I'm still not entirely sure what I'd define as a 'novelty' song, because I can always find a counter example in each definition/category that I would not class as 'novelty':

- Charity songs? [half the Children In Need singles seem to be charitable as an afterthought - cf Spice Girls comeback single]
- One-hit wonders? [any number of anonymous chart-topping bosh DJs that are never heard of again eg Tomcraft]
- Stuff for kids? [would hardly call the Disney juggernaut novelty given its ongoing & total success]
- Songs sung by people who were famous for doing something else before they took up singing? [This is more like it, the only counter-eg I can think of is Lily Allen who wasn't really *that* famous as a celeb sprog before her pop career started - well outweighed by awful comedians/Jamster ringtones/Bob the bluddy Builder]
- Doing something *novel*? [HAHAHAHAHA no-one these days wastes a good new idea on a novelty tune]

Probably a combination of two or more categories above is needed. I think I'll go back to Dave's original list and see just how many of them I'd let through my novelty filter...