We were saddened to recently learn of the passing of Jerrold Laurence Samuels (May 3, 1938 – March 10, 2023), better known as Napoleon XIV
Jerrold was probably best known for his 1966 top-40 hit “They’re Coming to Take Me Away Ha Haaa!”
“Half a million copies in five days.”
= 500,000 / (5 * 24 * 60 * 60), or 1.157407 every second.
How did Warner Bros. crank out half a million 45s so fast? I seriously doubt they anticipated that volume.
The “B” Side
The B-side is the A-side played backwards.
It is truly Exorcist / Backwards Demonspeak-worthy. I played a clip for UC#2a and she immediately knew the song.
Quora seems a bit befuddled on this topic….
More “B”
WLBOTT Wonders: How did they get the font backwards? Here’s a section of the Wikipedia HTML for the “B-Side”. Wait! In the HTML, the letters aren’t mirror-image, just backwards! We think there is some axial symmetry sorcery taking place.
The WLBOTT Spotify playlist has been updated to reflect our cultural augmentation.
