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Disco Duck
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Date Aired
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April 1, 2021
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Running Time
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19:05
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Website
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Todd plays "Disco Duck" on the piano.
RICK DEES & HIS CAST OF IDIOTS - DISCO DUCK
A one-hit wonder retrospective
Todd: Welcome back to One Hit Wonderland, where we take a look at bands and artists only known for one song. I admit, I have a minor fascination with disco.
Clip of people dancing to a disco song, specifically "The Best Disco in Town" by The Ritchie Family
Ritchie Family: It's the best disco in town, number one in disco sound!
Todd (VO): Not so much the actual music, which, uh, I like as much as anyone, but the perception of it. For five or six years, it was basically the only music being made.
Clip of Disco Demolition Night followed by an image of man in glasses ripping his shirt open to reveal a white t-shirt that says "DISCO SUCKS!, both with audio of "Disco Inferno" playing in the background
Todd (VO): And then it got hit with backlash so hard that all of a sudden, it was the worst music ever made.
Clip from The Simpsons of Disco Stu dancing
Todd (VO): And then after about twenty years of being a total punchline...
Clip of "Get Lucky" - Daft Punk
Todd: ... it flipped back so hard in the other direction that now, if you try and say that disco sucks, people look at you funny. Like, "Oh, you dislike music made by black and gay people, huh?" [camera zooms in on Todd] "What are you trying to say, huh?" [camera zooms in more] "HUH???"
[camera resets]
Todd: But-
Clip of people dancing to disco music
Todd: Even with the massive reputational turnaround that disco has had, there is still one big disco smash that it is still okay to dislike. One that no critical reappraisal has been able to take off [image of...] the "Worst Song Ever" lists.
Music video for...
Todd: I am of course talking about the one and only, the eternally infamous...
Disco Duck: Everybody do it, the disco, disco duck! Disco, disco duck!
Todd sits in solemn silence, then shrugs
Todd: Yes, it is finally time to look at the mid-'70s phenomenon known as "Disco Duck." One of the most confusing little blips in the history of disco, and consistently described as one of the worst things that happened in the '70s. It goes Watergate, gas shortage, "Disco Duck," and then maybe Jonestown.
Footage from a series of VH1 interviews on "bad" popular songs
Darryl McDaniels: That was the wackest song ever
Scott Ian (Anthrax): It's insane to me, what-what people will do. I guess sometimes they're just so far up their ass all they know is [bleep].
Todd: Why?
Clip of "Disco Duck" performance
Todd: What has this harmless little joke song done to deserve such ire?
Disco Duck: Oh! Get down, mama!
Todd: If this was just one of the many stupid novelties that gets released every day, that'd be one thing. No one ever complains about, say, [Clip of...] Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" from that same year.
Todd: But "Disco Duck" stands out not just for its stunning inanity but also, that it was a number one hit. For one week in October of 1976, it was the best selling song in America. That's nuts. If we lived in a logical world, this would be the cause of the disco backlash. This is the kind of song that signals that a trend has outlived its welcome, not that it's gonna keep rising for the next two or three years! Who's responsible for this? The people this was credited to were "Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots", an attempt at self-deprecation that did nothing to endear them to the disco haters.
Clip of interview with Rick Dees
Todd: If the name sounds familiar to you for non-"Disco Duck" reasons, that's actually not surprising. Rick Dees is one of the few one hit wonders who's probably more famous now than when he scored his number one hit. "Disco Duck" was just one of the many stepping stones on his path to becoming a nationally-syndicated radio host. He's hosted "Weekly Top 40" since 1983. Which is just crazy to me.
Clip of "ONAIR With Ryan Seacrest"
Todd: Like, imagine if Ryan Seacrest had also recorded...
Clip of...
Todd: ... "Mambo No.5". So keep in mind that music was always...
Clip of interview with Dees
Todd: ... the side-est of side hustles for Rick Dees in his lifelong broadcasting career. Surely we can forget about this sad little novelty and move on? But no, I wanna know, how did this happen? And just the other day I noticed that, after years of unavailability, at sometime in the last couple months...
Image of...
Todd: ... Spotify has finally put up the entire original "Disco Duck" album. Hm... well, I've never been able to resist the easy targets, so it is officially duck season. Bring it on.
Disco Duck: [quack-laughs]
Todd: [imitates Disco Duck, before placing a hand to his throat] Can't do it.
Disco Duck: Shake your tail feathers! [quack-laughs some more]
Before the hit
Voiceover (Don LaFontaine): With one of the most recognizable voices on the planet, Rick Dees loves to make people laugh. His astonishing career began at Grimsley High School in...
Todd (VO): I actually found this video biography/sizzle reel that I guess Rick Dees had made sometime in the past twenty years. So uh...
Todd: ... yeah, that's gonna save me a lot of effort, I can just sit back and watch. Thanks, Rick! [Todd starts munching on popcorn] I'll be nicer to you when we get to the review part.
Ken Lowe: Back in college, living with Rick Dees was like living with Robin Williams. He was always honing these characters, and I never knew when I came home and opened the door which character might be there.
Todd: [Still eating popcorn] That sounds absolutely exhausting.
Todd (VO): Anyway, blah blah blah, he was a DJ in North Carolina and then...
Voiceover: It was in Memphis where Rick Dees became Rick Dees.
Todd: I love that. The icon! Rick Dees!
Todd (VO): So, he was also a club DJ, and that's where he noticed that the disco scene was taking off.
Voiceover: Taking a $100 fee, and a dollar for every customer who mentioned "Rick Dees is an Idiot" at the door. After his World's First Wet T-Shirt contest...
Todd: [Swallows popcorn] I do not believe that you invented the Wet T-Shirt Contest, Rick Dees.
Voiceover: A favorite feature on Rick Dees in the Morning was the novelty songs that this budding songwriter himself composed.
Todd (VO): Ok, here we go, here's the good part. You see, one day Rick Dees walked into the club, and someone brought in a duck, and he thought, "Wait a minute, I've got an idea!"
Todd: I made that up, but yeah, here we go!
The big hit
Clip of Paul McCartney introducing a performance of "Disco Duck" on live TV
Paul McCartney: There's always one song that you wish you could have written. In my case, that one song is "Disco Duck". Singing "Disco Duck", let me hand you over to... [the song begins to play] ...Rick Dees.
Rick Dees: Went to a party the other night
Todd (VO): You know, tons of people, including me, have said that "Disco Duck" is a bad song. But you know what, I promised to be nice since Rick made that intro for me.
Todd: And I'm gonna try. Disco has undergone a massive reappraisal that's elevated it back into the respect it deserves. Can we revise the critical histories and find a way to also give respect to "Disco Duck?"
Clip of performance on The Midnight Special
Cast of Idiots: Disco, Disco Duck
Todd (VO): Okay, well, one of the big things that made critics reevaluate disco was it's importance to the black and gay communities.
Todd: So if you look at it that way...
Clip of Rick doing a pre-song comedy bit where he speaks in an extremely dorky and exaggerated voice and laughs like a schmuck
Rick Dees: I tell ya, it took us forty-three days to get here to the Midnight Special. Didn't think we was ever gonna make it. And every so often, we'd see this sign in the road that said "Clean restrooms ahead". We must have cleaned three hundred restrooms on the way here!
Todd: Okay, yeah, this has nothing to do with black or gay people. That is a straight white man.
Todd (VO): Like if he was doing a [picture of...] Daffy impression, maybe, but uh no, that is no little black duck, that is lilywhite Donald. But I feel like part of the disdain for this song is that by the time that critics started writing the histories, disco [stock image of man wearing disco dancer Halloween costume] had already become a punchline. So a disco duck [footage of performance on Top of the Pops] just seemed like stupid on top of stupid, so the joke didn't land anymore. It's like a parody of a parody.
Todd: Now that we have some distance and we like disco again, let's enjoy the wacky zany humor for what it is.
Rick Dees: Went to a party the other night, all the ladies were treating me right
See, the joke is that he's at a disco...
Rick Dees: All of a sudden I begin to change, I was on the dance floor, acting strange
And for some crazy reason, he turns into a duck.
Rick Dees: Look at meeeeee, I'm the disco duck!
"Donald Duck": Ah get down mama
[Todd laughs sarcastically] I don't get it.
Todd (VO): Acting like a duck, or is he a were-duck? It's anyone's guess.
Cast of Idiots: Disco, disco duck
Todd (VO): Okay, so apparently the genesis of the song is that there was a mid-level dance craze in the '60s called "The Duck."
Black & white clip of people in the '60s doing the above dance to "The Duck" by Jackie Lee
Jackie Lee: The name of this dance, child, they call "The Duck"
Todd (VO): I don't know if people remembered it. Honestly, that makes the joke less funny if there was already a "duck" dance.
Todd: But that's not really the joke.
Cast of Idiots: Disco
"Donald Duck": Disco
Todd (VO): This song was really spawned when Rick ran into a guy at the gym who could do a duck impression, and he basically wrote the song from there just so he could get the guy to do the voice for it.
Todd: And that's it. [shrugs] That's the joke. The joke is that there's a guy who can do a decent Donald Duck impression and they put a beat under it.
Todd (VO): The thought of a leisure suit duck hitting on women was just so funny that people loved it! It was immensely popular!
Todd: I tend not to do songs this old because it's really hard to find videos for them...
Various clips of...
Todd (VO): I have so... much footage of "Disco Duck."
Todd: This was back when there were [Image of the logos for ABC, NBC and CBS pops up] three networks, [Back to Todd] and presumably, in the autumn of '76, with limitless options...
Todd (VO): ... they all decided to put on Rick Dees performing with a singing, dancing, [Image of Donald Duck pops up followed quickly by a red X covering it] legally distinct for copyright purposes duck puppet!
Todd: Which is amazing, cause the song's not funny!
Todd (VO): Like, you'd think a duck-themed comedy song would have... duck jokes in it? Like a bunch of duck puns maybe? But the song is just basically "all premise, no punchline." He mentions a dance called the "disco duck," but there's no references to how a duck would dance.
Todd: You know, something like, you know, [Todd starts dancing] "You flap your wings, and you lay an egg," [shrugs] no.
Todd (VO): I guess he does say "shake your tail feather," but... that's it. Rick barely even tries for other duck references and when he does, he fails.
Cast of Idiots: Try your luck, don't be a cluck
Todd: [Throws hands up] Chickens cluck.
Todd (VO): So... maybe "don't be a cluck" means...
Todd: ... Don't be a chicken, be a duck? I don't... [Sighs and throws hands up, giving up]
Rick Dees: Flapping my arms, I begin to cluck
Todd: Ducks quack... Has anyone in this song even seen a duck?
Todd (VO): I think Rick probably suffered from being the last really big novelty hit.
Todd: I know, I know [air quotes] "suffered" all the way to the bank, but you know what I mean.
Todd (VO): You go back, and there are a ton of [Clip of Allan Sherman - "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"] high-charting comedy songs in the '60s, but...
Clip of music video for "Jack Sparrow" by The Lonely Island
Todd (VO): ... nowadays, even your most famous musical comedy songs don't chart high. By the mid-'70s, this kind of joke song was on its way out!
Todd: Did people just like the song... as a song?!
"Donald Duck" and Cast of Idiots: (Disco) Disco (Disco) Disco (Disco) Disco
Todd: [Starts bopping his head] Well, you know, it's not not catchy.
Todd (VO): Rick wrote this himself, and... you know, he doesn't not have talent as a songwriter. It's uh, got a strong hook, it's well constructed.
Todd: It's actually much better than the [Image pops up of album cover for "Mickey Mouse Disco"] actual Disney corporation who took a swing at it [Back to Todd] three years later with "Macho Duck"
Animated clip of Donald dancing with Daisy
Chorus: Macho, macho duck. Oh he is a manly sensation
Todd (VO): How did the House of Mouse... end up sounding like they were the cheap knockoff compared to a morning DJ?!
Chorus: He's a macho, macho duck
Todd: [Blows raspberry and gives a thumbs down] Your "Disco Duck" disco sucks, Disney. Have you tried hip hop?
Back to Disco Duck clips
Todd (VO): And uh... you know, it's cool that the guitar quacks. But, you know, I'm gonna be honest, I'm not a huge fan of the production on this song. It's really dorky in a cornball kind of way. The backup singers are not good at all. Like, they clearly recorded it in between ad jingles they were performing.
Todd: The novelty of the duck impression...eh...
Todd (VO): ... you know, that wears out real quick...but honestly, I guess it's not as bad as I initially took it for. It isn't funny, it's very stupid, but...
Todd: ... I guess it's not infuriating.
Todd (VO): In fact, the only real painful part is Rick himself, because he's not a singer. Thankfully, he's not in much of the song.
Todd: But this with the "wacky DJ voice"...
Rick Dees: Look at me...I'm the Disco dUuUuUuUcK
Todd (VO): Eeeehhhh...
Todd: No, I've given this song as much slack as I can. People in the '70s, [chuckles] what the hell was wrong with you?!
The failed follow-up
Back to biography
Voiceover: Rick Dees and his "Cast of Idiots" had a #1 hit everywhere...except Memphis.
Todd (VO): Funny thing, when Rick Dees hit #1, he was not allowed to play his own record on the air because his bosses thought it might be a conflict of interest. He mentioned it once, and that alone got him fired.
Todd: At least, that's what he claims...wouldn't be surprised if the station was just plain sick of his shit.
Todd (VO): A rival station with less of a stick up its ass scooped him up right away and he got to play his own song all he wanted.
Todd: But then he had to come up with with a follow-up...
Clip of Rick being interviewed plays in background
Todd (VO): What could possibly be as funny...as a disco dancing duck?
Todd: ...How about...[Image of single cover for...] "Dis-gorilla?" [Back to Todd, who shakes his head, followed by throwing his hands up]...No, no...I'm not gonna front, I love it when the follow-up is the exact same song as the original. Let's play that shit! [Briefly beats his chest like a gorilla]
Clip of "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"
Greg Brady (Barry Williams): Hey, how 'bout you guys help in me introducing Rick Dees?
Ernest Thomas: Okay
Haywood Nelson: You mean the guy who freed the ducks?
Greg: Mr. Disco himself
Todd: [Stares, mouth agape]
Danielle Spencer: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Disco...
Everyone: Rick Dees!
Audience applauds as music starts
Todd: [Still staring]
Cast of Idiots: Disco, Dis-gorilla
Todd: [Still staring, until...]...HOW IS THERE VIDEO OF THIS?!
Todd (VO): [Stuttering] I...I'm sorry, it's just...so much of my job is hunting for obscure, old videos I can't find.
Todd: I've never done a video on
Clip of...
Todd (VO): "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" because I can barely find video of the main song, let alone any forgotten other singles!
Back to...
Todd (VO): But someone put "Dis-Gorilla" on television?! A bad novelty's bad knockoff that stalled out at #56?!
Todd: Well anyway, yes...
Todd (VO): Thank you, Greg Brady and the cast of "What's Happening!!" Let's hear "Dis-Gorilla!"
Rick Dees: All of a sudden, I was acting deranged. My hair was growing wild, I was looking strange
Todd (VO): So, the premise of this one is that he goes to the disco... Todd: ...and he turns into a gorilla-it's literally just a gorilla instead of a duck this time, wow.
Cast of Idiots: Dis-Gorilla, lady killer
Todd (VO): This was made to capitalize off the release of the terrible 70s "King Kong"...but...uh, it doesn't work as well as the first hit, because, I don't know, like...a gorilla voice is not as funny as a duck voice.
Rick Dees: [Monkey noises] Cast of Idiots: Disco
Todd (VO): In fact, there's not a gorilla "voice" really, so, [stammers] instead he just makes monkey noises in the chorus. That's much less of a hook.
Rick Dees: The crowd went bananas and begged for more
Todd (VO): This actually is making me appreciate the craft of "Disco Duck" a lot...and the craft of "King Kong" '76 for that matter.
Rick and Idiots: Dream of the time I was the Dis-Gorilla, Disco
Todd: ...'Twas DJ's killed the beast...
Todd (VO): And um...is there
Todd: anything else on the album?
Image of "The Original Disco Duck" album cover
Todd (VO): Well, I've checked it out, and it's very morning DJ.
Todd: There's some Elvis impressions...
Voice clip of Rick's Elvis over different clip of him performing
Todd: A lot of wacky voices...
Clip of Barry White performing
Todd (VO): A Barry White parody called "Barely White"
Song plays over image of the single on vinyl
Rick Dees: I'm barely white, I'm barely white
Todd: And uh, my favorite of the bunch:
Song plays over clip of "Jaws"
Todd (VO): "Bad Shark," [chuckles] a "Jaws"-themed parody of the theme from "Shaft"
Rick Dees: Who is the fish that will put you on his grocery list?
Cast of Idiots: Shark!
Rick Dees: Can you dig it? They say this catfish shark is a bad mother-
Cast of Idiots: Shut your jaws!
Rick Dees: Just talkin' 'bout Shark!
Cast of Idiots: Then we can dig it!
Todd: [Hand over mouth, followed by chuckle] Okay, this is officially so stupid that I actually am enjoying it. [Puts hands up] You got me! Maybe I'm not too good for radio DJ novelty humor after all!
Did he ever do anything else?
Todd: Well, uh, yeah, obviously. Like,
Clip of Rick goofing off in the studio
Todd (VO): in the late 70s, he jumped at the chance to bail on AM radio and joined a new FM station, KIIS-FM in Los Angeles, and from then on, he's been one of the biggest names in radio for decades.
Todd: But he also did keep [Images gradually stack up of Rick's various albums and singles] issuing albums and singles, a couple of which charted low low low on Billboard.
Scrolling image of...
Todd (VO): And it looks like those albums were made up largely of prank phone calls, so...it's probably for the best that I couldn't find them...like I'll do you, me and especially him a favor by not playing those records.
Todd: [stammers] It just wouldn't be fair to the man. Comedy ages very poorly.
Back to radio clip of Rick
Todd (VO): Especially radio DJs, who are the very lowest form of humor...
Todd: ...said the YouTuber...
Background clip of...
Todd (VO): But his music career did continue, he performed the theme to [Cover pops up for...] Bill Murray's first big movie, "Meatballs."
Song plays over same clip of movie, audio for the movie can be heard as well
Todd (VO): And we also have here some of his songs that did chart, here's a
Todd: song from 1984 called "Eat My Shorts."
Song plays over image of vinyl single
Rick and Backing Vocals: Eat my shorts (eat my shorts), yes, choke on polished cotton. Eat my shorts (eat my shorts)
Todd (VO): It is...blisteringly unfunny?
Background clip of...
Todd (VO): And here we have another song from that year called "Get Nekked!"
Rick Dees: It's the greatest cure around, get naked! Adam says to Eve, you don't need to wear those leaves. You do just like me and get naked!
Todd: [beat] Who you gonna call? Clip for music video of...
Ray Parker, Jr. and backup singers: Ghostbusters!
Todd (VO): I guess he was upset that Bill Murray didn't keep letting him do theme songs... Back to "Get Nekked"
Rick Dees: Judges put her down because she dropped her gown and god naked!
Todd (VO): Eh, you know, I gotta admit, the man knows a funky groove when he hears one...this is still very stupid...
Background clip of...
Todd (VO): ...but is it really that much stupider than "Centerfold"?
Todd: And, of course, he did well for himself otherwise,
Background clips of what Todd describes below
Todd (VO): he did cameos in movies, TV shows, he hosted "Solid Gold" for a year and they let him do "Disco Duck" while he was on there
Clip of "Disco Duck" over "Solid Gold"
"Donald Duck": My oh my! Cast of Idiots: Disco
Clip of...
Todd (VO): He had a talk show for one season in the early 90s, and he still hosts his radio show now.
Todd: All this...from "Disco Duck"...
Did he deserve better?
Todd: [stifles laughter]...Deserve better...
Clip of "Disco Duck" plays
Cast of Idiots: Disco, disco duck "Donald Duck": Got to have me a woman!
Todd (VO): I don't wanna say he deserves worse, because I don't begrudge him his success at all. He's clearly very good at his job, he's earned his radio empire...
Todd: His "Disco Duck" Dynasty, if you will.
Todd (VO): But if you played me "Disco Duck" and asked me if it deserved to launch its singer into a showbiz career that lasted 40 years?
Todd:...[sharp exhale] Oh boy, uh...
Todd (VO): Look, maybe "Disco Duck" is not actually the worst thing ever, but...uh, n-no, I-I don't think the world really needed this. But you can't feel bad for the guy. Like all radio DJs, he just likes attention, and if his big song is called one of the worst songs ever, I think he probably enjoys that even more.
Todd: Rick, if you're watching this, let me say for the record, and I say this with the utmost respect: Rick Dees is an idiot
End of "Disco Duck" clip plays
Closing Tag Song: Tony Tomas Group - "Disco Duck"
THE END
"Disco Duck" is owned by RSO Records
This video is owned by me
THANK YOU TO THE LOYAL PATRONS!!