“Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more
The Bloody Red Baron was rollin’ out the score
Eighty men died tryin’ to end that spree
Of the Bloody Red Baron of Germany.”

The Royal Guardsmen from Ocala, Florida, were a bubblegum rock group best known for two novelty records about Snoopy’s exploits in World War One as he battled “The Red Baron” (Manfred von Richthofen).

“Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron” and “Snoopy’s Christmas” were almost guaranteed to be in any home with both kids and a record player in the sixties and seventies. Both songs were practically inescapable at ice skating rinks during the era as well.

“Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron” reached #2 on the Billboard charts in December of 1966 and sold over a million copies before dropping out of the chart four months later. There was also an album of Snoopy and Red Baron-themed songs and skits. Snoopy & His Friends was not really a concept album so much as an attempt to cash in with increasingly witless versions of the same goofy formula. The Royal Guardsmen even had a “Snoopy” song on their second album. Probably tired of singing about the adventures of a flying cartoon beagle, the Royal Guardsmen disbanded in 1969. They reformed again in 2006 for “Snoopy vs. Osama.”

God help me I know every word and every note of these tunes… Here’s footage of the group playing both of their smashes. You’ll note that their tepid “choreography” includes half-hearted goose-stepping.