I'm trying to figure out the artist of a Dr. Demento - styled song
which seems to appear from time to time.

Fast tempo, soft drums, guitar accompaniment, lyrics are entirely,
"Ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha--, hee hee hee hee, hee hee hee--,
ho ho ho ho, ho ho ho--, -- yeah yeah yeah" (each of the
words sung on a quarter note).

The song sounds like it might have been done in the 1970s or 1980s,
and it sometimes surfaces in TV or ads during physical comedy.

Any thoughts what this song is, and who the artist is?

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Clarification of Question by mjsmigel-ga on 09 Apr 2003 13:48 PDT

No, I can assure you 100% it is definitely not "They're Coming To Take
Me Away"... but good guess.  The song that I'm mentioning is backed by
a guitar melody, not drums, and doesn't seem to have any lyrics.

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 09 Apr 2003 14:06 PDT

I think I remember this song.  And there is a possibility that I've
found the title and artist.

There is a song that was apparently played on the Dr. Demento Show
that contains "ha ha ha ha" and "ho ho ho ho".  It also, however, has
lyrics.  In addition, after the "ha's" and "ho's" come "chortle's" or
"chuckle's", along with a few other repeated words, but no "hee's" or
"yeah's".  I've heard a clip of the beginning of the song, which
unfortunately does not contain any singing, but does contain fast
tempo guitar.  So this could be right, or could be wrong.  (Perhaps
the Dr. Demento show excerpted the ha's, ho's, etc., from the song.)

What do you think?  Should I post it as an answer, perhaps if no one
else comes up with a better idea?

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 09 Apr 2003 14:56 PDT

mjsmigel -- 

Unfortunately, it is difficult to be at all sure about the answer to
this kind of a question, so I am posting this as clarification.  I
have one candidate for the song you are seeking.  Spike Jones (a
source of inspiration for Dr. Demento) made a recording in the 1940s
of a pop/light-classical tune called "Holiday for Strings."  In his
zany version, the last two choruses were "sung" only with "laughing
syllables" -- ha ha, he, he, ho, ho.  The tempo is fast, each note is
a quarter note, and the rhythm accompaniment during these choruses is
soft.

Here is a link to a brief clip of the recording:
Tower Records: Spike Jones; Greatest Hits
http://www.towerrecords.com/product.asp?pfid=1541782&cc=USD

It does not include the laughing choruses, but you should be able to
tell if the tune is the same as the one you are interested in.  If it
is, let me know and I will post an answer with some information about
the song and the band.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by mjsmigel-ga on 09 Apr 2003 15:07 PDT

MarkJ -- Thanks, I listened to the clip and it's definitely not
Holiday for Strings.

JustAskScott -- You wanted to go forward with an answer... let me
ask this.  In each line of the verse, do we hear EXACTLY seven
ha's... the sixth kind of short and the seventh drawn out
slightly?  If so, I think you have it.. I'll take your answer.

Sheet music explanation... for anyone who understands this, it's
the best way I can recreate the rhythm.  Take a line in the verse
with "ha ha ha ha, ha ha ha...".  These "ha's" are sung on a
sequence of four quarter notes, then a dotted eighth note,
then a sixteenth note leading into a quarter, then a half-note.
The pitch of the "ha"'s in each line is all the same, with the
sixth "ha" lowered a bit.

Sorry, I think that's about the best I can do on this.

MJ

Sounds like this song:

http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~norm/TakeMeAway.html

The above song is always being played on the show and it falls within
the timeframe you give.

Probably not the one you want, but in the Walt Disney movie, Mary
Popins there is a laughing scene with a song that is mostly laughter.
The chimney sweep, Bert (played by Dick Vandike) and the 2 children
and one other person laugh so hard they all float to the ceiling.  
Neil

Hi mjsmigel,

Could the song you're looking for be "The Laughing Policeman", originally 
written and performed by Charles Penrosein the 1930s? Here's a link to to 
an mp3 of the original.

http://www.g8aso.radiouk.com/downloads/Laughing_Policeman.ZIP

I have no idea who Dr. Demento is I'm afraid, but apparently the 
Laughing Policeman song has appeared a number of times on the show, 
sung by the Carlton Show Band. These sites state that it appeared 
both in 1978 and 1983.

http://www.davesdatebook.com/63files/63db0604.htm

http://www.drdemento.com/playlists/drd83.0612.html

I can't find their version online but it can be purchased here:

http://www.rocklandsentertainment.com/carltonshowband.html

Cheers,

Eadfrith

Thanks to everyone so far for the responses about my mystery song.
However we can establish so far that:

1. It is definitely not Laughing Policeman. 
2. It is definitely not Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming To Take Me Away."
3. It is definitely not from a Disney movie (or Mary Poppins).
4. It is definitely not Spike Jones' Holiday Strings.

Also, all of the above tunes have lyrics with real sentences, and I
don't think my song has any.

Check out this site for a list of laughing related songs from Dr.
Demento.  Is it one of these on this list?

http://www.davesfunstuff.com/demento/09subl00.htm

To add to bowler-ga's most recent comment, The Laughing Song by Henry
Klauser appears in the playlist of this Dr. Demento show which
featured songs "without lyrics":

http://www.drdemento.com/playlists/drd89.0122.html

Unfortunately there are more songs of the same name, including a
version by Charlotte Church from "Die Fledermaus", and I've been
unable to track down an audio source on the Web.

However this site gives some additional information about Henry
Klauser and the songs history in a brief line item halfway down the
page:

http://www.davesdatebook.com/63files/63db0516.htm

Re: the song's first being played by Dr. Demento on May 16, 1976:

"1976 - The Laughing Song (Carnival Of Venice) - Henry Klauser
(released 1905, last played on 1989-01-22)"

The tune may be a familiar one if the identification "Carnival of
Venice" is any indication.  Here's a fine rendition on ocarina that
should be sufficient for anyone familiar with the tune to recognize:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/stephen.hughes/ocarina/carnival.htm

regards, mathtalk

Here you can listen to "The Laughing Policeman," whose chorus is a
series of raucous ah ha ha ha's and such:

http://www.funnyfair.com/policemanfl.htm

I believe that Dr. Demento has played three different versions of "The
Laughing Policeman," recorded by Charles Penrose, by the Carlton
Showband, and by Tiny Tim.

Hi, mjsmigel-ga:

I found a RealAudio version of Henry Klauser's "The Laughing Song"
here:

[Mac's Antique Phonograph Hour]
http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/Mac/mac.010731.html

It's an hour long program, but fortunately the song in question is
second on the playlist.  The first song is followed by a bit of
narrative introduction, and Klauser's "The Laughing Song" starts about
4 1/2 minutes in.

regards, mathtalk

Check out this thread from this discussion forum:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=3537FDB1.EBAD2938%40bigred.unl.edu&rnum=14&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522laughing%2Bsong%2522%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D3537FDB1.EBAD2938%2540bigred.unl.edu%26rnum%3D14

Check here for more possibilities:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=3d4f50f1.47235277%40news-lhr.cableinet.net&rnum=8&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522laughing%2Bsong%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D3d4f50f1.47235277%2540news-lhr.cableinet.net%26rnum%3D8