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Screamin’ Scott

Screamin’ Scott

Screamin’ Scott

The 1929 Song The Wreck Of The Titanic

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Author Screamin' Scott
Original Folk song recorded onto 78 sung by Jeff Calhoun

Many stories have been written about The Titanic, the British luxury passenger liner that sank on April 14–15, 1912, during its maiden voyage en route to New York City from Southampton, England. According to the U.S. committee investigating the sinking, 1,517 lives were lost, including passengers and ship personnel. One of the most famous tragedies in modern history, it inspired numerous stories and movie films.

The Original Titanic Folk Song 

Way before the hit song by Celine Dion, “My Heart Will Go On.”  the theme for the 1997 film Titanic. The first few songs about the Titanic disaster appeared weeks after.

This version of the song was released in 1929 and became popular. Back then, records were not pressed on vinyl. Seventy-eight records were known to be made of Shellac, a composite groove gramophone disc. They also broke pretty quickly if not handled correctly.

My copy I found sifting through a bunch of 78s at a garage sale. I have a 1912 Victor wind-up Victrola at my home, and it was a pretty hard find. Not many people seek out old 78 records, and many formats are disappearing as time passes. According to Discogs, their record value isn’t much, about $50.

Here Is The Same Record On My Personal Victor Victrola

A New Theory On The Titanic Sinking 

According to the report, a CTV news report on the Titanic revealed an element few have heard about. The ship had a fire in the ship’s coal bunker three weeks before the ill-fated voyage of the unsinkable ship. The theory is the fire weakened the ship’s metal hull so much that when the Titanic hit the iceberg, there was not much resistance to the metal, causing it to sink fast. Check  out the CTV News Story By Clicking Here

The Huge Hit Song From The 1997 Movie Titanic

“My Heart Will Go On” is a song recorded by the Canadian singer Celine Dion as the theme for the 1997 film Titanic. Sung by Celine Dion, it was a smash around the world. Rec won multiple awards, including the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It d minated the 1999 Grammy Awards, winning Record of the Year. Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. The song also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1998.

Funny Rock Songs: 5 Tracks That Still Make Us Laugh

Rock and Roll is many things: Cool, loud, in-your-face, and, sometimes funny.

One of the best examples of this comes via The Offspring, whose fifth studio album, Americana, was released on November 17, 1998. The album was a big hit for the band. Americana sold 198,000 copies in the United States during its first week of release. It went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. Five million copies alone were sold in the United States.

Dexter Holland summarized the album’s overall sentiment in a 1998 interview with Billboard. At the time, he said, “I was thinking about how today’s America is distorted really. It’s not Normal Rockwell anymore; it’s Jerry Springer.”

RELATED: The Offspring: New Video Features Chimps, Strippers and...John Stamos?!

Out the gate, Americana got a lot of attention thanks to its lead single, “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy).” The single made fun of posers and was rather ahead of its time for making fun of white people for appropriating Black culture. Not only was the song hilarious, but its music video was in heavy rotation on MTV and truly complemented the track. (Side note: After a re-watch, the video still holds up all these years later. It was one of many music videos at that time directed by McG.)

This has us thinking about other funny rock songs in history. They have been sprinkled throughout the decades. Some of these funny rock songs were all about getting laughs. Meanwhile, others had a hidden meaning or served as commentary on society. Then again, some of these songs were just plain weird. (Looking at you, Frank Zappa!)

In honor of the anniversary of Americana, here are just five of our favorites. (For the sake of this list, we’ve omitted notable comedy acts, like “Weird Al” Yankovic, who are known for their humor. This list focuses on acts that weren’t exclusively known for their comedy.)

  • The Offspring - "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)'"

    The world loves wannabes, and by “loves,” we clearly mean “loves to make fun of” wannabes. There are plenty of clever lyrics in this Offspring hit. If we had to pick a favorite, we going with, “He needs some cool tunes, not just any will suffice/But they didn’t have Ice Cube so he bought Vanilla Ice.”

  • Randy Newman - "Short People"

    Randy Newman’s “Short People” is absurd satire at its finest and most catchy. On the surface, the song is completely silly, but as with most satire, it holds a mirror up to the world. In this case, it showed just how ridiculous prejudice is in all its variations.

  • Frank Zappa - "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow"

    Frank Zappa was a delightful, one-of-a-kind weirdo who was a true original. If we’re being honest, “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” is just good advice.

  • Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show - "The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'"

    Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show were really, to borrow slang from the Brits, “taking the piss” out of rock stars and Rolling Stone with their classic song “The Cover of ‘Rolling Stone’.” Also, the track was penned by Shel Silverstein, which makes the song even cooler.

  • AC/DC - 'Big Balls'

    We’ve said this before, but we’ll say it again: AC/DC doesn’t do subtle, but they do do silly. (And yes, we just said “do-do.”) “Big Balls” is clearly the silliest song in the legendary band’s catalog. You truly can’t help but laugh at this one.

Born in Mt Clemens, Screamin’ Scott has been a part of the Detroit airwaves for 30-plus years. With 40 years of experience in radio. When he’s not out on the streets for WCSX, you can find him devoting time to local charities with his, “Screamin Angels”; and for 16 years with Rock 4 Tots charity. And last 10 years with his local band, "Chit!." Screamin Scott likes to write about nostalgic Detroit area memories, classic rock, and local metro Detroit topics.

The 1929 Song The Wreck Of The Titanic A lot of stories have been written about The Titanic the British luxury passenger liner that sank on April 14–15, 1912, during its maiden voyage, en route to New York City from Southampton, England

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