My Appointments with Dr. Demento

This past Friday, a well-known radio announcer turned 80 years old. I emailed him a birthday greeting that day but then felt inspired to write this tribute since he helped get my music heard by a wider audience.

Barret “Barry” Hansen was born on April 2, 1941, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After graduating from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, Barry moved to California and earned a master's degree at UCLA plus worked a variety of jobs in the music industry. Eventually, he created a radio show featuring novelty songs and other unusual recordings. A colleague who called Barry “demented” for playing stuff like that inspired a new nickname. The Dr. Demento Show was soon heard throughout the United States and abroad on Armed Forces Radio. It’s probably best known for launching the career of parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic.

The first time I heard of Dr. Demento was in 1982. I became an announcer for KMSC, the radio station at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. During my shift, I played promos for the Dr. Demento Show but didn’t listen to it then. KMSC could only be heard on campus and I still lived at home. Also, KMSC aired Dr. D’s show on Wednesday nights when I usually worked at a roller rink.

It wasn’t until moving to Minneapolis myself when I started listening to the Dr. Demento Show, which aired Sunday nights on KJJO-FM. By 1986, I assembled a home recording studio to create original electronic music. Many people thought Dr. Demento would play my stuff. So I mailed him one of my demo tapes. Dr. D wrote a reply saying he liked what I did with my synthesizers but needed material that was more humorous. A few months later, I sent him “Let’s Blow Up the Tow Truck.” That song and a follow-up called “Hangover” became #1 requests and continue to be favorites on his show.

One day in July 1987, I unexpectedly received a phone call from Dr. Demento. He was writing an article about my music for his Demento Society newsletter and wanted more information. During the next two years, we talked on the phone a few more times. I had considered making a trip to California to personally meet him but that wouldn’t be necessary. In June 1989, Dr. Demento returned to Minneapolis to visit his mother and left a message on my answering machine suggesting we get together. We ended up recording an interview in my studio that he later aired on his program. Dr. D also invited me to attend a gathering of his family members.

Two years later, Dr. Demento conducted a national tour to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his radio show. One of his stops was Minneapolis. By this time, I had become a Christian and stopped pursuing a secular music career. Nevertheless, I went to see Dr. D at a record store where he signed autographs and talked with fans. I was placed on the guest list to attend a live appearance of him that evening at a local nightclub.

Dr. Demento and I met again the following year when he made another visit to Minneapolis. I put together a recording titled “Too Much TV”, a fictional story composed of television show titles that originated as a Toastmasters speech. I played it for Dr. Demento but found out he already aired a similar recording on his show.

It wasn’t until 2015 when I got another new recording (“Seal Dog Theme”) played on the Dr. Demento Show. Five years earlier, Dr. D ended the syndication of his program. He now produces an online version. Although I periodically check his playlists to see when my songs have aired, I avoid listening to the online programs mainly due to cuss words that no longer need to be censored.

I hope Dr. Demento had a happy 80th birthday. More importantly, I pray that he and fans of his reading this will recognize the importance of being ready for eternity. While God wants us to enjoy ourselves on earth (Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart does good, like medicine”), we will all someday stand before His throne to give an account of our lives. Hell is no laughing matter. I don’t want to see my fellow Dementoids and Dementites going there.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” - John 3:16

Check Your Heart

When someone has a physical checkup, the doctor will use a stethoscope to examine their heart. It’s also important for people to know the status of their spiritual hearts. Sometimes when I’m evangelizing, sinners try justifying themselves by saying, “God knows my heart.” Yet Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” 

Fortunately, one who becomes born again has a supernatural heart transplant. Ezekiel 36:26-27 promises, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

Believers should still occasionally examine themselves to maintain a clean heart. An excellent time to do that is when taking communion. 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 commands, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.”

Other verses that talk about examining our hearts include…

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting..” - Psalm 139:23-24

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.” 

- 2 Corinthians 13:5

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.” - Galatians 6:4 (NIV)

The late John Paul Jackson stated, “We are life long students of the ways of God...trouble starts when we think we have graduated.” If the Lord reveals you’ve been doing things for the wrong motive, there’s no reason to feel condemned. Just repent and move on.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.” - Psalm 51:10 (Amplified Bible, Classic Edition) 

Not On My Bucket List

The latest Internet craze to go viral is the Ice Bucket Challenge. By dumping a bucket of cold water on their heads, people from all walks of life have raised awareness and funds to fight Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. ALS (also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) is a progressive degeneration of the central nervous system, leading to the weakening of muscles and paralysis. 

My friends have expressed mixed reactions to the Ice Bucket Challenge. Some have participated believing it’s for a worthy cause. Others oppose it because many ALS organizations conduct embryonic stem cell research, which results in the killing of pre-born human life. A few God-fearing participants of the challenge have specified their donations go to pro-life organizations like the John Paul II Medical Research Institute in Iowa, which uses adult stem cells.

As for myself, I’ve chosen not to participate in the Ice Bucket Challenge. I’d rather give my time and money to organizations that minister divine healing. God can heal all kinds of diseases including ALS like what happened to one Michigan woman.

Incidentally, this is not meant as an attack on the medical community (I have an uncle who’s a doctor). Medical research can be beneficial to society when done ethically. However, it should be pointed out that during Jesus’ earthly ministry, He never referred anyone to Dr. Luke or some other physician. Whenever someone came to Him for healing, Jesus healed that person directly without the use of drugs. When Jesus hung on the cross, He was offered a type of drug to ease His pain but refused it. 

Under the New Covenant, believers are commanded to heal the sick. While healing can still manifest through doctors and medicine, I believe it’s God’s best for His people to walk in divine health. In 2 Chronicles 16:12-13, King Asa died because he sought help from the physicians instead of the Lord.

One Facebook friend offered this challenge that I will embrace: “Let’s spend one hour a day in the morning with Jesus and pray, worship and seek Him and He will dump a bucket of oil on your head.”

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” - Psalm 23:5