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Weekend Discussion Thread: MST3K Earworms

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, I’m not talking Wrath of Khan here. An “earworm” is an irritatingly catchy tune that gets stuck in your head, and you find yourself humming it, without even thinking about it. I first thought about this a few weeks ago when I could not get this eight bars out of my head.

And more recently, after the episode guide entry for “King Dinosaur,” I’ve been humming the “Joey the lemur” song over and over. Yikes! So, has any bit of music, either from a MSTed movie or from a host segment, gotten stuck in your head?

171 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: MST3K Earworms”

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  1. Saint Rude says:

    I haven’t seen this one mentioned, and it’s the first thing that came to mind.

    In Operation Double 007 there’s a band that, for some inexplicable reason, is playing their song at the airport, a song whose lyrics consist of “Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah, wah wah wha wah-wah waaaaah.”

    That song.

       3 likes

  2. Matches 4 Mikey says:

    “Yipe Stripes” is in my head far more than it deserves to be, but for a soundtrack as a whole, gotta go with THEPUMAMAN. For when… you want… the flavor of bacon in a dip!

       5 likes

  3. ZombiManos says:

    For some reason, “Do You Want to Laugh or Cry” pops into my head at least once a month. It’s so inane and sad I really have no buffer against it. The music from Hellcats always gets stuck in my head too, but I don’t mind at all!

       3 likes

  4. bad wolf says:

    Probably the sing-talk songs from “Design for Dreaming” and “Once upon a Honeymoon.” Very Broadway-esque.

    I have to admit i always enjoy the musical interludes in the experiments.

       3 likes

  5. ARCH HALL 3 says:

    THE ” VICKIE ” SONG AND A VERY LAME MOMOTONE” TEQUILLA” BOTH FROM ” EEGAH! :nerd:

       3 likes

  6. Sandwich Spread The Barbarian says:

    This is a solid no-brainer for yours truly: “I’m a danger to myself and others…”

       4 likes

  7. Jamie says:

    I love all the songs in Girl In Gold Boots
    as well as Tom Servo singing “Theres a place in France where the ladies wear no pants” from Laserblast
    …and yesterday, somehow, I was singing “pigstinker, fishlicker (whatever the hell it was) from Hobgoblins.

       2 likes

  8. doggans says:

    In-movie: the Puma Man theme, “He Tried To Kill Me With A Forklift”, “Pig Liquor”, and the end credits theme from “Final Justice”.

    Host segments: “Creepy Girl”, “Where O Werewolf”, and, of course, the United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus Hymn.

       2 likes

  9. Larry says:

    Sodium, for sure. Also, The Sandy Frank song and Idiot Control Now.

       1 likes

  10. Kevin says:

    That little song Critter sings in The Girl with Gold Boots when the girl’s face keeps appearing in the rain.

       3 likes

  11. CHF01 says:

    When Loving Lover’s Love….822 Overdrawn at the Memory bank

       2 likes

  12. Spector says:

    “Where, oh Werewolf”, and the medley ending of Werewolf.
    The ending of Final Justice.
    “Idiot Control Now”, from Pod People.
    “Are you happy in your work”, from “I Accuse My Parents.
    “Tubular Boobular Joy”, from “Outlaw”.

    My all time favorite, the United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus Hymn, from “The Starfighters”, which was not only a wonderful mish-mash of lyrics from other songs plus original lyrics (they were fans of Colin Firth well before he became an Academy award winner), but also demonstrated Kevin Murphy’s wonderful vocal range.

       4 likes

  13. Green Switch says:

    “Night Train to Mundo Fine” from Red Zone Cuba, complete with Mike saying “Oh now, I’m rocking!”

    Also, the “toot tooty-toot toot” rendition of the main theme from Deathstalker over the movie’s credits at the end.

       3 likes

  14. Gary Bowden says:

    Master Ninja Theme Song and the Hike Up your Pants song from Daddy-O! There are probably a few more,but those two are the ones that stick out the most.

       1 likes

  15. B. Lurker says:

    “Hobbbbgoblins… hobbbbgoblins… what do you do with those hobbbbgoblins…?”

       2 likes

  16. Cornbred says:

    Maybe it is just because the Gamera films have been my sleeping background noise recently; I have been having Tom’s touching Tibbby song stuck in my head in the mornings, including Crows inappropriate part

       1 likes

  17. OldTeenagers says:

    Now, I don’t really get any songs stuck in my head, but when I’m listening to Clowns in the Sky in public places, I find my self shouting out random lines. Pretty much the entire Canada song, or “can she control her bladder” from ode to estelle get me awkward looks. Oh, and my friends version of the theme song that goes “his bosses didn’t like him so they shot him in the face.” Please tell me I’m not the only one who does this!

       3 likes

  18. noplot says:

    Seem to get one about once a week. Recently they’ve included the final theme music from “Escape 2000” (with Tom’s lyrics added) and, inevitably, the Forklift Song from Fugitive Alien. But the one that seems to emerge out of nowhere and has for years now, hiding behind those brain cells that remember phone numbers and stuff, is the opening theme from “Hellcats”. It’s pretty aggressively perky for a biker film theme.

       3 likes

  19. NoTrafficAccidents says:

    Will there still be a clown in the sky…for…me?
    I love you, Tom Servo.
    I love you, Joel!
    I love you, Crow.
    You’re not my real father!
    Whaddaya think, sir?
    It stinks!

       4 likes

  20. incrediblehorriblemrlimpet says:

    * Sinister Urge’s “rumble” music at the pizza place with Servo’s very nice “It’s alright…It’s Okay…I’m in love…” vocal add-in.
    * Mixed-Up Zombies’music backing the precision “Blue Angels” of dance team where the bots were able to supply the lyrics from Silent Night and Little Drummer Boy to it.
    * Also from the same movie, the Servo-interpreted, “I’m gonna tell you all about a Harper Valley widowed wife…” dance number music that even attracted the zombies into the room. “How banal”.
    * The Del Aires’ “You Are A Summer Sausage” ballad for Hardware and Elaine.

       1 likes

  21. Matthew Shine says:

    Several host segment songs seem to get stuck in my head:
    “PANTS! PANTS! SING THE PRAISES OF PANTS!”
    “Well, we’re a danger to ourselves and others…”
    “MASTER NINJA THEME SONG!”
    “Please stay, we are your friends, though our brains are not in pans…”
    “To Earth, the very place of my birth…”
    “I sing of the glorious Delta Knights, they lived in Europe somewhere!”
    “Hum He De He He Hoo Ha Hoo Ha!”
    “MY DARLING CREEPY GIRL! BE MINE BEFORE MOVIE SIGN!”

    And recently…
    “I AM…GYPSY! GYPSY ROSE ME! GYPSY ROSE NOT YOU! OR YOU! OR YOU! I’M GYPSY ROSE…MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

       1 likes

  22. Chris Lark says:

    I think Sampo probably meant “Ear Candy” but in the case of the
    “tunes” from these MST-ed flicks “Ear Worms” is better;) So if I had a quarter for the MST3K Jukebox I just might select these…:

    1. “Idiot Control Now” and the song it parodies from “Pod People” – One of the best musical numbers MST3K EVER did. Weirdest thing about the tune in the movie and the MST3K gang’s take on it is that it’s basically kind of a “Proud Mary” rip-off (although it leans toward the Ike & Tina Turner version more than CCR’s.) I’m still a little surprised that John Fogerty and his lawyers haven’t come ’round the film or MST3k since.
    2. “Hike Up Your Pants”, “Rock Candy Baby” and “Wait’ll I Get You Home” from “Daddy-O” – If “Idiot Control Now” didn’t make me a fan of MST3K “Hike Up Your Pants” certainly did. The 2 tracks from Mr. Contino are actually NOT that bad and I always wondered what Dick thought of ’em. I’m still hoping Shout! will put this one out on DVD soon and that maybe they’ll talk to Dick or anybody else associated with the film about it.
    3. “Girl In Gold Boots” & “Lonesome Cowboy Santa” from “Girl In Gold Boots” – There are SO MANY of these type of garage &/or surf type bands in these movies that it really is hard to pick one but that darn harmonica and the “just keep your gold boots movin'” does it for me everytime. “Lonesome Cowboy Santa” while not my favorite Christmas song isn’t that bad either, fwiw.
    4. “You Better Run” and the parody of it later from “Final Justice” – Perhaps THE cheesiest Euro-Pop number in a film but the best part is the parody the MST3K gang gives it at the end of the film. “Meatballs fried in lard!!!!” No wonder Joe Don Baker hates their guts.

       2 likes

  23. The Professor says:

    One of my favorites is that funky incidental music that plays in Codename: Diamond Head (ya know, the “jaunty ‘Roy Thinnes’” theme). Anytime that bass starts playing in head, I have to go through the whole thing. So funky.

       2 likes

  24. Twiggins says:

    Hey, I really like “The Book of Love” by Carol Connors. She was once a member of the Teddy Bears (To Know Him is to Love Him). I know, I’m old and easy to please.

       3 likes

  25. Boo says:

    I will randomly sing to myself the tune (and words) from “The Girl in Lover’s Lane” opening credits. “But Nooo, to their disdain, the girl from overs lane!”

       3 likes

  26. Matt Sandwich says:

    Whew. Too many to mention. I’ll limit myself to two. Though for some reason, most that came to mind right away are oddly… non-uplifting. Delivered in dreary monotone, that sort of thing. And they tend to come to mind during periods of extreme boredom.

    The first on is a little more obvious: “Hooobgoblins, hooobgoblins, what do you do with those hooobgoblins.” Etc.

    The second is actually kind of maddening. My usual source, Internets, didn’t do anything to provide an origin for this one– or even to give me the satisfaction of adding another line or two. (Given how brief the appearance is, you can see why having it endlessly playing through one’s brain is kind of maddening.) It’s from Secret Agent Super Dragon. We’re shown an exterior with a windmill or two, prompting Joel to start clapping rhythmically as he sings “Old Dutch, the snappy chip. Crispy, crunchy…” And he just sort of sheepishly trails off.

    Okay, I can’t limit myself to just two. If Chauffeurs Ruled the World is another host segment tune that often runs through my mind.

    And finally Hellcats! Not only the song itself with its descending duh-duh-duh-duh notes, but one of my favorite gags from the early years: Crow starting his audio diary entry only to accidentally reveal that he’s been recording himself singing it (approximately, and tunelessly) during his private time: “Hellcats… la la la.” Brilliant.

    (And unlike an Old Dutch jingle resembling the one Joel croons, enterprising Interwebbers CAN find the Hellcats theme out there for download. Enjoy.)

       4 likes

  27. radioman970 says:

    California Lady. I love all the stuff they did with it. “…adds flavor to my meat!” and all that.
    The jazzy closing number from Manos.
    The moody opening and closing numbers from Squirm. Those really did a lot for the mood of the film.

       1 likes

  28. maclen says:

    Basically at any time any of the songs by the Del Aires from Horror of Party Beach…but since “Elaine”…”Without a head roll?”… ends the movie, I’d say Elaine. And of course another one, “Sodium” ends the episode.

       1 likes

  29. radioman970 says:

    Oh..as far as the MST3k stuff…
    Gamera
    Sandy Frank sandy grank, likes to crap in his haaaand!
    They tried to kill me with the fooork lift!
    Kathy oh kathy from Alien from LA.
    Joel doing the music from pod people.
    Well, not original but Tom singing the Journey song that time.
    too many to name really..

       1 likes

  30. Gummo says:

    Oh my gosh, all my “favorites” have been mentioned so I’ll just go a bit off-topic and say that Bill Corbett’s Sparkly Vampires rifftrax song is one of the most pernicious earworms there is.

       1 likes

  31. Brandon says:

    The MST3K theme songs of course!

    But for others songs…

    Iiiiiiit’s breastical, boobical, chestical, mammable…

       2 likes

  32. JJK says:

    The Jet Jaguar song from Gozilla vs Megalon.

       7 likes

  33. hollyhox says:

    Secret Agent…[trom-BONE!]
    Super Dragon…[trom-BONE!]

       5 likes

  34. Don says:

    DEEP DEEP DOWN…..from Danger Diabolik….it’s the ultimate 1960’s Euro-pop theme. The riffs for the “spin art” opening credits were classic….comparing it to a spinning radish, a clothes washer, etc. Check out YouTube for Mike Patton’s mondo cover version of it ….MST’s final (official) episode went out with a shagadelic bang!……”keep your potty down? Women and their toilet seat issues!”

       1 likes

  35. bobservo says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peu2Yxwuh28

    I made that video a few years ago. It should drive most of you mad. Godspeed.

       1 likes

  36. KJB says:

    I’ll sing “The Janitor Song” to myself from time to time.

       3 likes

  37. KerryJudy says:

    “Wild Rebels, munchy, crunchy Rebels….”
    also the haunting Torgo theme from “Manos”

       3 likes

  38. gorto says:

    “gamera is really neat, he is filled with turtle meat” is precisely what turned me on to the show in the first place. There is not a night that goes by with out whimsical dreams of that tune to the visuals of a flying snapping turtle with a tremendous underbite.

       3 likes

  39. i'm not a medium, i'm a petite says:

    The theme song to the My White Goddess sketch.

       2 likes

  40. Flying Saucers Over Oz says:

    And the Lord said Laugh, Children, Laugh
    And the Lord said Laugh, Children, Laugh…

    (And really, this is only half as annoying as the time I got Chico Marx’s rendition of ‘Sugar In The Morning’ from ANIMAL CRACKERS on replay in my head and, this was the maddening part, couldn’t remember what it was or where it came from.)

       2 likes

  41. EricJ says:

    @71 – “PANTS! PANTS! SING THE PRAISES OF PANTS!”

    “What keeps our legs so nice and hot?–PANTS!
    What prevents a buffalo shot?–PANTS!
    Whadda they got that I ain’t got?”
    “PANTS.”
    “Huhhuh, you said it…”

    (But yeah, pretty much down to either the Bike Song, or the Haunting Torgo Theme, the latter of which used to play on a perpetual loop on my old MST3K Doom II sound pack…)

       2 likes

  42. Matthew Redwine says:

    *ZOINK* “Hooray I’m Super Clown!” isn’t a song but it has a nasty habit of getting stuck in my head.

       1 likes

  43. Steelhawk says:

    “She sings whenever she sings whenever siiiiings!”

    I also loved the Where Oh Werewolf song…mainly because the guys dressed up like girls. Yeah, I’m weird that way.

       1 likes

  44. robniles says:

    Crazily enough, I’m doing the 30 Day Song Challenge on Facebook right now, and the song I posted earlier today for Guilty Pleasure? “California Lady.”

    So many other choices, though, both from the movies and the host segments. “Patrick Swayze Christmas,” “Tubular Boobular,” “Hired!,” “Loving Lovers Love,” “Sodium,” “Where Oh Werewolf”…those boys could write a hook.

       2 likes

  45. It’s not as catchy a tune as: “Hobgoblins…” but every bit as annoying – the Sidehackers song performed
    by Joel R in the episode of the same name.

       2 likes

  46. eric in NJ says:

    California LAAAAAAADY!!! that and “ba-da-da-daaaaa!” from Agent from HARM

       2 likes

  47. kbrubaker says:

    Both mentioned here already, but Are You Happy In Your Work from I Accuse My Parents, and I Sing Whenever I Swing etc, etc, etc from Giant Gila Monsters are my top worms. They will never leave my brain. Oh, and thanks #19 for putting the Shine, Shine, Shine, Shine, Shine Your Love song into my head. I hadn’t thought of that one for a while.

       2 likes

  48. Hike up your pants just like mine! HUNH!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! HUNH!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! OOH! Help me!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! Jump back! Kiss myself!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! HUNH!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! I don’t know how to stop.
    Hike up your pants just like mine! HUNH!
    Hike up your pants just like mine! HUNH!…

       2 likes

  49. Watch-out-for-Snakes says:

    “Let me be frank about Frank” randomly pops up in my head on occasion.

    I also love the opening song Servo and the rest sing in The Girl in Lovers’ Lane.

    And the “Pants” song, which I hum to myself whenever I am in the pants aisle at any department store.

    I love the cool jazz of “Super Agent Super Dragon” and the funk rock of “Master Ninja Theme Song.”

    And yeah, “California Lady” also cool.

    Also, the MST Love Theme is one of the best pieces of music ever written. So melancholy, so good.

       1 likes

  50. Miss Mary says:

    “I’m losing my dignity!” and “My lunch goes bleahhhhh…”

       1 likes

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