4/24/2010 - Napoleon XIV

No list like this would be complete without one of the signature songs of dementia - "They're Coming to Take Me Away - Ha-Haa!". I have heard before about how Jerry Samuels would be entertaining friends and would turn into Napoleon XIV, a completely different, deranged personality (but not dangerous.)
There have been a couple of parody/sequels to this song. The most obvious is the B side of the original record, "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT" which is the original song played completely backwards (it is the flip side.) The second one is Josephine XV's, "I'm Happy They Took You Away" and then Jerry Samuels made a sequel in 1990 called, "They're Coming To Get Me Again, Ha Haaa!".
The recording wasn't originally considered a song and had to be copyrighted as a lecture. Well, this lecture hit #3 on the Billboard US Charts and #4 on the UK charts. Not bad for a lecture.
Here's Jerry Samuels, aka Napoleon XIV, with "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" Enjoy:



Let's rewind and watch it again: