Frosty the Dopeman
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Frosty the Dopeman is a character created by American songwriter, visual artist and social critic Marc Zydiak (1953-) in a song of the same name from his self-titled debut LP (Nirvana Records NR-1009) released in 1977.
While a college student, Zydiak wrote the song in 1972 after reading a newspaper article on the Illinois Crime Commission’s issuance of its advisory to radio stations with a list of popular songs containing “drug-oriented lyrics”. Among the titles on the Commission’s banned song list were Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit, The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Peter, Paul & Mary’s Puff The Magic Dragon, each of which to Zydiak’s mind were rooted in children themes.[1]
Thinking back to his family’s endless listenings to Mitch Miller’s Christmas LPs of his own childhood, Zydiak recognized that the original lyrics to the perennial holiday classic “Frosty the Snowman”, with his “corn cob pipe” , “magic hat”, and authoritarian “cop” were already primed for a drug song parody.[2]
After the song's release, Dr. Demento began playing Zydiak’s “Frosty the Dopeman” on his KMET syndicated radio program in Los Angeles and included the song on his "Dementia Royale" compilation (Rhino Records 1980).
The song is noteworthy for its utilization of a unique combination of both musical parody and political satire and has been recognized for its influence on popular culture in the books Just Say Noel : A History of Christmas from the Nativity to the Nineties[3] and The Curious World of Drugs and Their Friends – A Very Trippy Miscellany[4].
"Frosty the Dopeman" has also been referenced by Kemper Wolf-Reinhard in his scholarly treatise Kokain in der Musik : Bestandaufnahme und Analyse aus kriminologischer Perspektive[5], a psychology dissertation on the cultural, scientific, and social history of counterculture music's influence on the mind.
“Frosty the Dopeman” is mentioned in Keenen Ivory Wayans’ 2001 horror comedy film Scary Movie 2 in the scene where Shorty (Marlon Wayans) is taking care of his pot plant and, just before he himself gets smoked, sees a TV ad for Lockdown Records’ new release “A Hip-Hop Christmas - Where you’ll get such classics as… and who could forget "Frosty the Dopeman"?
“Frosty the Dopeman” has been given new life in the internet age. The song has been much imitated ever since by everyone from school kids to rap artists with many different versions and videos of it viewable on YouTube.
Writers:
Marc Zydiak (words and music), 1972
Personnel:
Marc Zydiak: acoustic guitar, vocal, sleigh bells, policeman’s whistle
Frank Giasullo: piano and arrangement
Don Smith: audio engineer, trumpet, horn arrangements
Alfie Grillo: drums, temple blocks
John Zakieta: clarinet, tenor sax
Tom Cirigliano: trumpet
Ron Baron: trombone
Bob Vass: bass guitar
References[edit]
- ↑ Fong-Torres, Ben. "Radio: One Toke Behind the Line". brewerandshipley.com. Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ↑ Wayne, Captain. "Frosty the Dopeman". madmusic.com. Mad Music Archive. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
- ↑ Comfort, David (1995). Just Say Noel : A History of Christmas from the Nativity to the Nineties. Fireside – Simon & Schuster. p. 64. Search this book on
- ↑ Niermann Ingo and, Sack, Adriano (2008). The Curious World of Drugs and Their Friends – A Very Trippy Miscellany. Plume / Penguin Books. p. 117. Search this book on
- ↑ Wolf-Reinhard, Kemper (2000). Kokain in der Musik : Bestandaufnahme und Analyse aus kriminologischer Perspektive. Germany: Dissertation Bremen. p. 321. Search this book on
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