I can’t say I’ve listened to Dr. Demento’s radio show in a couple of decades or more. I’m not even sure he’s still on what some call terrestrial radio.

But I heard today that the Doctor, born Barry Hansen, has announced that he’s retiring after more than 50 years of doing his show, which traditionally played the weirdest and wildest novelty songs from several decades of the music business.

Demento is probably best known for “discovering” the work of Weird Al Yankovic, who was first showcased on the show in 1976. Demento had received a cassette of a parody song, “Belvedere Cruisin,” from Yankovic. Before too long, Yankovic was a mainstream star of TV, movies and especially music and music videos. I even saw him live in concert once!

Demento brought a lot of new and long-forgotten talent to listeners. “Fish Heads” by Barns and Barnes was one that stands out in my memory, as does “Shaving Cream,” by Benny Bell, which might be the ultimate novelty song. The 1946 tune’s gimmick was that each verse made you think it was going to include the word “shit,” but at the last minute the phrase “shaving cream” was substituted.

My friends and I turned into our area FM station every Sunday evening in the early 1970s to listen to Demento.

That feels like a thousand years ago now, when radio was still a viable thing, could be a daring thing, and could communicate new and exciting shows and acts to new listeners.

Anyway, I wrote about a Demento song that stuck with me, and I wrote about it on this site way back in 2012. Here’s what I wrote:

The Suicide Song on Dr. Demento. If you’re not hep to what the nerdy kids listened to in the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. Demento hosted a syndicated radio show playing offbeat songs like “Fish Heads” and “Shaving Cream.” The oddball doctor introduced a nation of youngsters to the work of Spike Jones and helped launch the career of Weird Al Yankovic. But the song that Demento played that sticks with me, 30-plus years later, was “The Suicide Song.” What was it? Incredibly enough, I can’t seem to find it online. There’s a listing of songs played on the show that includes it but I can’t find an audio or video snippet, which makes me wonder if I’m mis-remembering the name. But once I hear the song again – and its dirge-like, monotone recitation of dire lyrics – I’ll get goosebumps all over again.