W.O.C.K On Vinyl: Rick Dees & His Cast Of Idiots - The Original Disco Duck (1976)

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Before things get too serious here at Rock On Vinyl, I thought it might be fun to post a song / album at the end of each month, that could be categorized as being either Weird, Obscure, Crazy or just plain Korny.

Written and performed by Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots, “Disco Duck” became a nationwide hit in the United States by September 1976. It peaked at number one on October 16, 1976, and remained in the Top 10 for a total of 10 weeks. Initially released by Estelle Axton's Fretone label, "Disco Duck®" was acquired by RSO Records for national and international distribution. The runaway hit single sold over 4 million copies, and earned Dees a People's Choice Award for Favorite New Song in 1977. Ken Pruit, Dees' friend and workout partner, did the voice of the duck on this record.

For all its success, “Disco Duck” was shunned by radio stations where Dees was living in Memphis, including WMPS-AM, the station Dees worked for at the time as a disc jockey. Station management forbade Dees from playing the song on his own show and rival stations in the city refused to play it for fear of promoting the competition. When Dees talked about (but did not play) the song on his show one morning, his boss fired him citing conflict of interest.

After a brief mandatory hiatus, Dees was hired by station WHBQ-AM, WMPS's primary competition in Memphis….and was swiftly on his way to an unsurpassed career as not only entertainment’s #1 radio and broadcasting successes, but also to become one of the world’s most instantly recognized and respected voices on the planet.

“Disco Duck” made an appearance in the film Saturday Night Fever and was also showcased in a deleted scene added back to the PG version of the film release. It was featured on “Jeopardy” with Alex Trebek, added to Hasbro’s Trivial Pursuit game, and remains one of the most iconic pop culture songs of all time.

I had a copy of this album, which I bought when it first came out in Australia in 1977, but sadly lost it while living in a shared house with 4 others during the mid 80's. I read where this album was pulled because of the song, "He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts", which deals with Elvis Presley exploding after eating too many of them...shortly after this album was released, Elvis passed away, and that track became a matter of poor taste and bad timing. The album is now a collector's item, I believe - damn!

One thing that has always struck me is the similarity of this U.S comedy duo with Australia's comedy duo Daryl Somers and Ossie Ostrich, who appeared on daytime T.V during the 70's and then later on in the 80's in the evening, with the very successful show 'Hey, Hey It's Saturday". Both featured a feathered puppet with similar looks and the ability to ramble off dialogue that was both risqué and funny.  See comparing photos below.

Rick & Disco Duck

Daryl & Ossie

So this month's W.O.C.K on Vinyl post certainly tick's the Obscure and Korny boxes and features MP3's (128kps) which I managed to source many moons ago somewhere on the internet. (Thanks to the original poster). For your enjoyment, I have also been able to source a couple of 12" releases of the single "Disco Duck" which I am also providing as bonus tracks for your enjoyment.

Track Listing:

01 Disco Duck (Part I Vocal) 3:10

02 Barely White (That'll Get It Baby)  (Barry White Cut-Up Song) 3:45

03 Bionic Feet 3:12

04 Flick The Bick 4:54

05 Disco Duck (Part II Instr.) 3:03

06 Dis-Gorilla 3:05

07 Doctor Disco 4:50

08 Bad Shark 4:17

09 He Ate Too Many Jelly Donuts (Elvis Presley Cut-Up Song) 3:02

10 The Peanut Prance (President Jimmy Carter Song)   2:47

11 Disco Duck (Bonus 12'' Original RSO Version)  6:21

12 Disco Duck (Bonus 12'' Promo RSO Records Remixed) 6:57

Disco Duck Link (49Mb)