mario, yes, he can sound exactly like ccr's john fogarty so he did a lot of ccr parodies including 'read it in the tabloids' (heard it through the grapevine); 'burned on the barbecue' (born on the bayou); 'there's a bathroom on the right' (there's a bad moon on the rise), also 'the baseball strike song' and many others. he was on every 'twisted' cd to date but i have lost track of all the songs he did for bob. btw, 'there's a bathroom on the right' was done at my request. at the time i was commuting to work in seattle and i would start my day with several cups of coffee. the commute took anywhere from 25 minutes to 6 hour (opening day at the u of w during a cloudburst) so knowing where the bathrooms were was vital to me.

Crossing the border into canada with say a roach in the ashtray will get your car searched.

Then you can continue.

Don't try it the other way, the car is gone, yer in jail and you won't ever cross the border again.

I came back from Jamaica once and realized as they went through my one small carry on for 30 minutes that the dogs in the hallway where you can't see them (they sit on the other side as the air is moved across you to them through vents) must have hit on me. They were so disappointed.

As I didn't do the drugs thing (we had to pee in bottles once in a while), I realized I sat on the beach talking to a Jamacian who had a doobie would make Cheech and Chong proud. Probably lingered.

I love those twisted tunes Don. In fact I learned the Bathroom on the right song and play it for my boating friends and they love it. But to cut to the chase yes I have talked to the governing body here in Canada Mac and as I said in my opening statement I"m in a fix because they tell me the won't even ask because they know the publishers don't want their songs parodied.
So I guess what I'm saying is how do others get away with it. I know it would easy to make origianl backing tracks but still they are still using another writers melody.

Hey Ed you writing a song to enter in the 175th b day for Toronto Contest?

How about a parody to " I left my heart in San Francisco"-


"I let a fart in a Toronto Bistro". Think I'd win?

Mel Lastman sang in Dundas Square?

There my Leaf's and I'll cry if I want to?

I love Hawgtown in the Springtime?

TO know know TO is to love love TO?

Tarronna, my kinda town?

I left my heart at the St. Charles?

We'll take Toronto and Centre Island too, it's fun going to Scarberiazoo..
It's pretty fancy, on Queen Street West you know, the subway charms us so, when icy breezes blow, snow to and fro, and tell me what street, compares with Yonge st. in July, on grates where wino's lie, as we walk by, the great big city's a wonderous toy, just made for a Susy and Fred, jumping a streetcar, and seeing Honest Ed.

I could have so much fun with some of these old tunes like-

All my exes changed their sexes
They're missing all the parts I really long to see etc etc.

But the world will never know the rest cause the damn publishers won't let me.
So sad.

Contact some radio stations. I've had a piece I wrote new words to, the Boston Subway protest song, and it got played. Something about they pay roalties based on what they play or some other stuff like that.

I think it's called the MTA song/Pete Seeger? Nice folk tune, I remember the tune, not the words so much.

Found this on-line:


If you plan on going commercial with your parodies, then it is courteous to ask the artists if you can parody their song, just like Weird Al does. Even though the "fair-use" statement of the copyright law might suggest you don't have to do so, this remains a very gray area of the law. Getting permission can prevent you from being sued.

And elsewhere, Canadian jurisprudance:

Generally, No. The Supreme Court case Cambell v. Acuff-Rose addressed this issue and ruled that Luther Cambell (of 2 Live Crew) did not owe royalties to the estate of Roy Orbison (Acuff-Rose) for doing a parody of the song "Oh Pretty Women".

However, if you do a parody, it would be wise to contact the rights owner of the original song to get permission (this is what Weird Al Yankovic makes a point of doing for his parodies) if only to save yourself the messiness of legal action (even if you win in the end, will it be worth the trouble?) Incidentally, even though the Court held in Luther Campbell's favor, he ended up settling with Acuff-Rose and paying royalties anyway.

Hi Ed,

They may not let you sing your parodies but what if you just copyrighted your parodies as poems? No melody line just words? Don’t know, just a thought.

I would think that if you write a parody, then you would owe royalties to the owner of the tune, but that you would be the writer of the lyrics. There are many songs with differing lyrics, written by others. I may be wrong, but it seems sensible this way.

Just an FYI

To see thousands of parodies (and other fun stuff with songs)
check out http://amiright.com/

ed, squire g's link above looks like a great place to ask questions of active parody artists. nice site. thanks, squire g.