Comedy rock Facts

Origins and early development

Comedy rock is a genre of rock music that is comedic in nature and is often mixed with satire or irony. Early American examples cited include Stan Freberg and Sheb Wooley, whose "Purple People Eater" reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 1958. In Britain during the 1950s and early 1960s comedians such as Charlie Drake and the Goons appeared in the charts, and later British groups specialising in comedy included the Scaffold, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias. AllMusic described Frank Zappa as the "godfather" of comedy rock, and the Turtles released a comedy rock album, The Turtles Present the Battle of the Bands, in 1968.

Evolution or diversification

Several modern comedy rock acts have experienced mainstream commercial success. Duos Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords released platinum-selling albums and starred in their own television series. Acts such as Dan Finnerty with the Dan Band and Stephen Lynch expanded comedy rock into film and television appearances. Song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic became the highest-selling comedy act with over 12 million albums sold and his 2014 album Mandatory Fun debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Spoof and parody bands such as Spinal Tap, the Hee Bee Gee Bees, Bad News, Steel Panther, Dread Zeppelin, Beatallica and Those Darn Accordions have used stylistic pastiche and genre-mixing for comic effect, while The Residents are noted for unusual, heavily distorted covers. Ninja Sex Party blended rock and synthpop and produced songs that parody dubstep and heavy metal, and Gorillaz presented a British virtual-band parody of contemporary musical trends.

Cultural or musical significance

Comedy rock has appeared across popular media and achieved chart success and significant sales. Acts and recordings from the genre have reached mainstream audiences through albums, television series, film appearances and charting singles. Examples in the genre have spawned commercially successful releases and notable chart placements, and collaborations or novelty recordings involving rock musicians have reached high positions on the charts as noted by the peak of the novelty single "Take Off" at number 16.