Dickie Goodman - Mr. Jaws and Other Fables

Richard Dorian "Dickie" Goodman (April 19, 1934 – November 6, 1989) is considered one of the earliest proponents of sampling in music. He used a series of "break-in" records he created from 1956 to 1986.

In June 1956, Goodman thought, “What if a seemingly normal record was interrupted by a report of flying saucers landing?” His first record, "The Flying Saucer," was co-written with partner Bill Buchanan, featured a four-minute rewriting of Orson Welles’ famous “War of the Worlds" radio show. While Goodman asked questions of pedestrians, scientists, and even the Martian himself, their responses were "snipped" from lyrics of popular songs of the day, such as:

* "The Great Pretender" by The Platters
* "Heartbreak Hotel" by Elvis Presley
* "Earth Angel" by The Penguins
* "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard
* "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry

Although "The Flying Saucer" became a major hit, it also landed Goodman in court for copyright infringement - e.g. the songs he used to create his "break-in" records. The lawsuits were later settled out of court when the judge ruled that Goodman's records were burlesques and parodies, and were original creations in and of themselves.

Goodman later recorded other break-in records, usually based around a political theme, or having his reporter (often as "John Cameron Cameron", a reference to newscaster John Cameron Swayze) alter-ego interviewing Batman or Neil Armstrong. In 1975, Goodman returned to the pop charts with "Mr. Jaws," a break-in record in which he interviewed several characters from the film Jaws. Peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Mr. Jaws" became Goodman's biggest-selling hit record. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in September 1975.

Goodman's singles often had instrumental numbers (in which his actual role is uncertain) as B-sides. These are not found on either his original LPs or his CD compilation albums.

Luniverse, Goodman's own record label released some works by other artists, including songs leased to him by the Del-Vikings, one of the first racially integrated groups in rock music.

Goodman died in North Carolina in 1989 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Goodman is survived by his sons Jed and Jon and daughter Janie.

His son, Jon Goodman, supervised the issue of Greatest Fables, the first authorised CD collection of Dickie Goodman's recordings in 1998. The album included Jon's tribute, "Return Of The Flying Saucer". Jon also authored a biography of sorts about his dad, entitled The King of Novelty in 2000 published by Xlibris Corporation. In 2008, Jon Goodman updated his father's "Energy Crisis '74" which he posted in the Dickie Goodman MySpace page.

In 2006, his estate produced and authorized two albums: All Time Novelty Hits and Dickie Goodman's Greatest Hits.

01 Mr. Jaws
02 Energy Crisis
03 Superfly Meets Shaft
04 The Touchables
05 The Touchables in Brooklyn
06 Flying Saucer Part 1
07 Flying Saucer Part 2
08 Santa and the Satellite Part 1
09 Santa and the Satellite Part 2
10 Flying Saucer the Second