# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  National Kazoo Day

## journeybear

Get out your zoomaphones, because Thursday is National Kazoo Day! There is more information at this website about this holiday:

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreh...y/kazooday.htm

and many other odd annual celebrations: 

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/january.htm

Also check out http://www.kazoos.com/historye.htm

The above image is the enormous kazoo atop the kazoo factory in Eden, New York 

National Kazoo Day 
When: Always January 28th   
People young and old love Kazoos. Kazoo Day celebrates the the joy of this musical instrument. 

Alabama Vest of Macon Georgia made the first Kazoo in the 1840's. Actually, he conceived the Kazoo, and had Thaddeus Von Clegg, a German clockmaster make it to his specifications.  

Commercial production of the Kazoo didn't occur until many years later in 1912. Manufacturing was first started by Emil Sorg in Western New York. Sorg joined up with Michael McIntyre, a Buffalo tool and die maker. Production moved to Eden, NY where the factory museum remains today. [Ed. note: See below, or go to website] 

Kazoos are easy to play. Simply hum a tune into the kazoo, and you're an expert. Kazoos can be played solo, or in groups. It plays a great tune both ways. 

What do you do on National Kazoo day? Why, play the kazoo, of course.   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origin of National Kazoo Day: 

We know when the Kazoo was invented, and by whom. We know a lot about the history of the Kazoo. But, we do not know who started National Kazoo Day.....yet. Stay, uh...tuned. 

There is no evidence to suggest that this is truly a "National" day, which requires an act of congress. 

If you have any information about this holiday, please email us. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now, I recall back in the early 1970s, when musicians were experimenting with all kinds of instruments, someone decided to put an electric pickup on a kazoo. He put it through a wah-wah and a distortion unit, and was wowing audiences with his extraordinary device. Then one day a bit of spit dripped down the metal barrel, and the results were ... shocking!  :Disbelief:  He retired on the spot - or, whenever he regained consciousness!  :Laughing: 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.edenny.org/kazoo.html

The Original American Kazoo Company
The Kazoo Boutique, LLC www.edenkazoo.com
8703 S. Main Street
Eden, NY 14057,
Hours: Tues - Sat 
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Sun. Noon to 5:00 PM 
Adjacent Factory opened in 1916; world's sole producer of metal kazoos, museum tours 
Contact: Karen K Smith, Owner
 (716) 992-3960  (716) 992-3960 . 
The original American Kazoo Company was established in 1916 and is now the only metal kazoo factory in the world. The museum highlights history, amusing trivia, and shows step by step the way kazoos are made. 

This working museum continues to manufacture a complete line of kazoos. Believe it or not, kazoos are made the same way today as in 1916. The machines that make kazoos are the same die presses that were installed in 1907 when the building housed a sheet metal workshop. Over the years, demand for kazoos became so great that the other metal operations ceased. Today, as in the past, over 20 machines are run with one 10 horsepower motor connected with overhead jack shafts and leather belts. The factory is truly one of the few remaining working museums. 

THE ALL-AMERICAN INSTRUMENT: Although the kazoo has its roots in Africa, it has become as American as apple pie. It is the most democratic of instruments because anyone can play. 

THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN KAZOO: The kazoo was invented by an American named Alabama Vest and made to his specifications by a German clockmaster by the name of Thaddeus Von Clegg in Macon, Georgia back in the 1840's. A traveling salesman by the name of Emil Sorg brought the idea of manufacturing metal kazoos to Western New York in about 1912. He teamed up with Michael McIntyre, a Buffalo tool and die maker, and together they found a way to manufacture the first production kazoos. McIntyre moved to Eden, York where he went into partnership with Harry Richardson, the owner of a metal forming plant. 

KAZOO PATENTED IN 1923: McIntyre and Richardson began producing metal kazoos in 1914. McIntyre even received a patent for the kazoo in 1923. Samuel Whetzle was the key employee who later married the boss' daughter and took over the business in 1939. After running the plant for many years, Whetzle sold the company to a group of Buffalo investors. In 1985, the company was sold to Brimms Inc., a local family business run by the father son team of Robert and David Berghash. They undertook the renovation of the buildings and the machines. 

THE MUSEUM: Kazoos of all shapes and sizes are permanently displayed in the museum. Their collection chronicles the history o kazoos as well as the factory. Display cases contain several types of wooden kazoos, liquor bottle shaped kazoos that celebrated the end of prohibition, antique kazoo instruments, silver and gold kazoos, and many more. From the museum space, you can view kazoos being made on the original equipment. 

VISIT THE KAZOO CAPITAL OF THE WORLD: Museum and gift shop hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 A.M. until 5 P.M. ; Sunday - Noon until 5 P.M. Open year round. Admission is free. For free group tours call for an appointment:  (716) 992-3960  (716) 992-3960 .

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## mculliton123

Journeybear, i have searched everywhere and cannot find any TABS for Kazoo tunes  :Laughing:  :Laughing:  :Laughing: 
Michael

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## jim_n_virginia

Hey I own a kazoo!  :Grin: 

I'll have to beak it out!  :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

They are indeed hard to find, and the notation for them is practically indecipherable!  :Wink: 

In additon to various standard issue forms, including a slide trombone style  :Disbelief:  I've seen some homemade kazoos. My favorite is the one a friend built out of various diameter PVC pipe with bends so it looked was the same size and shape as a tenor sax! It had two or three reeds on it, and was it ever loud! I got to play it once when my jug band played on a float in a parade. Our gas-powered generator went kerphlooey, so rather than bash my mandolin to be heard, I switched to this kazoo. Wailing on "When The Saints Go Marching In" on that thing was one of my most fun musical moments.  :Cool:

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## Bertram Henze

I used to have one decades ago, when I played in a celtic band. We used it in our rendition of "Johnny Cope" in stead of bagpipes we did't have.

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## JEStanek

There's a lot og buzz about them out there this week.  When learning a new kazoo toon it's better to hum along rather than sing it to yourself, I've heard.  Is it time to wax nostalgic about kazoos?  I saw Bill Geist's article on CBS Sunday Morning a while back.  Lots of good stuff in it too.

JB your avatar still makes me think more of Das Boot more than a gigantor kazoo!

Jamie

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## mculliton123

Hey, Eric Clapton is a believer, watch this YT clip of San Francisco Bay Blues and you will believe too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwcSM3MeI8o
Michael

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## journeybear

> JB your avatar still makes me think more of Das Boot more than a gigantor kazoo!


I know! For some reason the factory's website has just two pictures - the factory (a wood frame house) that doesn't include the mega-kazoo, and the kazoo that doesn't include the factory.  :Disbelief:  Context is SO important when trying to determine scale! And if they had used color instead of sepia tone, that two-color barrel would have been instantly recognizable.

I shall continue my search for a better photo. I still have time - National Kazoo Day is _tomorrow_ ...   :Grin: 

Meanwhile here's an MSNBC piece to enjoy ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540...70772#25370772

Hmmm ... OK, I see the KAZOO is on top of the _factory_, a less impressive structure _behind_ the museum (the wood frame house incorrectly specified above). That's probably why they didn't include it. Here's a blog with some great pics. As the third photo shows, it's pretty unimposing. I think I'll stick with my antique-y avatar after all.  :Wink:

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## journeybear

Oh lawdy! Apparently people with, um, just the right enough amount of time on their hands have made some technological strides regarding the evolution of the electric kazoo.

Here is Kazoobie Kazoos, complete with demo video. I think it's "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida," a true kazoo classic. They also have an iKazoo, which I guess you can use to jam along with your iPod - that is a very scary thought if it catches on!  :Disbelief: 



This is the Kazooka, which claims to be the original electric kazoo. (Prove it. That guy I mentioned deserves the honor, as far as I know.) Here's a video of a multi-looped production: 



and through some more devices, beginning at 2:30



We also have some homespun video performances - rock:



and more looping (audio runs out at :33):

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## allenhopkins

Always and forever, my favorite kazoo video -- and three-million-plus hits can't be wrong....

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## blacksmith

I've had mine for a few months now and it's FINALLY starting to open up.....

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## mculliton123

Kazoo on eBay
http://cgi.ebay.com/UNIQUE-SOLID-WOO...item5885b0835c

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## journeybear

The more I look the more I find:

Enter Kazoo Man: Metallica's "Enter Sandman" performed on KAZOO by Mister Tim (multitrack)



Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" - Northwestern University Kazoo Choir (love the tuning up part)



The Worlds Largest Kazoo Band (hang in there for the modulation)

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## mandroid

When you put it in the Avitar guest slot, I was thinking  it was the US Civil War Union Iron Clad, 
the Monitor, 

  Because of the round turret  look..   NB: real submarines don't have rotary turrets  on the deck.

[It makes it rather hard to keep the seawater out of the inside when not on the surface.]

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## JeffD

I may be mistaken, but it is my understanding that the Eden facility is the last metal kazoo factory in the country.


I always wanted to work there, in QC. 

Would that not be a great thing on your resume - quality control inspector at the kazoo factory.

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## journeybear

> NB: real submarines don't have rotary turrets  \on the deck.
> 
> [It makes it rather hard to keep the seawater out of the inside when not on the surface.]


Unless you have O rings and gaskets big enough ...  :Wink: 

But that _is_ what sank the Monitor - it got caught in a storm and the water sloshing up on the deck got into the gaps and swamped her, and down she went ...

As far as I can tell, Jeff, they are still using the original 10 horsepower machine to stamp these out. I believe the two halves of the body are stamped together - not riveted or bolted or welded - the same way they have been for decades. But the majority are made in China, and plastic. It's gotten hard to find metal kazoos in music stores any more.

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## Elliot Luber

I prefer to play the armpit.

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## JEStanek

I accompany the kazoo with armpit (for the bass line).

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## Wolfboy

Trivia question: name an album by a band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on which _three_ band members are credited with kazoo.

Answer: _Anthem of the Sun_ by the Grateful Dead. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthem_of_the_Sun

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## journeybear

Wait, wait - I know the answer to this one! Is it "Alligator" on _Anthem of the Sun_ by the Grateful Dead?




Oh wait - you already _gave_ the answer? OOPS!!!  :Redface: 

 :Grin: 

Odd how you can tell who's playing which one. Jerry's got this cosmic transcendent vibe going, Bobby is more earnest than accomplished but still solid, and Phil holds it all together while keeping it loose.  :Cool:

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## Scott Austin

THIS is the best thread ,thanks everyone.!

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## journeybear

Why, thank YOU! And this is just National Kazoo Day _Eve_ - wait until tomorrow!  :Grin:

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## JEStanek

It'll be a humdinger!  :Smile: 

Jamie

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## journeybear

Hmmm ... that's the buzz!  :Laughing:

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## Dan Hoover

what would we ever do without you JB??? thank gosh we have you... :Smile: 
   i agree with Jamie..that avatar reminds me of "Das Boot"...which i believe i'll have to watch this weekend now,thank you...which also by the way, i caught a episode of 24 on tv,dunno why?and saw Jürgen Prochnow on it,who was also in Das Boot..and, i can't make it come back around to mandolin's or kazoo's...sorry.. :Crying: 
  Happy Kazoo day!! cheers.. :Grin:

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## JEStanek

OK, lets tie this back... Jürgen Prochnow starred as Duke Leto Atreides in David Lynch's version of Dune.  The Hunter Seeker that was sent in to kill Paul looked a bit like a kazoo AND Patrick Stewart as Gurney Halleck played a lute like instrument, sure tuned in 5ths.  That's as close as I can get for you Dan.

Happy Kazoo Day, All!
Jamie

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Perry Babasin

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## journeybear

You each get an "E" for Effort, to go with your "S"  - not for Satisfactory, but for Silly!  :Laughing: 

Remember, with kazoos, close, as with horseshoes and nuclear bombs, is usually good enough.  :Wink:

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## blacksmith

It's here, the second most important day of the year, right after Festivus.

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## JeffD

Hey, perhaps kazoo playing can be enlisted for right hand practice. Listening to Allen's favorite kazoo video yet again, I was taken by the fellow's good timing and excellent strumming.

So this National Kazoo day I will dig out a kazoo and work on chords and rhythm.

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allenhopkins

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## journeybear

Found another electric kazoo:

The Lyons Hummbucker Electric Kazoo is a unique kazoo that contains a built-in dynamic microphone with a 15' cable and 1/4" plug. The Hummbucker Electric Kazoo is ready to plug into any amplification system, including all guitar effects pedals and other sound modifying systems. Lyons makes this kazoo from the best medical-quality polypropylene so it won't break. You won't believe the sounds you can create with a kazoo until you try the Hummbucker Electric Kazoo.

Lyons Hummbucker Electric Kazoo Features:

15' cable with 1/4" amp/effects plug
High-tech, waterproof, custom-cut polyethylene paper resonator
Safety caps cannot be easily removed
Stardom can be yours in moments with this plug-in kazoo with an amazingly electric sound.

_Love that last line. The pickup placement looks like a disaster waiting to happen. I like the looks of the Kazooka, including the low-lying pickup placement:_

The original Kazooka Version 2 electric kazoo was sold during 2004 and 2005. Only about 1000 Kazooka 2's were built. I am pleased to finally be able to offer a reissue of this sought after model. A big thank you to all of those that waited patiently for this reissue.
For the reissue we started with the same twist on/pull off dynamic transducer pickup found on the original Kazooka Version 2. Every other component has been improved: better kazoos, better membranes, better cables with more stress relief and the pickup end now glows in the dark.

Features:

* Removable dynamic transducer pickup for easy membrane changes. Use it as an electric kazoo pickup OR leave the kazoo detached and use the transducer for vocal effects, for instance singing or yelling through your guitar amp.
* Microphone Stand mount for hands free playing.
* Second generation kazooka pro replacement membranes.
* Pickup end glows in the dark.
* Anti-slip rubber grip on kazoo body.
* Triple strain relief at every connection point.
* Pickup decoupled from kazoo body by rubber to reduce handling noise and chance of feedback.
* Standard 1/4 plug for connecting directly to amps. effects, preamps, mixers and sound cards.
* 10 foot professional instrument cable. 

Also Includes:
* Microphone stand mount
* Kazooka pro replacement membranes
* Instructions 

_And you had better read ALL the instructions before you start! It looks complicated._ 

_Finally, this place sells a different version of the Kazooka, though this may just be left over from the 2005 Festivus catalog:_

Electric Kazoo: Just $17.95, the Kazooka Electric Kazoo (Handmade in the USA) sounds like a distorted guitar or an analog synth when it's plugged into an amplifier.

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## Dan Hoover

ok..i can tie back to the mandolin...i completely forgot about Dune...dunno why??great movie...ok,JB has a submarine from Das Boot,pretending to be a kazoo...Jürgen Prochnow starred in both,Sting was in Dune! he played Feyd..Sting play's mandolin... i know on The Soul Cages..probably some other's,that winter snowy solstice album from last year?...there's the kazoo/mando content..see what ya' started JB... :Grin: 
  i can't play anymore,drywalling/painting the laundry room today...cheer's everyone

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## journeybear

Apparently it's also José Martí Day, the 157th anniversary of his birth. We're listening to some of the festivities on Radio Habana, including a 21 cannon salute. So pretty soon I think I'll play "Guantanamera" on my kazoo, thus combining these two celebrations, and making my day complete!  :Mandosmiley:

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## Michael Eck

Well, as a semi-professional kazoo player (I actually play "third lead kazoo" in Ramblin Jug Stompers) I am thrilled that Journeybear has kept us caught up on this very important holiday.

Also, wanted to let you know that you can still get good ol' metal kazoos direct from the folks at Eden, as well as those all-important replacement mirliton membranes.

I need the latter because I have five kazoos attached to my "Jug-A-Various" (along with the jug itself, a cowbell, a woodblock and various -- literally -- bells and whistles).

Anyhow, here's a shot of OUR favorite kazoo!

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## journeybear

Oh no - the dreaded_ plastique!_  :Disbelief:  

But it's also the genuine Jug Stompers issue, and thus a collector's item, so that's cool ...  :Cool: 

I guess just about anything can be personalized/customized these days. In fact, as proof of that, right by the door I've got an actual genuine working canoe paddle sent to my old job by a CPA trying to drum up business, with this introductory decal stuck on it: "Have taxes left you up the creek without a ...?" I kid you not! OK, it's half-length, but still ... I still feel sorry for the letter carrier stuck having to deliver these.  :Laughing:

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## journeybear

> So this National Kazoo day I will dig out a kazoo and work on chords and rhythm.


How do you plan to play chords on a kazoo?  :Confused:  I guess you could put one up your nose to do double stops, but a chord requires three notes ...  :Confused: 

I can think of only one person who could do this - Amy G - but I can't say more than that here ...

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## D C Blood

This has me somewhat worried...I've listened to and watched each of the kazoo videos all the way through :Frown:

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## mandroid

Maybe work on your overtone series ...  Tuvan-Dijiri-Kazoo   :Confused:

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## JMUSIC

My friend and the king of the Kazoo, Rick Hubbard  http://www.kazoobie.com 
Also check out Mike Farkas of the Wiyos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StNuZSXyFdU
                                                 John

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## journeybear

Here's that Wiyos video - pretty cool, though they're cheating by using a real bass ...



And you're right about Mike Farkas - he is a wizard. His solo on this song is really inventive:



I also found the following thanks to an anonymous tip. Thanks, Mike Bromley!  Oops ...  :Redface: 



These guys apparently enjoyed moderate success back in the late 1970s, appearing on national TV:



And finally, innovations are being made all the time. Here is one attempt at pushing the envelope:



I may never be able to think of this song quite the same way again!

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## mculliton123

Wow, just, wow. sorta Blue Man Group meets the Fly, most disconcerting :Disbelief: 
Michael

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## Elliot Luber

> Found another electric kazoo


Poor man's vocoder?

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## mandroid

Backwards day is soon ,  13th January  :Wink:  yraunaJ

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## journeybear

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #9:

Oh lawdy! Apparently people with, um, just the right enough amount of time on their hands have made some technological strides regarding the evolution of the electric kazoo.

Here is Kazoobie Kazoos, complete with demo video. I think it's "Inna-Gadda-Da-Vida," a true kazoo classic. They also have an iKazoo, which I guess you can use to jam along with your iPod - that is a very scary thought if it catches on!  :Disbelief: 



This is the Kazooka, which claims to be the original electric kazoo. (Prove it. That guy I mentioned deserves the honor, as far as I know.) Here's a video of a multi-looped production: 



and through some more devices, beginning at 2:30



We also have some homespun video performances - rock:



and more looping (audio runs out at :33):

----------


## journeybear

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #13:

The more I look the more I find:

Enter Kazoo Man: Metallica's "Enter Sandman" performed on KAZOO by Mister Tim (multitrack)



Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" - Northwestern University Kazoo Choir (love the tuning up part)



The Worlds Largest Kazoo Band (hang in there for the modulation)

----------


## journeybear

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #20: 

Wait, wait - I know the answer to this one! Is it "Alligator" on _Anthem of the Sun_ by the Grateful Dead?



Oh wait - you already _gave_ the answer? OOPS!!!  :Redface: 

 :Grin: 

Odd how you can tell who's playing which one. Jerry's got this cosmic transcendent vibe going, Bobby is more earnest than accomplished but still solid, and Phil holds it all together while keeping it loose.  :Cool:

----------


## journeybear

Just doing a little office work here. Due to a conversation on another thread, I took a look back at this old one, and discovered, to my dismay, that I had uploaded videos incorrectly. This is my attempt to right this grievous wrong, which has hampered the enjoyment of these multimedia extravaganzas by countless numbers of observers. So these are reposts of the old ones, and hopefully now they will be embedded correctly for all to enjoy for posterity.

Former Post #39:

Here's that Wiyos video - pretty cool, though they're cheating by using a real bass ...



And you're right about Mike Farkas - he is a wizard. His solo on this song is really inventive:



I also found the following thanks to an anonymous tip. Thanks, Mike Bromley!  Oops ...  :Redface: 



These guys apparently enjoyed moderate success back in the late 1970s, appearing on national TV:



And finally, innovations are being made all the time. Here is one attempt at pushing the envelope:



I may never be able to think of this song quite the same way again!

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## allenhopkins

You *had* to resuscitate this thread?  Bad juju, guy…

_But,_ since you did, let me mention that Rochester NY (my beloved home town) was/is the home of *Kazoophony,* a quartet of classically-trained musicians who performed a variety of music on kazoos, in formal dress and bare feet.

Here's a vid of the group performing at Rochester's venerable Eastman Theater (no relation to the mandolin company), usually home of the Rochester Philharmonic:



Barbara Stewart, leader of the group and treble kazooist, used to have a website devoted to kazoos and related paraphernalia, but it seems to be inactive...

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## journeybear

I would apologize if I thought it were warranted, but I think it's a fine if rather daffy thread, befitting the topic. Besides:




> THIS is the best thread ,thanks everyone.!


Thanks, Scott! Please post more often!  :Wink: 

Anyway, as I said (more or less), I happened to look at this thread today, and was stunned to see an awful lot of blank space where vidclips should have been. Shuddering to think of how many people had been unable to share in  the brilliant musicianship provided therein, I immediately set out to correct this horrific situation. I thought of waiting until nearer National Kazoo  Day (January 28th), but the notion of untold braces of viewers being unable to experience these wonders until then was abhorrent. Once aware of this injustice, I could not turn away until I had done all I could to set things right.

Glad I did.l That was a fascinating video you posted. Some really cool stuff those kids are doing. Thanks!

(In case folks didn't catch the reference, Eastman School of Music is a top notch music conservatory established by George Eastman, founder of Kodak, also based in Rochester.)

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## journeybear

I hopd everybody hummed, buzzed, and otherwise celebrated National Kazoo Day. I know *I* did my part.



If not, fear not. Some prefer to celebrate on  the fourth Thursday of January, which is today.



It's one of the few truly American instruments. Be proud! And silly! And proud to be silly!

Here is the history of the invention of the kazoo in song.

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## Timbofood

Living in Kalamazoo and it just buzzed by me! Must put that back in my tickler file, Hmmmm.

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## journeybear

Huh! Does anyone refer to the town as K-Zoo for short? Now would be a good time to do that.  :Grin:

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## Bertram Henze

> Huh! Does anyone refer to the town as K-Zoo for short? Now would be a good time to do that.


Kalamazoo itself sounds like an abbreviation, like - Kalamity Zoo?  :Grin:

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## journeybear

Now, now!  :Mad:  Kalamazoo is the location of the Gibson factory, where our revered Gibsons originated, were created and developed, and from where rose to prominence and came to be known as the ultimate fretted string instrument, and deserves all due respect.

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## journeybear

By the way, Boaz Frankel, the writer of that fine musico-historical treatise, opened a kazoo museum, appropriately titled The Kazoo Museum. Originally established in Seattle in 2007, then relocated to a larger space in Seattle, then to Portland OR, and finally to Beaufort SC, where it is situated on the grounds of the Kazoobie Kazoos factory. This peripatetic history may be the result of Mr. Frankel being run out of town repeatedly.  :Disbelief:  I hope not. It's a fine instrument, All-American, and capable of great subtlety and emotional resonance.

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## OldSausage

Look, Kazoo Day is over. Today is National No Kazoo Day.

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## mandolinstew

[QUOI gotTE=journeybear;760695]

Get out your zoomaphones, because Thursday is National Kazoo Day! There is more information at this website about this holiday:

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreh...y/kazooday.htm

and many other odd annual celebrations: 

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/january.htm

Also check out http://www.kazoos.com/historye.htm

The above image is the enormous kazoo atop the kazoo factory in Eden, New York 

National Kazoo Day 
When: Always January 28th   
People young and old love Kazoos. Kazoo Day celebrates the the joy of this musical instrument. 

Alabama Vest of Macon Georgia made the first Kazoo in the 1840's. Actually, he conceived the Kazoo, and had Thaddeus Von Clegg, a German clockmaster make it to his specifications.  

Commercial production of the Kazoo didn't occur until many years later in 1912. Manufacturing was first started by Emil Sorg in Western New York. Sorg joined up with Michael McIntyre, a Buffalo tool and die maker. Production moved to Eden, NY where the factory museum remains today. [Ed. note: See below, or go to website] 

Kazoos are easy to play. Simply hum a tune into the kazoo, and you're an expert. Kazoos can be played solo, or in groups. It plays a great tune both ways. 

What do you do on National Kazoo day? Why, play the kazoo, of course.   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Origin of National Kazoo Day: 

We know when the Kazoo was invented, and by whom. We know a lot about the history of the Kazoo. But, we do not know who started National Kazoo Day.....yet. Stay, uh...tuned. 

There is no evidence to suggest that this is truly a "National" day, which requires an act of congress. 

If you have any information about this holiday, please email us. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Now, I recall back in the early 1970s, when musicians were experimenting with all kinds of instruments, someone decided to put an electric pickup on a kazoo. He put it through a wah-wah and a distortion unit, and was wowing audiences with his extraordinary device. Then one day a bit of spit dripped down the metal barrel, and the results were ... shocking!  :Disbelief:  He retired on the spot - or, whenever he regained consciousness!  :Laughing: 


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.edenny.org/kazoo.html

The Original American Kazoo Company
The Kazoo Boutique, LLC www.edenkazoo.com
8703 S. Main Street
Eden, NY 14057,
Hours: Tues - Sat 
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 
Sun. Noon to 5:00 PM 
Adjacent Factory opened in 1916; world's sole producer of metal kazoos, museum tours 
Contact: Karen K Smith, Owner
 (716) 992-3960  (716) 992-3960 . 
The original American Kazoo Company was established in 1916 and is now the only metal kazoo factory in the world. The museum highlights history, amusing trivia, and shows step by step the way kazoos are made. 

This working museum continues to manufacture a complete line of kazoos. Believe it or not, kazoos are made the same way today as in 1916. The machines that make kazoos are the same die presses that were installed in 1907 when the building housed a sheet metal workshop. Over the years, demand for kazoos became so great that the other metal operations ceased. Today, as in the past, over 20 machines are run with one 10 horsepower motor connected with overhead jack shafts and leather belts. The factory is truly one of the few remaining working museums. 

THE ALL-AMERICAN INSTRUMENT: Although the kazoo has its roots in Africa, it has become as American as apple pie. It is the most democratic of instruments because anyone can play. 

THE BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN KAZOO: The kazoo was invented by an American named Alabama Vest and made to his specifications by a German clockmaster by the name of Thaddeus Von Clegg in Macon, Georgia back in the 1840's. A traveling salesman by the name of Emil Sorg brought the idea of manufacturing metal kazoos to Western New York in about 1912. He teamed up with Michael McIntyre, a Buffalo tool and die maker, and together they found a way to manufacture the first production kazoos. McIntyre moved to Eden, York where he went into partnership with Harry Richardson, the owner of a metal forming plant. 

KAZOO PATENTED IN 1923: McIntyre and Richardson began producing metal kazoos in 1914. McIntyre even received a patent for the kazoo in 1923. Samuel Whetzle was the key employee who later married the boss' daughter and took over the business in 1939. After running the plant for many years, Whetzle sold the company to a group of Buffalo investors. In 1985, the company was sold to Brimms Inc., a local family business run by the father son team of Robert and David Berghash. They undertook the renovation of the buildings and the machines. 

THE MUSEUM: Kazoos of all shapes and sizes are permanently displayed in the museum. Their collection chronicles the history o kazoos as well as the factory. Display cases contain several types of wooden kazoos, liquor bottle shaped kazoos that celebrated the end of prohibition, antique kazoo instruments, silver and gold kazoos, and many more. From the museum space, you can view kazoos being made on the original equipment. 

VISIT THE KAZOO CAPITAL OF THE WORLD: Museum and gift shop hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 A.M. until 5 P.M. ; Sunday - Noon until 5 P.M. Open year round. Admission is free. For free group tours call for an appointment:  (716) 992-3960  (716) 992-3960 .[/QUOTE]

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## journeybear

> Look, Kazoo Day is over. Today is National No Kazoo Day.


Not so. EVERY day is National Kazoo Day, for those with kazoos in their hearts - and hands. Some consider *today*  the day, as explained below; some celebrate it all week long. According to the website: 

"Of course, kazoo players are not known to be perfectly precise, so feel free to celebrate National Kazoo Day on January 29, if you so desire, as some folks have the impression that the date is supposed to be the fourth Thursday in January. 

In fact, most people will agree that we should consider January 24-31, 2015, National Kazoo WEEK! So celebrate all week long."

If this doesn't float your boat, best to just duck, or run. 

And now, a brief history of the kazoo:



"It was easy to hear over a banjo, and cheaper than a horn section." Be grateful for that.  :Grin: 

My band uses them a lot. There's a guy in town who will make a kazoo out of almost anything the right size, though wood is the best. He uses the air release valve from cushions for the resonator. A couple of guys in the band have them. When we do a song in which we really go at it, I introduce it as "featuring the Two-Bit Horn Section."  :Grin:  They really cost $1.67 at Musician's Friend, but that's not as funny.  :Whistling:

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Randolph

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## Timbofood

Oh good grief yes, Kalamazoo is referred to as K-zoo, Kazoo, I don't know what a Kalama is but they have their own zoo.

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## journeybear

I hope everyone interested remembered National Kazoo Day. I sure didn't.  :Crying:  I was busy with errands most of the day, and when I got home was so tired I keeled over for a couple of hours. Then I had some stuff to do around the place. Spending some time getting caught up on my interweb doings, toward the end of which my eye landed on today's facebook memories - and there was a notice from several years ago. Good old facebook - sometimes.  :Whistling:  

So as soon as I finish this I am going to break out the mando and kazoo and whip up some jug band numbers. It's awful nice living out in the sticks where I can do this sort of thing just about any time I want and not bother anyone. Even the deer passing by son't seem to mind. And the wild peacocks - heck, they make more noise than I do, when they're of a mind to.  :Laughing:  

Some how I have the refrain of a rap or hip-hop song running in my head, which I think is about something other than kazoos: "All I want to do is zoom a zoom-zoom-zoom" or something like that. I'm totally ignoring any sort of double entendres and taking this at face value, because having a little zoom-zoom sounds like fun to me right now.  :Wink: 





> Oh good grief yes, Kalamazoo is referred to as K-zoo, Kazoo, I don't know what a Kalama is but they have their own zoo.


Thus averting Kalama-ty.  :Whistling:

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## Bill McCall

Sad to say, but when I lived in Buffalo and played music with a fellow who had worked in the factory, I never made it to the museum.  But the word was that it was a terrible place to work with that ancient, mostly unguarded equipment.  Cuts and worse were not uncommon.

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## journeybear

I thought the factory was closed, the business sold to China.  :Confused:  Oh geez! Now I gotta do research instead of having a good zoom?  :Crying:

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## journeybear

Well, this is interesting. The wikipedia page has been spruced up a lot since the last time I looked. 

The modern kazoo—also the first one made of metal—was patented by George D. Smith of Buffalo, New York, May 27, 1902.

In 1916, the Original American Kazoo Company in Eden, New York started manufacturing kazoos for the masses in a two-room shop and factory, utilizing a couple of dozen jack presses for cutting, bending and crimping metal sheets. These machines were used for many decades. By 1994, the company produced 1.5 million kazoos per year and was the only manufacturer of metal kazoos in North America. The factory, in nearly its original configuration, is now called The Kazoo Factory and Museum. It is still operating, and it is open to the public for tours.

In 2010, The Kazoo Museum opened in Beaufort, South Carolina with exhibits on kazoo history.

[Ed. note: There's another kazoo museum? Yes, indeedy! With its own wikipedia page.]

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## journeybear

And here are photos of the machines at the old factory in Eden, NY, plus a display of the production steps. Fascinating. And yes, Bill, there look to be plenty of opportunities for injury.  :Frown:

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## Ranald

We played the kazoo in honour of our American cousins, and because we don't know when Canada's National Kazoo Day is. Surely every country has one!

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## journeybear

Thank you, on behalf of my American cousins!  :Mandosmiley:  I've no idea if there are other such commemorations, nor if so, where. I imagine google, which knows all, will reveal the answer if properly approached. Over the years, I have found numerous sites which offer up this information - national AND international days, weeks, and months, even years - but haven't found one that has everything. I imagine there are a nearly infinite number of organizations which believe such a designation will help promote awareness of their cause, proclivity, or item of choice, and this activity increases constantly. I'll take a quick look, but I want to knock off this goofing around and get to some real goofing around - on mandolin and kazoo, of course!  :Mandosmiley:

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## journeybear

Oh, for goodness' sake!  :Disbelief:  There's a website for National Kazoo Day!  :Disbelief:  It looks like it's operated by Kazoobie Kazoos, the owners of the kazoo facory and museum in Beaufort SC.

This is also National Blueberry Pancake Day and International Lego Day. A very good day, indeed!  :Mandosmiley: 

This page, the Daily Hive from Vancouver, lists it.

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## allenhopkins

Having one of my now-infrequent performances today for seniors at St. Ann's Home in Rochester -- where they set me up in the empty chapel in front of a closed-circuit camera, and pipe me to the residence floors -- I assure you that I'll be playing ukulele and kazoo on _Frosty the Snowman,_ a winter-season fave.

Here's my recurrent salute to Rochester's own _Kazoophony:_

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## journeybear

Thanks for that - I think.  :Confused:  It brings up one of my main complaints about kazoonists ("kazooers" didn't sound right, somehow) - all too often they take this humorous approach, which usually falls flat and becomes more annoying than funny. I will grant from here to eternity it is a funny-sounding instrument, particularly in the hand and lips of the everyday player. But it can be used quite effectively, even expressively, if one chooses to do so.  :Cool: 

I don't want to go off on a rant here, but I've been in a few bands that used kazoos fairly frequently, and we took the instrument, comical as it often is, as seriously as we could. These were two jug bands and one genre-bending band that played a lot of swing, ragtime, and jug band music. This last one was the toast of the town here for a couple of years, and we were known for both fine music and fun times. We worked up some tight harmonies with kazoos on a few tunes, even though the custom is usually unison. We referred to the kazoos as the Two-Bit Horn Section - the actual price was somewhere between 79¢ and $1.29, but that lacks pizazz - and we used kazoos in the role of horns. One member even affixed a kazoo to the bell part of a trombone, which produced quite a commanding tone.  :Disbelief:  

The thing is, it's even funnier to play music seriously on an admittedly serious instrument than to play for laughs. That tends to come across as smug and smarmy, even condescending. It's even disparaging to the instrument, which never has meant anyone any harm, and has suffered nearly endless abuse over the years from players, audiences, and critics alike. I say the instrument should be treated with the respect it truly deserves, not the disprespect so many see fit to lump upon it.  :Mad: 

But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.  :Whistling: 

PS: I'll look for recorded examples of our kazoo use. Sadly, much of our recorded output resides on my hopefully just comatose computer.  :Frown:

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## journeybear

Alrighty then! Here's hoping this works ... If so, not only will there be much KC, but also plenty of much-needed MC.  :Whistling: 

Dang! I thought it would open right here in the window.  :Confused:  Sigh ... Well, enjoy!  :Cool:

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## allenhopkins

OK, J-Bear, some _serious_ kazoo-ing.  I saw Jesse Fuller twice in the '60's in Boston, at Club 47 and at the Unicorn, and I was honored to get the chance.  This YouTube vid of his most famous song, gives a chance to see his "footdella" bass instrument in action, as well as the hi-hat cymbal, harmonica, kazoo, and Silvertone electric 12-string he played -- simultaneously!

At Club 47, he did "two sets" but never left the stage, and noodled on a guitar version of the _William Tell Overture_ between sets, that was pretty amazing.  The "Lone Cat" was one of the real geniuses of African-American folk-based music, IMHO.  Forty-five years since he passed away, but I still remember his singing, harp and kazoo playing, and his unique one-man-band act.  Unique and talented as hell.

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Charles E., 

journeybear

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## journeybear

Well, that *is* the real deal right there, no doubt about it! He had a way, a style, all his own and for all and forever. As a matter of fact, this is the very song I began my Kazoo Day zooming with. Not quite on this level, mind you,  :Whistling:  but it sure was fun. Excellent choice, sir.  :Mandosmiley:

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allenhopkins

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## journeybear

Plenty more here. Bit of bio, then a bunch of songs. Playing an electric 12-string this time around.

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allenhopkins

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## JeffD

I have always wanted that on a resume: quality control manager at a kazoo factory.

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## journeybear

They're probably hiring, and they're near you. Kind of.  :Wink:  

Though it looks like Kazoobie has taken over, down in SC. Probably more opportunities there. Relocation?  :Confused:

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## journeybear

But seriously - From the display of the 18 steps in the manufacturing process seen in Post #63, there isn't enough there to keep a brilliant mind such as yours occupied. QC manager at a kazoo factory sounds like a position custom-designed for the ne'er-do-well brother-in-law of the owner's cousin - someone like that. Doesn't seem very demanding.  :Whistling:

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## journeybear

It so happens that there was a bit of kazoo to-do on The Late Show on National Kazoo Day - intentional or not, we'll never know, because though its inclusion in the band's playing during the first bumper was discussed by the host and the band leader, the day's significance was not. The banter was quite amusing, all the same.

The song was Fat Domino's classic, "Blueberry Hill," in case you couldn't tell.

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## Dillon

About the only thing that makes me wish for a banjo

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## journeybear

Well ... the difference is, you *can* tune a kazoo.  :Wink:  And kazoos make people smile.  :Smile:

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