format) and H 100-X45 (seven-inch 45 rpm format). The single was Horrible's only release.

When Billboard magazine reviewed the single, it commented: "A weird one. 'The new sound is the sound made by worms.' Strange sound effects go with nonsense lyric. It's a studied attempt to be as screwy as possible."[5] For the flip side, "Fish", Billboard′s review was "Same comment".[5]

Burrello and Murray originally had only 500 copies of "There's a New Sound"/"Fish" issued to be sent to disc jockeys.[4] However, within two weeks, they received orders for more than 100,000 copies of the single.[4]

Soon afterward, Burrello and Murray were called upon to write a song for Brucie Weil, who was then 6 years old.[6] The song they wrote for Weil, "God Bless Us All", reached #18 on the Billboard singles chart.[7] [8] Burrello and Murray were soon called upon to write music for other artists, including a theme song for John Conte and special material for Tony Bennett.[9]

Anderson went on to exploit her newfound fame as a "horrible" musician by making appearances on The Ernie Kovacs Show and signing with Columbia Records for two more singles.[10] In 1957, for Unique Records, Anderson released a full-length album, Music to Suffer By, in the same mock-operatic style she used for "Fish."[11]

"There's a New Sound" was later featured often on the Dr. Demento show[12] [13] and performed by Scooter on The Muppet Show.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Anderson, Tim J. . Making Easy Listening: Material Culture and Postwar American Recording . registration . new sound. . 2011-02-10 . 2006 . University of Minnesota Press . Minneapolis . xiii.
  2. News: 1992-09-25 . Tony Tamburello, Pianist and Vocal Coach, 72 . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-02-10 . 0362-4331.
  3. News: Song Writers Guarantee New Record Worst . Ewald . William . United Press . 1953-06-08 . Oxnard Press-Courier . 9 . 11 February 2011.
  4. Fair Warning . https://web.archive.org/web/20080516022837/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,935929,00.html . dead . May 16, 2008 . 1953-06-08 . . 12 February 2011.
  5. Reviews of This Week's New Records . . May 23, 1953 . 152 . 12 February 2011.
  6. News: Once There Was a Boy ... . 1953-08-31 . . 55 . 12 February 2011.
  7. Book: Lonergan, David F. . Hit Records, 1950-1975 . 12 February 2011 . 2005 . Scarecrow Press . Lanham, Md. . 978-0-8108-5129-0 . 69.
  8. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

    . Joel Whitburn . Joel Whitburn's Pop Hits, 1940-1954 . 1994 . Record Research . Menomonee Falls, Wis. . 0-89820-106-3 . 305.

  9. Much Activity for Murray-Burrello . . 1953-08-15 . 14 . 12 February 2011.
  10. Web site: Leona Anderson | Space Age Pop . 31 July 2017 . spaceagepop.com.
  11. Web site: Music to Suffer By - Leona Anderson | Songs, Reviews, Credits. AllMusic. 31 July 2017.
  12. Search of http://dmdb.org/playlists/search_pl.html
  13. Wolk, Douglas., "Review: Various Artists - Only In America", CMJ New Music Monthly, February 1996, page 16.