Roger Miller was far from being a one-hit wonder but King of the Road stands towering in popularity over the rest of his work. It topped the UK singles chart in March 1965 and dozens of artists have covered it since (you can hear REM's paralytic version on my State Songs #20: Maine post).
MP3: Roger Miller - King of the Road
Buy: 7digital | Amazon
While doing some research about King of the Road for that Maine blog post I discovered Queen of the House by Jody Miller (no relation to Roger). It's a classic answer song, also released in 65, that uses Roger Miller's tune but lyrics that describe a 60s housewife straight out of The Feminine Mystique.
MP3: Jody Miller - Queen of the House
Buy: Amazon
I'd never heard of either the song or Miller before but the biography on her website reveals that as well as enjoying a long career she "pioneered the music video format in some groundbreaking and eye-popping films for the Scopitone movie jukebox".
Scopitones were a relatively short-lived 60s fad in the United States. Take a look at the flesh on display in the camp clips below and you can understand why barflies might be tempted to put money into the "Carousel of Stars".
Related Links
Scopitone Archive - history, photos and vintage ads
Scopitones - blog with lots of video and memorabilia
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