There wasn’t much to the song: a sampled riff from AC/DC’s “Back in Black” with the distinctly British voice of “120 Minutes” creator/host Dave Kendall intoning, over and over again, “I’m Dave Kendall… and I am really stupid.”
Working on the theory that you can find absolutely anything on the Internet, Slicing Up Eyeballs spent the evening — OK, maybe 20 minutes tops — trying to find evidence that this track wasn’t just a false memory, but actually was played on Southern California radio in the very early ’90s — if not a copy of the very song itself.
If memory serves, this homemade parody about the allegedly hairpieced “120 Minutes” mastermind — who created the beloved Sunday night college-rock staple in 1986 and became permanent host in 1989 — was attributed to someone or something called The Whitman Samplers, and aired on San Diego’s 91X and perhaps KROQ in Los Angeles, too.
While there’s no trace of the song on YouTube, a few different Google searches start turning up results, beginning with — of all things — an e-mail message from 1996 that was part of an archived Orb fan listserv:
Does anyone remember a song from say…oh 91…that had Dave Kendall (of
legendary 120 minutes fame) sampled and fucked up? Basically the track went:
“I’m DAve Kendall…I’m really stupid…”
NOW: here’s the real question: Was that track by the Orb? I have been
wondering this since 1991, and DJ’s have often told me YES it was the orb,
but…alas…I have never been able to find it…
It definitely wasn’t the Orb, so that’s a dead end. Next up is Kendall’s own Web site (by the way, these days he’s hosting “Party 360” on Friday nights on Sirius XM’s classic-alternative station, 1st Wave). And here, buried on a page with his press clippings, is Kendall’s own confirmation, in the third-person, no less:
In addition, Kendall also received national radio airplay when a San Diego college student sampled his voice from an episode of “120 Minutes” and edited it into a hilarious spoken word collage over AC/DC’s “Back In Black.” “Everybody knows,” Kendall heard himself affirm in a kind of inverse mantra, “I am really stupid.”
Now we’re getting somewhere. There’s even a nondescript link on the page’s sidebar that simply says Really Stupid and appears to once have led to the song itself, but, alas, now is just a 404 page. Still, part of the dead link’s URL — Audio/Whitman_Samplers-Kendall_250[1].asx — at least confirms the name Whitman Samplers.
Finally, a trip to the excellent 120 Minutes Archive reveals this 2003 interview with Kendall, in which he reminisces about the song in question and John Lydon (and, come to think of it, didn’t Lydon famously pull off Kendall’s rug on the air?):
A memorable (“120 Minutes” moment) was when we were shooting a show in Tijuana with Johnny Rotten. I was on my way down to interview him (we were driving from San Diego to Tijuana). We turned to KROQ and Johnny Rotten was on the radio slagging me off, ridiculing this contraption I used to wear on my head commonly known amongst 120 aficionados as the “dead cat.” So he was ridiculing me on KROQ, and then they played this song that sampled my voice called “Really Stupid.” It’s me over and over again saying, “I am really stupid.” I’m driving down thinking I’m going to spend the next 48-hours with this guy.
So that’s where we’ve ended up. Proof, from the man himself, that the song existed, but still no audio of this fleeting piece of “120 Minutes” ephemera. If anyone else remembers anything about the track, feel free to leave a comment. If you’ve got an old Maxell filed away somewhere with the song itself — taped off the radio, presumably — drop us a line, or just get it up on YouTube for all to hear.
UPDATE 7/18/09: Dave Kendall drops Slicing Up Eyeballs a note, saying he no longer has a copy of the song, and setting the record straight on the John Lydon incident. Read it all here.
Video: MTV ‘120 Minutes’ promo featuring Dave Kendall, 2/4/90
I remember this track and I might have a taped copy. From what I remember it was a white label called Knuckleheads – Really Stupid.
It was recorded from DJ Jeff K’s Saturday night mix show here in Dallas called Edge Club 94 on 94.5 KDGE The Edge.
I will search or it among many tapes but I’m sure I have it somewhere.
Robert
I have an mp3 of the track. Hip me up if you want a copy.
please send
I remember this song from the days of HFS in the early 90s well before the Westwood network bought them. You have no idea the joy you would bring me to get a copy of this…
for the record. This song was also played on WDRE 92.7 on Long Island. It was played maybe a handful of times and I can only remember it being played on Donna Donna’s show (10pm to 2am time slot.)
I should be meeting up with Dave soon. I just may have to inquire about this. LOL
I played this in Athens when I was doing an alternative show in the early ’90s and I still have the vinyl! It is a white-label, white-sleeve 12″ with the same song on both sides. The label says only “Knucklehead Really Stupid;” no reference of Whitman Samplers. There’s no info in the matrix area either. If I remember correctly, it just showed up in the mail at the station one day.
I’ve reposted on youtube along with the video from the record release “party” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NMl3wgf4xU
This is so cool. I just contacted him at random, not knowing about any of this. Just a fan. I have the vinyl still. Glad everyone enjoyed it.
yeah I knew it as Knucklehead – Really Stupid. I have a good rip from vinyl still.
I actually created this song in 1990. My friend Mike Halloran was, and now is again, program director of 91X in San Diego. He wanted asked me to do a parody song about Dave Kendall, based on his mannerisms, so I took it as a challenge. The first cut was pretty wild (I still have it on tape and haven’t listened to it in 25 years, so who knows if it still plays). I brought it into the studio and Mojo Nixon happened to be on the air with Mike he had a chuckle over it. Mike suggested it be a bit more pop, so I started over. This was created all with a Roland S770 sampler through MasterTracks Pro on a Mac IIci. James Brown “Funky Drummer” drum riff over the AC/DC “Back in Black” guitar riff actually blended perfectly, I think I sped up the drums just slightly. Dave made it easy to get almost all of the VO material over a few episodes. I put it all together and Mike put it on a cart (as the Whitman Samplers) and played it during the nights. Tatu Ruggeri got a copy to Steve Masters at KITS in San Francisco and somehow it got pressed into Vinyl (I still have a couple.) Mike had John Lydon in the Studio one day and played it for him. I think I recall his reaction was, “This is quite good.” That was probably more for it being anti-Dave than it was of any musical quality. I’ll take a positive Lydon reaction any day. I’m glad it has been remembered.
Yeah…not to hit a discussion that’s years old or anything, but – yeah I remember this from the way back years of KDGE and some discussions with both Jeff K and George Gimarc about this song.
Um.
Anyone who’s listening, seeing this etc – if you’ve a copy, then dang. I’d love it.
Heres a link to download the mp3. Have to keep this gem alive!
https://mega.nz/#!UrZUBaYI!_9rAYsOX92cbi_Tdm45Mro6tKefhg8XevXfnruo4bek