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| Here are some reviews I have cum across about the man him self |
Valby, John
Published: April 2003
Story: Michael Filipelli
Photo: Fly Magazine photo by John von Butane
He makes his appearance to a raucous chorus of hoots, whistles, screams, applause, and a chant of "Sing, fucker, sing." This month, John Valby, Dr. Dirty, the
King of Filthy Song Parodies, makes his pilgrimage into Central Pennsylvania and comes on-stage in his trademark white tuxedo and tails, a black bowler,
granny glasses, sneakers, and long hair. You can tell from the first opening warm-up on the piano that this guy has some talent, genuine musical talent - not
exactly what you'd expect.
Valby, a 50-something classically trained pianist from Buffalo, N.Y., has fashioned a career of taking old songs, sea shanties, nursery rhymes, pop tunes, and his
own compositions and setting the most outrageous lyrics imaginable to them. Valby will scream obscenities at his audience, and they will scream them right back
at him. And laugh with him, and sing along, and applaud his lewdness.
It all started innocently enough. "It was back in Buffalo," says John Valby. "I was playing a place, and threw in three mildly off-color songs, and the place went
buggy. The next night, they wanted those three songs over and over." And, from that, an underground legend was born.
Married, with five kids, Valby admits it was a struggle for him to discern at times between the musician he aspired to be and the entertainer he became. "I'm a
musician, not a comedian," he says. "I'm a comedian by accident - and necessity. I, myself, am not a funny guy. When you meet a comedian, they're
compulsively on, all the time. I'm tied to the song format."
He has settled into his role quite well. But the fact is, Valby is not a naturally crude person. Does he feel conflicted when assuming the Dr. Dirty persona? "Oh,
absolutely," says Valby. "For years, I struggled with it. Then, I realized my job is to entertain people. I reconciled the Dr. Dirty thing a while ago. My job is not
to express my soul? as a musician. My job is an entertainer, to entertain the people that come to see me.
"It's not [the audience's] job to appreciate the musicianship," he continues. "It's their job to come, and have a good time, and be entertained."
When describing Dr. Dirty, a lot of words spring to mind: foul-mouthed, offensive, funny, king of the dirty ditty. But the real John Valby is not what you'd
expect. He's intelligent, articulate, sensitive (Is this the same guy?), polite, and gracious. When the night is over, and the crowd has gone home sated, happy,
and entertained, laughing at the jokes and still humming some of the tunes, Valby's road manager and some hired muscle toss the piano and the sound
equipment back onto the truck. The tux comes off, and Dr. Dirty is also stored away.
Valby is astute enough to know that Dr. Dirty is supporting him and his family, and, when you get down to it, he's just another working stiff who has earned a
good night's sleep before driving back home. John Valby, the musician, road warrior, husband, and father, just looks forward to spending time with his family.
John Valby will bring his shock-rock act to Shakey's, Hershey, on April 19. -MF
Published: April 2003
Story: Michael Filipelli
Photo: Fly Magazine photo by John von Butane
He makes his appearance to a raucous chorus of hoots, whistles, screams, applause, and a chant of "Sing, fucker, sing." This month, John Valby, Dr. Dirty, the
King of Filthy Song Parodies, makes his pilgrimage into Central Pennsylvania and comes on-stage in his trademark white tuxedo and tails, a black bowler,
granny glasses, sneakers, and long hair. You can tell from the first opening warm-up on the piano that this guy has some talent, genuine musical talent - not
exactly what you'd expect.
Valby, a 50-something classically trained pianist from Buffalo, N.Y., has fashioned a career of taking old songs, sea shanties, nursery rhymes, pop tunes, and his
own compositions and setting the most outrageous lyrics imaginable to them. Valby will scream obscenities at his audience, and they will scream them right back
at him. And laugh with him, and sing along, and applaud his lewdness.
It all started innocently enough. "It was back in Buffalo," says John Valby. "I was playing a place, and threw in three mildly off-color songs, and the place went
buggy. The next night, they wanted those three songs over and over." And, from that, an underground legend was born.
Married, with five kids, Valby admits it was a struggle for him to discern at times between the musician he aspired to be and the entertainer he became. "I'm a
musician, not a comedian," he says. "I'm a comedian by accident - and necessity. I, myself, am not a funny guy. When you meet a comedian, they're
compulsively on, all the time. I'm tied to the song format."
He has settled into his role quite well. But the fact is, Valby is not a naturally crude person. Does he feel conflicted when assuming the Dr. Dirty persona? "Oh,
absolutely," says Valby. "For years, I struggled with it. Then, I realized my job is to entertain people. I reconciled the Dr. Dirty thing a while ago. My job is not
to express my soul? as a musician. My job is an entertainer, to entertain the people that come to see me.
"It's not [the audience's] job to appreciate the musicianship," he continues. "It's their job to come, and have a good time, and be entertained."
When describing Dr. Dirty, a lot of words spring to mind: foul-mouthed, offensive, funny, king of the dirty ditty. But the real John Valby is not what you'd
expect. He's intelligent, articulate, sensitive (Is this the same guy?), polite, and gracious. When the night is over, and the crowd has gone home sated, happy,
and entertained, laughing at the jokes and still humming some of the tunes, Valby's road manager and some hired muscle toss the piano and the sound
equipment back onto the truck. The tux comes off, and Dr. Dirty is also stored away.
Valby is astute enough to know that Dr. Dirty is supporting him and his family, and, when you get down to it, he's just another working stiff who has earned a
good night's sleep before driving back home. John Valby, the musician, road warrior, husband, and father, just looks forward to spending time with his family.
John Valby will bring his shock-rock act to Shakey's, Hershey, on April 19. -MF
NOVEMBER 27, 1999
Dr. Dirty And The Last Odd Day Of My Life
By Tom Clark
A week ago Friday was an odd day. And, I'm happy to
say that I will
never have to put up with an odd day again. I woke up
that morning with
a severe comedy hangover, not from too much booze but
an overdose of John Valby. I walked around all day
with a grin on my face that few
would understand
The night before, I and 400 other lucky people had a
great time at the
John Valby show in Rock'n Rick's Concert Club in
Limestone, NY. Many of you may know the building as
the Rusty Nail, Toppers, etc. Rick and Rob Pecora have
extensively renovated the joint into a showplace for
national acts and local bands alike.
For those who are unfamiliar with John Valby, A.K.A.
Dr. Dirty, here
are a few words to describe this
pianist/singer/comedian. Vile,
disgusting, obnoxious, tasteless, racist, sexist,
vulgar, degrading,
perverted, sick. Here's a few more...hilarious,
entertaining, original,
talented, longevity, cult following, sold out.
John Valby, from Buffalo, is a master pianist who has
been making a great living at singing perverted
versions of popular songs since the early 1970's. In
the early days Valby was a rebel on the bar circuits,
banned from many clubs because of his off-color
reportoire. I've heard, perhaps a myth, that some
towns wouldn't even let him drive through and others
had warrants on him for his lewd act.
Roughly thirty years later, John and his road manager,
Ron, are still doing windshield time in a van carrying
his scratched and worn upright piano, packing houses
from Grand Rapids to Providence. Besides Rock'n
Rick's, I've seen Dr. Dirty perform at Melody Fair,
the Funhouse in Lackawanna and Letchworth Pines in
Portageville, NY.
In his trademark white tux and black bowler that night
at Rock'n
Rick's, Valby had the crowd roaring from the moment he
sat on his bench. A few veteran Valby fans chant the
traditional "Sing, f#@%er, sing" yell. The sheet music
rack on his road-weary piano is full of tattered loose
leaf notebooks, containing hastily written lyrics to
hundreds of songs. A bottle of Molson Canadian and a
shot of Cuervo rest on the piano top. Valby runs his
fingers down the keys, shouts "F#@% You!" into the
mike and breaks into his customary warm up song,
"Philosophical Bulls@#%".
Valby's act involves the audience in thunderous
shouting and rousing sing-alongs. Playing Rock'n
Rick's for the first time, he was relieved to find
that a large percentage of the crowd were seasoned Dr.
Dirty fans. Among them were Bradford City firemen,
lawyers, housewives, radio personalities, police
officers and school teachers. Most everyone there
joined in on hearty choruses of such Valby favorites
as "Roll Your Leg
Over" and the "Ya Ya" song.
Valby's show is not for the closed minded. His twisted
lyrics would make a Southern Baptist minister have a
B.M. in his boxers. He is the antichrist of the Moral
Majority and the Politically Correct. Some of the most
conservative people I know were able to set aside
their credos that night and have some no holds barred
fun.
Check out John Valby's website at www.johnvalby.com
or the brand new fan site that just opened
www.johnvalbynation.com if you
are a fan or curious as to what the Hell I've been
writing about for the last few paragraphs. Why not
order a CD while you are there? John Valby will be
back to Rock'n Rick's in the Spring and I'm sure that
it will sell out fast.
OK, with that said, let me tell you about my last odd
day, the day of my Valby comedy hangover. A few weird
things happened that day that made me think that it
was me that was odd. I came home around lunch time to
check my e-mail and had one from a joke-swapping
friend from North Carolna that explained everything.
Last Friday was 11-11-1999. This date will be the last
one containing all odd digits until 11-11-3111. So, it
is safe to say that I will never have another odd day,
unless science finds a way to keep me around for
another 1000 years, which I would have to politely
refuse.
Do you like betting the even numbers? Then 02-02-2000
will be the first of many even days in the 21st
century. This is roughly the time that the Mir space
station will plummet back to Earth, as I wrote about
in a previous column.
I've recovered from my comedy hangover and the last
odd day. Life is back to normal...well, as normal as I
get. I will warn you that you may see me laughing when
I drive by in traffic someday. No, I haven't lost it,
I'm probably just listening to a John Valby CD.
Dr. Dirty And The Last Odd Day Of My Life
By Tom Clark
A week ago Friday was an odd day. And, I'm happy to
say that I will
never have to put up with an odd day again. I woke up
that morning with
a severe comedy hangover, not from too much booze but
an overdose of John Valby. I walked around all day
with a grin on my face that few
would understand
The night before, I and 400 other lucky people had a
great time at the
John Valby show in Rock'n Rick's Concert Club in
Limestone, NY. Many of you may know the building as
the Rusty Nail, Toppers, etc. Rick and Rob Pecora have
extensively renovated the joint into a showplace for
national acts and local bands alike.
For those who are unfamiliar with John Valby, A.K.A.
Dr. Dirty, here
are a few words to describe this
pianist/singer/comedian. Vile,
disgusting, obnoxious, tasteless, racist, sexist,
vulgar, degrading,
perverted, sick. Here's a few more...hilarious,
entertaining, original,
talented, longevity, cult following, sold out.
John Valby, from Buffalo, is a master pianist who has
been making a great living at singing perverted
versions of popular songs since the early 1970's. In
the early days Valby was a rebel on the bar circuits,
banned from many clubs because of his off-color
reportoire. I've heard, perhaps a myth, that some
towns wouldn't even let him drive through and others
had warrants on him for his lewd act.
Roughly thirty years later, John and his road manager,
Ron, are still doing windshield time in a van carrying
his scratched and worn upright piano, packing houses
from Grand Rapids to Providence. Besides Rock'n
Rick's, I've seen Dr. Dirty perform at Melody Fair,
the Funhouse in Lackawanna and Letchworth Pines in
Portageville, NY.
In his trademark white tux and black bowler that night
at Rock'n
Rick's, Valby had the crowd roaring from the moment he
sat on his bench. A few veteran Valby fans chant the
traditional "Sing, f#@%er, sing" yell. The sheet music
rack on his road-weary piano is full of tattered loose
leaf notebooks, containing hastily written lyrics to
hundreds of songs. A bottle of Molson Canadian and a
shot of Cuervo rest on the piano top. Valby runs his
fingers down the keys, shouts "F#@% You!" into the
mike and breaks into his customary warm up song,
"Philosophical Bulls@#%".
Valby's act involves the audience in thunderous
shouting and rousing sing-alongs. Playing Rock'n
Rick's for the first time, he was relieved to find
that a large percentage of the crowd were seasoned Dr.
Dirty fans. Among them were Bradford City firemen,
lawyers, housewives, radio personalities, police
officers and school teachers. Most everyone there
joined in on hearty choruses of such Valby favorites
as "Roll Your Leg
Over" and the "Ya Ya" song.
Valby's show is not for the closed minded. His twisted
lyrics would make a Southern Baptist minister have a
B.M. in his boxers. He is the antichrist of the Moral
Majority and the Politically Correct. Some of the most
conservative people I know were able to set aside
their credos that night and have some no holds barred
fun.
Check out John Valby's website at www.johnvalby.com
or the brand new fan site that just opened
www.johnvalbynation.com if you
are a fan or curious as to what the Hell I've been
writing about for the last few paragraphs. Why not
order a CD while you are there? John Valby will be
back to Rock'n Rick's in the Spring and I'm sure that
it will sell out fast.
OK, with that said, let me tell you about my last odd
day, the day of my Valby comedy hangover. A few weird
things happened that day that made me think that it
was me that was odd. I came home around lunch time to
check my e-mail and had one from a joke-swapping
friend from North Carolna that explained everything.
Last Friday was 11-11-1999. This date will be the last
one containing all odd digits until 11-11-3111. So, it
is safe to say that I will never have another odd day,
unless science finds a way to keep me around for
another 1000 years, which I would have to politely
refuse.
Do you like betting the even numbers? Then 02-02-2000
will be the first of many even days in the 21st
century. This is roughly the time that the Mir space
station will plummet back to Earth, as I wrote about
in a previous column.
I've recovered from my comedy hangover and the last
odd day. Life is back to normal...well, as normal as I
get. I will warn you that you may see me laughing when
I drive by in traffic someday. No, I haven't lost it,
I'm probably just listening to a John Valby CD.
| VALBY AT THE HAUNT 2004 Or you could head to the Haunt, where John "Dr. Dirty" Valby will showcase his inimitable (and unprintable) brand of piano-based humor. This show is a benefit for Robert Brown, who worked at Cornell for 35 years and was recently diagnosed with inoperable cancer. His son, Scott Brown, is a longtime Valby fan and friend of the Buffalo-based entertainer. "I was at his house in July, and he asked how my dad was," says Scott. "When he heard, he said, 'if you could sell the tickets and find a place to hold it, I can come up and play.' Two days later, I got the Haunt booked." Valby hasn't performed in Ithaca in nearly seven years, but he's been busy playing around the country. He's also been getting a lot of play on XM radio. Tickets for the 9 p.m. show are $20 at the door. "I'm very grateful to him for doing this," says Scott. "It's not often that someone will give a night of his time." For more information, visit www.johnvalbynation.com/cancer.html or call 275-3447. ______________________________________________ John "Dr. Dirty" Valby "Jingle Balls" By Paul Autry This album's been out for quite some time now. But, since I did a review or two on Christmas albums, I thought I should say a few words about this one because, to be quite honest, it's my personal favorite holiday album and for two months out of every year, this tape is all you hear at my house. A friend of mine sent me a copy of this tape through the mail shortly after she introduced me to some of the non-holiday music of John Valdy. This is probably the most offensive Christmas album that was ever recorded. If Weird Al traded in his acordian for a piano and got Andrew Dice Clay to write music for him, well, it still wouldn't be as offensive as this release. But, that's the beauty of it. How can you not like a song like "Santa's Whore Is Coming To Town" or "I'm Dreaming Of A White Pussy." It's all good, filthy fun, as you'll hear on "The 12 Days Of Christmas." You'll even hear a pixie fart...what more could you possibly ask for? The only thing better than this release would be Santa's list of girls who have been naughty this year...which is something I've been after for years. If you buy one Christmas album this year, make sure it's this one. There isn't an album out there that even comes close. It's rude, it's offensive and it's well worth checking out. Bad taste never tasted so good. It's an album that Ozzy Osbourne would love. So, don't be a Scrooge, grab yourself a copy of "Jingle Balls" and raise your middle finger high this holiday season! http://www.johnvalby.com For those who are unfamiliar with John Valby, A.K.A. Dr. Dirty, here are a few words to describe this pianist/singer/comedian. Vile, disgusting, obnoxious, tasteless, racist, sexist, vulgar, degrading, perverted, sick. Here's a few more...hilarious, entertaining, original, talented, longevity, cult following, sold out. John Valby, from Buffalo, is a master pianist who has been making a great living at singing perverted versions of popular songs since the early 1970's. In the early days Valby was a rebel on the bar circuits, banned from many clubs because of his off-color reportoire. I've heard, perhaps a myth, that some towns wouldn't even let him drive through and others had warrants on him for his lewd act. -Tom Clark |