When I was a lad, I loved when Mad Magazine would rewrite the lyrics to popular songs and then impose them in a parody of a movie under the guise, sung to the tune of… It was also fun to see my name.

When I was a teen/young adult, “Weird Al” Yankovic carried the tradition to the next level with the communication device called MTV. MTV used to be a cable TV channel that broadcast music videos 24/7 in the ’80s, the 1980s to be more precise, not the 1880s, you Millennials.

Stevie Wonder releases “Pastime Paradise” in 1976. Coolio samples “Pastime Paradise” and turns it into “Gangsta’s Paradise” in 1995. “Weird Al” Yankovic parodies “Gangsta’s Paradise” and turns it into “Amish Paradise” in 1996.

“Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg;

the Batmobile lost a wheel, and Joker got away.”

circa 1966

After a little internet research, I realized that I was the first generation of kids to sing this damn catchy song. My big question is: How did this little ditty spread across the United States of A. without an internet or cable television?

#NotJamesBrown, #JamesBrownProbablyStoleIt