Barnes & Barnes were an American musical duo, formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Most commonly associated with

novelty music A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wi ...

and

comedy rock Comedy rock is a genre of rock music that is Comedy music, comedic in nature. It is often mixed with satirical music, satire or irony.V. Bogdanov, C. Woodstra and S. T. Erlewine, ''All music guide to rock: the definitive guide to rock, pop, and ...

, their music also incorporated elements of new wave,

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

, and

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

. The duo was formed in 1970 by actor

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, producer, and musician. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor whose work included television appearances on ''Bewitched'', ''I Dream of Jeannie'', ''T ...

and Robert Haimer (March 2, 1954 – March 4, 2023) who were high school classmates, originally as a private home recording project. By 1978, Barnes & Barnes had gained public recognition with the radio debut of their novelty song " Fish Heads," on the US nationally syndicated '' Dr. Demento Show''. When recording or performing as Barnes & Barnes, Mumy and Haimer adopt the personae of Art Barnes and Artie Barnes, respectively: twin brothers from the fictional civilization of Lumania.

History

Robert Haimer and Bill Mumy were childhood friends who occasionally performed together on their musical instruments. After the cancellation of Mumy's TV series ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...

'' in 1968, they shot short films with a Super 8 motion picture camera, dubbed "Art Films". The two began calling each other "Art" in joking reference to these films. They formed the band Barnes & Barnes in 1970. They started when they were about 16 with a two track recorder. Their surname ''Barnes'' was taken from a

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

comedy routine called "

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

", in which a character called Junior Barnes throws a slushball at Cosby as a child. Originally, both Haimer and Mumy were named "Art Barnes", but Haimer's alter ego was publicly renamed "Artie" in 1979 to differentiate between them. They first received airplay on '' The Dr. Demento Show'' in 1978. Haimer was a fan of the show and convinced Mumy to "pick a couple of songs and do them right" to send in, the results being their songs "Boogie Woogie Amputee" and " Fish Heads" which they re-did on a

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four track machine. The latter recording was released as a single on their own Lumania Records in 1979 and remains their best-known song, as well as the most requested song in the history of ''The Dr. Demento Show''. In 1978, Damaskas and Barnes & Barnes recorded "A Day in the Life of Green Acres", a song that combined the music of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

A Day in the Life "A Day in the Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as the final track of their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the opening and closing sections of the s ...

" with the lyrics to the theme song of the television show ''

Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first br ...

''. It was inspired by Little Roger and the Goosebumps' similar intertwining of

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

's "

Stairway to Heaven "Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 8 November 1971 on the band's untitled fourth studio album (commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV''), by Atlantic Records. Composed by the band's guitarist Jimmy ...

" and the theme to ''

Gilligan's Island ''Gilligan's Island'' is an American sitcom created and produced by Sherwood Schwartz. The show's ensemble cast features Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., Jim Backus, Natalie Schafer, Tina Louise, Russell Johnson, and Dawn Wells. It aired for th ...

''. Barnes & Barnes released a four-song EP in 1982 featuring the songs, "I Had Sex with E.T." and "I Had Sex with Pac-Man". Both songs had identical music but different lyrics. It was rumored that Spielberg or Universal's lawyers requested that the EPs be removed from the shelves, and very few were sold. The "I Had Sex with..." songs were never released on any Barnes & Barnes compilation. Both songs ended with, "Eat them up, yum!" Their song "Something's In The Bag" was also frequently played on Dr. Demento. Haimer died in March 2023.

Discography

With the exception of ''Soak It Up'' and ''Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes'', all of their initial albums were released on

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

. All of their '90s rereleases were on CD, with bonus tracks, on

Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by Carl Caprioglio. The label issues compilations of rare 1980s modern rock and new wave songs, many previously unreleased on CD. In addition to releasing new material by artists such ...

. * '' Voobaha'' (1980) * ''

Spazchow Spazchow is the title of the second album of American comedy rock group Barnes & Barnes, originally released in 1981 by Rhino Records and re-released in 1997 by Oglio Records Oglio Records is an American record company started in 1993 by C ...

'' (1981) * ''Barnes & Barnes'' (EP; 1982) * '' Fish Heads: Barnes & Barnes' Greatest Hits'' (compilation EP; 1982) * '' Soak It Up'' (EP; 1983) * ''Code of Honor'' (intended for release 1983; material included in ''Kodovoner'' in 2005) * '' Amazing Adult Fantasy'' (1984) * '' Sicks'' (1986) * '' Zabagabee: The Best of Barnes & Barnes'' (compilation; 1987) * ''Hictabur'' (intended for release 1988, released 2016) * '' Loozanteen'' (1991) * ''The Dinosaur Album'' (1993) * ''Yeah: The Essential Barnes & Barnes'' (compilation; 2000) * ''Kodovoner'' (2005) * ''Opbopachop'' (2009) * ''Holidaze in Lumania'' (2018) * ''Creepy Scary'' (2019) * ''Pancake Dream'' (2021) * ''Haimoom'' (2022)

Producing work

Barnes and Barnes produced two albums for Wild Man Fischer and one album for

Crispin Glover Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker and artist. He is known for portraying eccentricity (behavior), eccentric Character actor, character roles on screen. His breakout role was as George McFly in ''Back to ...

References

External links

Official website (offline, from Internet Archive)

Bill Mumy's website
*
YouTube channel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes and Barnes Rock music groups from California American comedy rock musical groups American novelty song performers Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 2023 1970 establishments in California 2023 disestablishments in California