Spike Jones

"SPIKE" JONES WAS BORN LINDLEY ARMSTRONG JONES ON DECEMBER 14, 1911 IN LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. HE GREW UP TO BECOME ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSICAL SATIRISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY. IN THE 1940s, JONES PUT TOGETHER A TOP-FLIGHT ORGANIZATION OF MUSICIANS AND COMEDIC PERFORMERS AND CALLED THEM "THE CITY SLICKERS". JONES HAD MANY A TOP 10 HIT DURING HIS HEYDAY WITH SUCH SONG PARODIES AS "YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS", "DER FUHRER'S FACE", AND "COCKTAILS FOR TWO" AMONG MANY OTHERS.



WHEN PLAYING LIVE, JONES AND HIS CITY SLICKERS WERE A VISUAL ASSAULT ON THE SENSES AS WELL. WHEN THEY WERE ON STAGE, THE BAND WOULD DRESS UP IN CRAZY SUITS AND ACT AS NUTTY AS POSSIBLE. AND WHILE ALL OF THE MAYHEM WAS TAKING PLACE ON STAGE, JONES WOULD STAND THERE NONCHALANTLY CHEWING HIS GUM AS HE DIRECTED HIS BAND. THEN, HE WOULD LEAP OVER TO HIS XYLOPHONE, HORN, OR OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AND DAZZLE YOU WITH HIS MUSICIANSHIP.



HIS MUSICAL APPROACH WAS TO USE VARIOUS SOUND EFFECTS SUCH AS SCREAMS, GUNSHOTS, BANGS, BOOMS, SLAMS, THUDS, BELLS, GARGLING, ETC. IN PERFECT TIME TO THE MUSIC. SPIKE JONES DIED ON MAY 1ST, 1965 IN BEL AIR, CALIFORNIA. SPIKE JONES WAS TO THE 1940s WHAT "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC IS TO THE CURRENT MUSICAL SCENE: A MASTER OF MUSICAL PARODY AND MAYHEM.