This was the first "musical instrument" that I ever owned. Who knows where I bought it or why I bought it. I'm sure it wasn't a gift, or maybe it was. Maybe my mom tried to get my musical interests up by getting me the cheapest instrument she could buy. No, I'd believe I bought this thinking I could become a musical "virtuoso" by having one of these. I didn't get a harmonica because that would have cost a bit more. No, I had the Hohner Kazoo. I could become as famous as...well nobody. Of course, in the 60's I could have been in a jug band that became a favorite of the drug culture and peace and love movement... It still never sounds more than a novelty item when playing in any band...

Sorry for this "business end" photo being a bit out of focus. Hey, you needed talent to play Kazoo right? You had to hum your song while trying not to slobber so much. It's also funny that I was so into tape recording when I got this thing, yet nary a tape exists of me playing in my young kazoo kareer. My excitement for the kazoo waned in the 80's as things as inventive at the "Wally Wall Walker" and portable "Whoopee Whistle" caught my attentions.

My dog "Copey" (a German Shepherd-Husky mix) was a puppy when he found my kazoo and thought of it as an interesting chew toy rather than a fine instrument. Stradivarius ruined by a dog! *GASP* That's why the chew marks and broken plastic. Plus he'd chewed through the membrane that made the music. Well, I was a kid. I couldn't just to to the neighborhood "Membranes R US" or "Membrane Mart" or "Membrane Lots" store. (Remember those chains? Wow, the membrane business was competitive in the early 80's.) So, I cut a circle of newspaper from the Cleveland Press ( underneath the comics section where I cut out my Garfield cartoons for a cheap notebook collection) to make a new "fake membrane."  It's not as good as a Membrane (TM),  but it works.

I did use this in the early 90's to record a solo song but Bill  (from my band SPUDLOK) had a real kazoo made from steel with a genuine Kazoo (TM) Membrane (C) in our box of noisemakers so this one has rested in my junk box ever since. 

As a side note, if you've ever bought a tub of GOOP grease remover with that funky racing engine smell, you know what a good old fashioned MEMBRANE feels like. Bang the can and it vibrates with a hollow, "It's Alive" feeling. Are you cleaning it, or is it cleaning you?

ARF! -Ric