Dr. Demento

Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), also known professionally as Dr. Demento , is a retired American radio broadcaster and record collector. He has specialized in novelty songs, comedy, and unusual recordings, but has also spoken about the history of recorded music. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at KPPC-FM in Pasadena, California. After playing "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on air, DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean remarked that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it; Clean and Peter Wolf then devised a "mythical character" named Dr. Demento that would become Hansen's persona. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continued weekly online until his retirement in October 2025. Hansen holds a master's degree in ethnomusicology and has written for magazines and as a liner notes author for recording artists outside the novelty genre. He is credited with introducing generations of listeners to early and mid-20th-century artists such as Harry McClintock, Spike Jones, Jimmy Durante, Benny Bell, Rusty Warren, Yogi Yorgesson, Nervous Norvus, Allan Sherman, Ray Stevens, Candy Candido, Stan Freberg, and Tom Lehrer. He also helped bring "Weird Al" Yankovic to national attention.