John R. Valby (born November 22, 1944)[1] is an American musician, singer, songwriter, comedian, and producer known for his comedic and obscene song parodies. Also known as Dr. Dirty, he typically performs in a white tailcoat suit and black derby hat. His songs and shows focus mainly on sex and racial slurs, with a mix of current and historic people and events.
Early life
Valby was born and raised in Western New York.[2] He attended school in Rochester, New York, where at age seven, was taught to play the piano by two nuns.[2][3] At ten, Valby wanted to become a performer. In 1966, Valby graduated from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.[4] At one point he considered a profession as a philosophy teacher, but soon realized it was not right for him and focused on musical entertainment.[2]
Career
Valby joined various rock bands in his early career that "kept on breaking up", which drove him to become a solo piano act of mostly rock and roll and honky tonk tunes. At one show in May 1974, he added some dirty songs of his own into the set.[5] The positive response to the dirty songs led Valby to focus on the more adult material.[6] He would often write new material while transporting between gigs.[5] Valby claimed that he was named "Dr. Dirty" by the National Entertainment Conference, a booking organisation for the college circuit. He stated that he disliked the name because it "takes away from the element of surprise".[2] He credited some of his obscene act as a reaction to the Catholic repression that he faced during childhood.[6]
In addition to his blue comedy act, Valby has recorded and produced pop and rock albums for himself and other artists, including Buffalo Sabres defenseman Jim Schoenfeld, with whom Valby recorded two albums, Schony (1972) and The Key is Love (1974). He also had a small role as a piano player in a Tijuana brothel in the 1983 film Losin' It which featured an early performance by Tom Cruise.
Personal life
Valby is married to his wife Anne; together they have six children.[6][5] In August 2012 his home in Clarence, New York was burned due to suspected arson.[7] As of 2016, he still lives in Clarence.
Valby endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election and recorded a song and music video supporting his campaign.[8] (He would later backtrack on his endorsement, working a line into a 2018 song stating that Trump was "full of shit".)[9]
Discography
1974 – The Key Is Love (collaboration with Jim Schoenfeld)
1974 – Philosophical Bull Shit
1975 – Dirt
1977 – Hotel Buffalo
1978 – Concerto for Piano, Voice and 500 Screaming Assholes
1980 – Lily White And Burnout Blue
1980 – Give Me Dirt or Give Me Death
1982 – Sit on a Happy Face
1982 - Jingle Balls
1982 - Dr. Dirty in Pixieland
1986 - What I Did on My Summer Vacation
1986 - A Sawmill River Christmas
1987 – A Midsummer's Wet Dream
1988 – Don't Go Soft on Me Now
1988 – Beaver Fever
1989 – Your Face or Mine
1989 – Compact DIRT: Digital Ditties
1990 – Fruits of an Idle Mind
1990 – Double Valby: Don't Go Soft on Me Now/Your Face or Mine
1991 - Bootleg Valby
1991 - Dirt the Movie (VHS)
1992 - The Doctor Is In
1992 - Half in the Bag
1992 – Butt Seriously Folks
1992 - Live from Jackinsack New Jersey
1992 – It's a Small Dick After All and Other Short Subjects (live album)
Richard A. Reuss, An Annotated Field Collection of Songs From the American College Student Oral Tradition (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Masters Thesis, 1965).
Ed Cray, The Erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs (University of Illinois, 1992).
