"Fish Heads" is a

novelty song 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 w ...

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 ...

duo

Barnes & Barnes Barnes & Barnes were an American musical duo, formed in Los Angeles in 1970. Most commonly associated with novelty music and comedy rock, their music also incorporated elements of new wave, synth-pop, and folk rock. The duo was formed in 1970 ...

, released as a single in 1978 and later featured on their 1980 album '' Voobaha''. It is the most requested song on the

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

radio show, and a music video for the song made in 1980 was in regular rotation on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

. The song was featured on Barnes & Barnes' 1982 ''Fish Heads (Greatest Hits)'' 12-inch 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 ...

. 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. The lyrics are an absurdist celebration of

fish head Fish heads, either separated or still attached to the rest of the fish, are sometimes used in culinary dishes, or boiled for fish stock. Anatomy The head of a fish includes the snout, from the eye to the forward most point of the upper jaw ...

s, describing them in the high-pitched chorus as "roly poly" and delicious to eat. The verses describe various things they (mostly) cannot do such as play

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, wear

sweater A sweater (North American English) or pullover, also called a jersey or jumper (British English, Hiberno-English and Australian English),

s, play the

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and drink

cappuccino Cappuccino (, ; from German ) is an espresso-based coffee drink traditionally prepared with steamed milk, including a layer of milk foam. Variations of the drink involve the use of cream instead of milk, using non-dairy milk substitutes ...

Italian restaurant ''Italian Restaurant'' is an Italian comedy television series. Cast *Gigi Proietti: Giulio Broccoli *Nancy Brilli: Connie Mancuso *Adriano Pappalardo: Frank Di Giacomo *Tiberio Murgia: Salvatore *Cristiana Capotondi: Angie *Luigi Montini: Mancu ...

s with

oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

women. Actor

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Prime ...

, a filmmaker at the time, directed and appeared in the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song, along with cinematographer

Rocky Schenck Rocky Schenck (born April 18, 1955) is an American photographer and music video director. Schenck has photographed several album covers and has written and directed numerous music videos and short films. He has shot fashion, editorial and portra ...

and Robert Haimer's girlfriend at the time, Joan Farber, who designed the costume look. The video aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', on December 6, 1980, and the following week.

had a cameo as the bum; he later recalled how he discovered the song, in that Barnes and Barnes had originally submitted a song about vomit that he knew would have never passed his home station's

Broadcast Standards and Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and le ...

, asked the duo for something that was airable on the radio, and was sent "Fish Heads" as an alternative. In 1985, the video was incorporated into several episodes of the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

sketch show ''

Turkey Television ''Turkey Television'' is a sketch comedy series originally aired on Nickelodeon from 1985 to 1986 and re-run until 1988. The show was created by Roger Price and Geraldine Laybourne at the request of Nickelodeon in response to the popularity of ...

''. The song is featured in ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' episode "

Treehouse of Horror VII "Treehouse of Horror VII" is the first episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 27, 1996. In the seventh annual ''Treehouse ...

Alan Arkin Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony A ...

sings the song in the 1993 movie ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or mor ...

''. In the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

television episode "Goodwill" of '' Halt and Catch Fire'', Joe and Haley listen to the song while driving in Joe's car.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish Heads (Song) 1978 songs 1978 singles Comedy songs Novelty songs Songs about fish