Jerrold Laurence Samuels (May 3, 1938 – March 10, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent agent. Under the pseudonym Napoleon XIV, he achieved

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

status with the #3

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

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 ...

They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" is a 1966 novelty record written and performed by Jerry Samuels (billed as Napoleon XIV), and released on Warner Bros. Records. The song became an instant success in the United States, peaking at No. 3 ...

" in 1966. Samuels occasionally revisited the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme. Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote "As If I Didn't Know" with

Larry Kusik Larry Kusik (also known as Larry Kusic) is a lyricist. He is perhaps best known for writing the lyrics for the tune " Speak Softly Love", the love theme from the 1972 film ''The Godfather''. He has also written lyrics to many other movie themes, in ...

, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote " The Shelter of Your Arms", a top-20 hit for

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

in 1964.

Biography

Childhood and early career

Jerrold Laurence Samuels was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

and was raised in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. He played the piano and wrote music throughout his childhood, and began his recording career in 1956 when he cut the single "Puppy Love" for the

Vik Records Vik Records was a subsidiary of RCA Victor Records established in April 1953. In the ''Billboard'' issue of the 11th of that month, it was announced that RCA was launching, namelessly, a new label that was the company's first to be distributed in ...

subsidiary of

RCA Victor Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

. Samuels was an acclaimed songwriter during the early 1960s. Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote "As If I Didn't Know" with

, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote " The Shelter of Your Arms", a top-20 hit for

in 1964.

Napoleon XIV

In 1966, Samuels concocted "

" while working at Associated Recording Studios in New York. The public found out his true identity when

Cousin Brucie Bruce Morrow (born Bruce Meyerowitz; October 13, 1935) is an American radio performer, publicly known as Cousin Brucie or Cousin Bruce Morrow. In an October 2020 interview, Morrow said he received the moniker "Cousin" while in the lobby of hi ...

of WABC revealed his name. The record quickly climbed the charts, reaching the top ten nationally in just its third week on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It peaked at #3 and sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. In the

Cash Box Top 100 The ''Cash Box'' Top 100 Pop Singles (also known as the ''Cash Box'' Top 100) was a record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Cash Box'' magazine, which began publication in 1942. As a close competitor to ''Billboard ...

the record even climbed to No. 1 for one week in its second week on the charts. The success of the single inspired a

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

album of the same name in 1966 (reissued by

Rhino 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 ...

in 1985), most of which continued the mental illness theme, for example: "Bats in My Belfry" and "I Live in a Split Level Head", the latter of which features different vocal parts in each stereo speaker. A second single of two recordings from that album went relatively unnoticed. His manager was

Leonard Stogel Leonard Stogel (September 23, 1934 – May 25, 1979) was an American music business manager, promoter, record producer and executive for the music festivals California Jam, California Jam II, and Canada Jam. He also managed Sweathog, the C ...

. In the following years, Samuels would occasionally revisit the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme. His songs were often played on

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 ...

's radio show.

Later career

In his later years, Samuels worked as a singer and agent who booked various performers in the

Delaware Valley The Philadelphia metropolitan area, also known as Greater Philadelphia and informally called the Delaware Valley, the Philadelphia tri-state area, and locally and colloquially Philly–Jersey–Delaware, is a major metropolitan area in the Nor ...

. In 1984, he founded the Jerry Samuels Agency, and later operated it with his second wife, Bobbie. They retired in 2021. In February 2022, Needlejuice Records teased the release of "an album that's 50 years old". The following year, they announced it was Samuels' long-lost second studio album, ''For God's Sake, Stop the Feces!''https://twitter.com/needlejuicerec/status/1627056159478910978 Recorded between April 1968 and December 1970, the album was rejected by Warner Bros. for its macabre content; notably, the eighth track, "Rape", which provides a graphic account of a

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

, and the fourteenth, "The Note", which portrays a man writing a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message written by a person who intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depend on ethnic ...

. ''Stop the Feces'' was released on April 20, 2023, one month after Samuels' death.

Personal life and death

Samuels was married twice: first to Rosemary Djivre, divorcing in 1968, and then to Bobbie Simon from 1996 until his death. He was also in a relationship with Petra Vesters from 1973 to 1987. He had a son from his first marriage and another from his relationship with Vesters. Another son predeceased him. Samuels was a longtime resident of the

Oxford Circle Oxford Circle is a neighborhood in the lower Northeast section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Its namesake is the much used traffic circle at Roosevelt Boulevard and Oxford Avenue. The Oxford Circle neighborhood has traditiona ...

neighborhood of Philadelphia, though he moved to an assisted living facility in

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania King of Prussia (nicknamed K.O.P.) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community took its unusual name in the 18th century from a loca ...

, after retiring. Samuels died from complications of

Parkinson's disease dementia Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD) is dementia that is associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). Together with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), it is one of the Lewy body dementias characterized by abnormal deposits of Lewy bodies in the brain. ...

at a hospital in

Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek (Schuylkill River tributary), French Creek an ...

, on March 10, 2023, at the age of 84.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!'' (1966) * ''For God's Sake, Stop the Feces!'' (2023)

Compilation albums

* ''The Second Coming'' (1996)

Singles

* "

" / "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT" Warner Bros. (1966) * "I'm in Love with My Little Red Tricycle" / "Doin' The Napoleon" Warner Bros. (1966) * "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" / "!aaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT ot gnimoC er'yehT" Warner Bros. (1973 reissue) * "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haa!" (1966 recording) / "They're Coming to Get Me Again, Ha-Haaa!" (1990; recorded in 1988) * "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" / "Photogenic, Schizophrenic You" Eric Records (1970s)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Napoleon XIV 1938 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American comedy musicians American male songwriters American talent agents Deaths from Parkinson's disease in the United States Deaths from dementia in Pennsylvania People from Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania Musicians from Manhattan Musicians from the Bronx Record producers from New York (state) Singers from New York City Songwriters from New York (state) Warner Records artists