the Wry Baby Blog

As a kid, I idolized Soupy Sales. Even though I grew up in the Seventies, I somehow was able to catch reruns of the late-’50’s/early ’60’s Soupy Sales Show on TV. So weird. So spontaneous. So…weird! I loved it, but what really hooked me was Soupy’s masterwork, the Soupy Sales Show LP.

Put out in 1961 on Reprise Records, it’s a snapshot of what his show was like in the beginning, before all the ’60’s era celebs (Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., etc.) thought it fun publicity to be hit in the face with pie on his show. The LP is, basically, a show in itself with music. Soupy gets a call from a record label who wants him to record an album. He agrees to do it, but doesn’t have any songs, much less a singing voice. But his puppet gang (White Fang, Black Tooth, Hippie the Hippo, Pookie the Lion) all come to his rescue offering songs from their songwriting club. The songs are not only hilarious, but catchy as all get out and are stylistically outrageous. Ranging from Rock ‘n’ Roll to a Cha-Cha-Cha to a tender ballad about the love between a boy and his…dog. The album was a huge hit.

As a kid, as well as now, my favorite bits were the songs about Soupy himself and no song sums up what made me love him more than “Pie In The Face“. In 1985, Soupy said he’d probably be remembered for the pies, and he was okay with that. But while this song is about his signature pie-in-the-face-bit, it explains WHY he loved getting hit with pies. Simply because it made people laugh. That was hugely inspirational to me and eventually became the basis for my doing what I do now with Wry Baby. It really is the greatest feeling of all to make people laugh.

When I was in elementary school we had to perform skits for a senior center in Orange County, CA. Each kid had to do a short bit for a crowded audience. I chose to lip sync to Soupy’s “Pie In The Face” (complete with two back-up dancers) and in the end get smacked with two big whipped cream pies. We had never rehearsed with real pies, though. You’d really be surprised how far all that whipped cream goes once it hits your face. I have to admit there weren’t many laughs at the end of THAT performance, but I still chuckle out loud whenever I think about it. Thanks so much, Soupy!

Remarkably, you can get this release! On CD even! Rhino Records put out a two-record set of Soupy’s LPs, the Soupy Sales Show and Up In The Air, his second release. Click here to get to Rhino where you can even listen to snippets before you order. Only $19.98.