He graduated in 1963, and later studied at UCLA, from which he earned a master's degree in folklore and ethnomusicology. 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. He helped bring 'Weird Al' Yankovic to national attention. He is credited with introducing new generations of listeners to artists of the early and middle 20th century whom they might not have otherwise discovered, such as Harry McClintock, Spike Jones, Benny Bell, Yogi Yorgesson, Stan Freberg, and Tom Lehrer. 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 was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. He played 'Transfusion' by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ 'The Obscene' Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be 'demented' to play it, and the name stuck. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Pasadena, California, station KPPC-FM.

Demento, is an American 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 'Barry' Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr.

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