He graduated in 1963, and later studied at UCLA, from which he earned a master's degree in folklore and ethnomusicology.Р”Р„fter earning his master's degree, he lived for two years 'in a big house on a hill' in Topanga Canyon with members of the rock band Spirit. He wrote his senior thesis on Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck and Claude Debussy's opera PellР“В©as et MР“В©lisande. He claims to have started his vast record collection as early as age 12, when he found 'that a local thrift store had thousands of old 78 RPM records for sale at 5 cents each.' He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he was promoted to Program Director of KRRC in 1960 and General Manager in 1961. Hansen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of an amateur pianist.

7 Previous Affiliates list (no longer carried).

He is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists of the early and middle twentieth century whom they may not have otherwise discovered, such as Haywire Mac, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, and Tom Lehrer, as well as with bringing parodist 'Weird Al' Yankovic to national attention.

Hansen has a degree in ethnomusicology, and has written magazine articles and liner notes on recording artists outside of the novelty genre. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and from 1978 to 1992 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network. After Hansen played 'Transfusion' by Nervous Norvus on the radio, DJ Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be 'demented' to play that.

He created the persona in 1970 while working at Los Angeles station KPPC-FM. Demento, is a radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), better known as Dr.

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