Jimmy Castor Bunch--Troglodyte (Cave Man) (1972)

     Novelty records come in many shapes and sizes. Some are topical, that deal with pop culture such as dances, or fashion or just things that are not music related, but taken the country by storm (like Pac-Man Fever or The Streak). Or songs like this one. With the advent of funk in the late 60's and early 70's, the beat became paramount which led to some pretty strange lyrical content. It didn't matter what the words said, just as long as you could dance to it.
      Jimmy Castor got his start in doo wop in the middle/late 50's, singing in his group, "Jimmy and the Juniors", then replacing Freddy Lymon as lead singer of 'The Teenagers". The stint didn't last long, and after being with a couple of other groups, decided to focus on his talents as a sax player. The latter part of the 50's and much of the 60's, he could be found doing studio work for many artists. A great example of his work could be heard on the instrumental, "Rinky Dink" by Dave 'Baby' Cortez in 1962.
     He began dabbling in recording himself again in 1966, to little result, except for the single, "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Calling" which hit the top 20 on the R&B charts (and #31 on the pop charts). As the 60's turned to the 70's, the Jimmy Castor Bunch developed a reputation as a hot funk band. Their commercial success hit a peak in 1972 with the album, "It's Just Begun" and the top ten hit, "Trogoldyte" which introduces us to Bertha Butt (one of the Butt sisters), who was also the subject of another top 20 song by the group in 1975.
     He recorded and toured as a solo artist from 1976 to 1988. He passed away this past January at the age of 71.