View source for My Name Is Not Merv Griffin

"'''My Name Is Not Merv Griffin'''" is a 1982 [[novelty song]] by Gary Muller. It is a parody of "Je cherche après Titine," with music by [[Léo Daniderff]] and lyrics by Louis Mauban and Marcel Bertal. The melody is the same as that of [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s nonsense-song performance toward the end of his 1936 film, ''[[Modern Times (film)|Modern Times]]''.
The song is based on the singer's lament that he supposedly resembles celebrity [[talk show]] host [[Merv Griffin]] and that Griffin's fans are stalking him, with disconcerting consequences. The song was popularized by repeated airplay on the [[Dr. Demento]] Show and was featured on the 1983 album ''Demento's Mementos''.<ref name="Smith1988">{{cite book|author=Ronald L. Smith|title=Comedy on record: the complete critical discography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVUrAQAAIAAJ|accessdate=3 November 2012|date=1 March 1988|publisher=Garland Pub.|isbn=978-0-8240-8461-5|page=192}}</ref><ref name=GM/><ref>{{cite news|last=Robins|first=Wayne|title=Record capsules: Demento's Momentoes|newspaper=[[Newsday]]|date=December 26, 1982|id={{ProQuest|1000186481}}}}</ref> In 1991 the song was played during the inaugural [[KRXQ]] Tuesday morning [[drive time]] radio show called "Toilet Bowl of Tone-Deaf Tunes".<ref>{{cite news|title=C'mon: Just Let Us Enjoy the Rain and Snow|last=Vierria|first=Dan|newspaper=[[Sacramento Bee]]|page=SC7|date=March 16, 1991}}</ref> It was also recorded by [[the Dartmouth Aires]] and was released on the 2000 album ''Best of College A Cappella Humor: Wasting Our Parents' Money''.<ref name=allmusic/>
==Reception==
The album ''Demento's Mementos'' was reviewed by [[Fanfare (magazine)|''Fanfare'']], with low marks for its "sophomoric... mildly amusing" songs, except for "My Name Is Not Merv Griffin" which stood above the rest as "about as off-the-wall, and funny, as a song can get."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Flegler|first=Joel|volume=7|number=2|year=1983|publisher=Fanfare|page=409|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_XpTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22My+Name+Is+Not+Merv+Griffin%22|title=Review: Demento's Mementos}}</ref> A reviewer of ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'' described the song as one of the "unheralded classics" on the ''Demento's Mementos'' disc.<ref name=GM>{{cite news|last=Lacey| first=Liam|title=RIFF RAP this year's weird records take the christmas cake|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=December 24, 1982| id={{ProQuest|386621405}}}}</ref> The book "Comedy on record: the complete critical discography" (1988) describes the song as having "influences ranging from "[[Beep Beep (song)|Beep Beep]]" to "[[They're Coming to Take Me Away]]" and reports that it "requires tremendous patience to sit through."<ref name="Smith1988"/>
==Covers==
*[[The Dartmouth Aires]] on the 2000 album "Best of College A Cappella Humor: Wasting Our Parents Money".<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/boca-humor-wasting-our-parents-money-mw0000008228 |title=Best of College A Cappella Humor: Wasting Our Parents Money |work= Allmusic |year=2012 |accessdate=3 November 2012}}</ref>
*Luke Ski, with music and background vocals by Power Salad.
*[[Mr. Bungle]] performed a cover of it during a recorded rehearsal in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mr. Bungle - Rehearsal|url=http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Mr._Bungle/Rehearsal/132907|website=metal-archives.com|publisher=Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archive|accessdate=11 January 2015}}</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:1982 songs]]
[[Category:Novelty songs]]
[[Category:Songs about television]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of presenters]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of American people]]