Hello, my name is Tony, and I run a blog called Way Out Junk that focuses mostly on out-of-print children’s and novelty albums. Jeff contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in writing a weekly column for Popdose, highlighting songs from some of these albums. I said I’d give it a try, so here goes!

Here are two Public Service Announcements for an organization geared to teens called “Wayout.” I still don’t know much else about the organization itself, other than the fact that they were able to score two celebrity endorsement deals. The first, by Johnny Cash, sounded natural and unforced all the way. With his song “What Is Truth?” playing in the background, Cash tells you that if you need guidance and are going “the route” like he did, contact “Way Out” for help.

Johnny Cash – Hello, I’m Johnny Cash

Dorsey Burnette, on the other hand, sounds like he’s reading off a piece of paper handed to him as soon as he stepped up to the microphone. It doesn’t help that he got stuck doing a PSA about venereal disease. After rattling off some statistics, Burnette says, “That makes V.D. kind of a hangup, don’t it?” He also informs us that “V.D. is a bummer by anybody’s standards.” I don’t even think he gets the name of the booklet right. I show it listed as “How the Bad Bug Bites,” and he calls it “How the Big Bug Bites.” If these are the people who wrote the literature for the organization, I can understand them not being around anymore!

Dorsey Burnette – How the Bad Bug Bites

If you know more about this organization, please share it with the rest of us. And if you’d like to hear more PSAs from them, including ones on teen suicide, getting along with your parents, and witchcraft(!), you can download them here.