Bandleader Spike Jones spent the 1940s and '50s turning out madcap comedy records that alternately offered original, offbeat songs and satirized popular songs of the day. With his musical cohorts the City Slickers, the Long Beach, CA-born Jones managed the wonderful feat of not only being funny, but also making true musical jokes. The controlled pandemonium they took to the top of the pop charts in the '40s was the result of a top-flight band leader having stellar players at his command, unafraid to pillage anything from jazz to pop to classical music.