Every other Friday, we'll explore one of comedy's underrepresented -- but thriving! -- genres: musical comedy. From artists who cut their teeth in comedy clubs with a guitar and a dream, to artists who make funny with full bands backing them; from going behind the scenes of classics like from the Dr. Demento show, to uncovering the deepest corners of YouTube, we'll highlight a hilarious musical comedian who's out there making the world laugh with expertly crafted tunes.
This week, we’re focusing our sights on Nashville native Steve Goodie. A veteran of the stand-up and comedy music scenes, Goodie honed his chops in venues across the country, and has been featured on The Howard Stern Show, The Bob and Tom Show, and, most recently, he had the #1 song of the year on the legendary Dr. Demento show for his 2016 hit, “D*ck Heads,” a send-up of the classic Barnes & Barnes tune about…well, I’m sure you can guess. The song itself is the lead track from his newest (and 28th!) album, F.U. 2016, the cover of which spoofs Taylor Swift’s own T.S. 1989, and includes such stellar comedy tracks as “Cheat Sheets,” “The Twit in Twitter," and the highly political “The Year The Big-Mouth A$$hole F***ing Won.”
Not all of Goodie’s work is adult-oriented, however. Goodie really made a name for himself writing about his favorite thing: The Harry Potter book series. One song in particular, “Dumbledore,” caught the attention of noted comedy music legend “Weird Al” Yankovic after its inclusion on a “Weird Al” tribute album several years ago. Yankovic stated in an interview that the song quickly became one of his daughter Nina’s favorites (it probably helped that the track itself was a parody of Yankovic’s own “Hardware Store"). In fact, Steve’s website has an entire kids section, with albums full of gross-out humor that both kids and adults can enjoy.
The most compelling thing about Goodie though, is his wordsmanship. An expert at his craft, he’s able to interlace clever lines with his music at a rapid pace that often takes several listens to catch all the jokes he weaves into their structure -- a big bonus when penning funny music, as you always want to song to be fresh on repeat, even if the listener knows the majority of the jokes by heart.
An expert at creating both original tunes as well as parodies of pop and rock favorites, Goodie won The Logan Whitehurst Memorial Award for Excellence in Comedy Music (aka “The Logan Awards”) in 2016, in the category of Outstanding Original Comedy Song for his hit “I Dropped My Phone in the Toilet,” while legendary radio host Dr. Demento has referred to Steve as "one of our most talented 21st-century parodists."
While a good portion of his music focuses on the silly or stupid in our culture, many songs of his also tend to be very topical in nature. Never one to shy away from an opportunity, Goodie is a frequent contributor to the Funny Music Project, where he recently posted his reaction to the United Airlines press debacle with “Beaten On a Jet Plane.”
These days, Goodie acts as host at the legendary Bluebird Café every Sunday in Nashville, and currently still tours cross-country, at both rock venues and comedy clubs (he's got dates at The Tacky Turtle Marketplace & Snackery and The Third Cost Comedy Club, both in Nashville). His schedule, as well as his full discography, can be found at SteveGoodie.com.