Way Out Wednesday: The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra, “Some Kazoos”

This album from 1978 features the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra playing that most maligned of instruments, the kazoo. The kazoo was invented by an African-American named Alabama Vest in Macon, Georgia sometime in the 19^th century and it was first publicized at the Georgia State Fair in 1852. (I got all this information from Wikipedia, so you know itÁ¢€™s true.)

This first song is called Á¢€Å“2001 Sprach KazoostraÁ¢€ and itÁ¢€™s based onÁ¢€¦well, you know what itÁ¢€™s based on. You can almost imagine the little Star Children playing this as the monolith approaches Earth.

Temple City Kazoo Orchestra – 2001 Sprach Kazoostra

This next song shows how kazoos can even be used in disco music. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Á¢€Å“StayinÁ¢€™ Alive.Á¢€ (Beware of some pretty scary ad-libbing here.)

Temple City Kazoo Orchestra – Stayin’ Alive

While this last song is not included on this record, itÁ¢€™s still by them and it really needs to be included. There was an annoying group in the ’80s called Stars on 45 that did medleys of songs to a steady clap track. Here, the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra does its own take on this phenomenon.

Temple City Kazoo Orchestra – Kazooed on Classics

BONUS: HereÁ¢€™s a clip of the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra performing live on The Mike Douglas Show!

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If youÁ¢€™re also interested in hearing their take on Á¢€Å“Miss YouÁ¢€ by the Rolling Stones and Á¢€Å“Whole Lotta LoveÁ¢€ by Led Zeppelin, you can get the whole thing right here!