Put a quarter in the jukebox

There's a game I like to play with my younger colleagues that I call "the quarter game."

It began as a joke and involved the dictionary. Checking a word in the dictionary, I would inevitably come across another that would be absolutely intriguing.

"I'll give you a quarter if you can tell me what this word means," I would call out to no one in particular.

Somehow, the game evolved into questions about pop culture, especially music.

Not being stupid, I didn't ask questions like who had a big hit with "Hotel California."

Also not being stupid, my younger colleagues began to get some answers right.

Again, not being stupid myself, I began retreating further and further into the past for my questions. In a year's time, I don't think I've given away more than a buck, buck-fifty for correct answers (not because they're young, but because I'm old).

Just for the heck of it, I asked them a question the other day about something I could hardly believe I even remembered myself.

Who, I asked them, made recordings of the songs "Transfusion" and "Ape Call," with such unforgettable lines as "Shoot the juice to me, Bruce" and "Don't be a cube, rube. Go ape."

Well, they said, they didn't know.

Why, it was Nervous Norvus, I said, as if anyone 30 or 40 years younger than I am ought to know who Nervous Norvus was.

It occurred to me afterward that I didn't really know who the heck he was, either. I doubted that his mama had proudly told the doctor to put Nervous as her newborn baby boy's name, although I guess his last name could have been Norvus.

Where do you go to find obscure information from the '50s? Why, to the Internet, of course.

Imagine my surprise to find out that NN was really Jimmy Drake, a guy who made a living as a truck driver and a demo recording artist. He was already past 40 years old when he had his brief time of glory in 1956, but apparently, he was too shy to enjoy it much. According to several Web sites I visited, he even turned down a chance to lip sync "Transfusion" on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

I didn't even know "Transfusion" had charted. I was just a kid when Nervy's strange songs were blasting from the radio, and to be honest, I thought he was just some guy who came up with a couple of novelty songs that were being played regionally.

I did know that his songs made everyone laugh hysterically - I just didn't know they were laughing nationwide. (Oh, give me a break - I was barely 9 years old at the time.)

I remembered another song from the '50s and found my next question.

"Black Denim Trousers" was about a motorcyclist who was known as the "terror" of what highway?

To listen to any of these songs, search at www.youtube.com.

And for you who remember any of them, an imaginary quarter to each of you.

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Persinger is community editor for The Tribune. She may be reached at (812) 523-7063 or jpersinger@tribtown.com.