John Cafiero Explains Why He Covered an Obscure Children’s Song

On Tuesday, March 19, John Cafiero hung out with Loudwire Nights to celebrate the recent release in his Sweetie Candy Vigilante comic book series.

Along with the new issue, Cafiero’s pop-punk band, Osaka Popstar, released their cover of the children’s song, “The Land of Hatchy Milatchy.”

“It’s a really obscure children’s song from the early-1950s,” Cafiero told host Chuck Armstrong. “It’s been out of print for decades. It was originally performed by Rosemary Clooney.

Cafiero explained that he heard the song years ago on Uncle Floyd Vivino’s freeform radio show, which used to be called Garage Sale Music.

“He had a great TV show in the late-’70s through the late-’90s that I used to watch all the time coming home from grammar school,” he recalled. “It always had a huge audience of real heavy hitters in the music industry, I mean, John Lennon and David Bowie used to watch it every day.”

So one night, while listening to Garage Sale Music, he heard Uncle Floyd spin a 78 RPM of an original version of “The Land of Hatchy Milatchy.”

“At the time, my wife Suzanne and I were just starting to plan out the Sweetie Candy Vigilante comic book series and scratching the surface with it,” Cafiero said.

“The song came on and I yelled out to her, ‘Are you hearing this? This would be perfect for Sweetie.'”

What It Means For John Cafiero to Work With the Misfits + Ramones

Along with Osaka Popstar and his work with Sweetie Candy Vigilante — Cafiero wears a lot of different hats and he likes it that way — he also manages the estate of Dee Dee Ramone and works closely with the Ramones and Misfits.

“I still step back and think, ‘Wow, how bizarre it is,'” he said about working with two bands that he grew up idolizing.

“I’m able to keep it together and make things happen and be the responsible adult that helps all of my heroes achieve the things that they’re looking to achieve or accomplish the things that they’re looking to accomplish, but at the same time, the kid in me just looks back on it, like, wow, if you told me this, my head would have exploded that someday this would be going on.”

One of those moments where he experienced, vividly, the coming-together of his professional relationship with the Ramones and his fandom for them was when the band received a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 2011.

Cafiero accepted and spoke on behalf of Dee Dee, a moment he called, simply, surreal.

“It’s been a wild ride.”

What Else Did John Cafiero Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• Why he thinks children’s songs are perfect for the “psychotically nice” personality of Sweetie in Sweetie Candy Vigilante
• Why he likes including song downloads with his comic book releases
• How he began working with and eventually managing the Misfits

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

John Cafiero joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, March 19; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.