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Jerrold \"Jerry\" Laurence Samuels was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent agent. Under the pseudonym Napoleon XIV, he achieved one-hit wonder status with the #3 hit novelty song \"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!\" in 1966. Samuels occasionally revisited the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme.

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Jerrold \"Jerry\" Laurence Samuels (May 3, 1938 – March 10, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and talent agent. Under the pseudonym Napoleon XIV, he achieved one-hit wonder status with the #3 hit novelty song \"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!\" in 1966. Samuels occasionally revisited the Napoleon XIV character to record other songs, usually comedy records with an insanity theme.\n

Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote \"As If I Didn't Know\" with Larry Kusik, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote \"The Shelter of Your Arms\", a top-20 hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.\n

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Biography

Childhood and early career

Jerrold Laurence Samuels was born in Manhattan and was raised in the Bronx. He played the piano and wrote music throughout his childhood, and began his recording career in 1956 when he cut the single \"Puppy Love\" for the Vik Records subsidiary of RCA Victor Records.\n

Samuels was an acclaimed songwriter during the early 1960s. Under the name Scott David (his son's name), he cowrote \"As If I Didn't Know\" with Larry Kusik, a top-10 hit for Adam Wade in 1961. Samuels also wrote \"The Shelter of Your Arms\", a top-20 hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.\n

Napoleon XIV

In 1966, Samuels concocted \"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!\" while working at Associated Recording Studios in New York. The public found out his true identity when Cousin Brucie of WABC revealed his name. The record quickly climbed the charts, reaching the top ten nationally in just its third week on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at #3 and sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In the Cash Box Top 100 the record climbed to #1 for one week, in its second week on the charts.\n

The success of the single inspired a Warner Bros. album of the same name in 1966 (reissued by Rhino in 1985), most of which continued the mental illness theme (for example: \"Bats in My Belfry\" and \"I Live in a Split Level Head\", the latter of which features different vocal parts in each stereo speaker). A second single of two recordings from that album went relatively unnoticed. \n

Samuels' manager was Leonard Stogel. His songs were often played on Dr. Demento's radio show.\n

Later career

In his later years, Samuels worked as a singer and agent who booked various performers in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. In 1984, he founded the Jerry Samuels Agency, and later operated it with his second wife, Bobbie Simon. They retired in 2021.\n

In February 2022, Needlejuice Records teased the release of \"an album that's 50 years old\". The following year, they confirmed that it was Samuels' long-lost second studio album, For God's Sake, Stop the Feces! The first disc of the album, recorded between April 1968 and December 1970, was rejected by Warner Bros. for its subject matter. Particularly controversial were tracks like \"Rape\", the lyrics to which are a graphic description of a sexual assault, and \"The Note\", a portrayal of a man writing a suicide note. The second disc is a collection of previously unreleased demos recorded by Samuels after 1970. These include \"In the Shelter of Your Arms\", which had been a top-20 hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964, and \"Bobbie's Song\", a tribute to Samuels' second wife. For God's Sake, Stop the Feces! was released on April 20, 2023, one month after Samuels' death and nearly 57 years after They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!, marking the second-longest gap between studio albums in history.\n

Personal life and death

Samuels was married twice: first to Rosemary Djivre, divorcing in 1968, and then to Bobbie Simon from 1996 until his death. He was also in a relationship with Petra Vesters from 1973 to 1987. He had a son from his first marriage and another from his relationship with Vesters. Another son predeceased him. Samuels was a longtime resident of the Oxford Circle neighborhood of Philadelphia, though he moved to an assisted living facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, after retiring.\n

Samuels died from complications of Parkinson's disease dementia at a hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, on March 10, 2023, at the age of 84.\n

Discography

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Singles

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Source:\n

Digital singles

\"Baby Talk at the Sleepover\" (feat. Artie Barnes) (2022)

References

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External links

Napoleon XIV discography at Discogs
Napoleon XIV at IMDb
Kim Sloan's blog article on Samuels & Napoleon XIV

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Jerry Samuels

Broadcast History