Big Daddy (band)

Big Daddy is an American satire/parody band, and voice actors that was among the first groups to create mashups - in this case, of oldies and modern pop songs. They are best known for the voices of the Rhinoceros, the Lion, the Giraffe, the Penguin, the Alligator, the Gorilla, the Turtle, the Snake, the Ostrich, and the Elephant in the animated cartoon short produced by Kurtz and Friends, Lincoln Park Zoo, which is shown on Sesame Street in 1986.

History
Big Daddy was formed as an oldies cover band in Southern California in the 1970s as "Big Daddy Dipstick and the Lube Jobs". They later started playing mashups, which were released on Rhino Records.

As with "Weird Al" Yankovic, the band had its first breakthrough on the Doctor Demento radio show. They twice placed on Stereophile's 'Records to Die For' list of albums, in 1994 and 1995.

In 2012 the reformed band raised over $36,000 through Kickstarter to record the album Smashing Songs of Stage and Screen. The same year, choreographer Adam Houghland used music from Big Daddy's catalog for his contemporary ballet piece, Mashup.

Filmography

 * Lincoln Park Zoo (1986) ... Rhinoceros/Lion/Giraffe/Penguin/Alligator/Gorilla/Turtle/Snake/Ostrich/Elephant (voice)

Albums

 * 1983: Big Daddy aka What Really Happened to the Band of '59
 * 1985: Meanwhile... Back in the States
 * 1991: Cutting Their Own Groove
 * 1992: Sgt. Pepper's
 * 1994: Chantmania (as The Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica)
 * 2000: The Best of Big Daddy
 * 2013: Smashing Songs of Stage and Screen
 * 2014: Cruisin' Through the Rhino Years

EPs

 * Dancing in the Dark (EP) - 1985 (Making Waves Records) - UK #21
 * "I Write the Songs"
 * "Bette Davis Eyes"
 * "Dancing in the Dark"
 * "Eye of the Tiger"