"The Crazy Otto Medley" is a 1955 ragtime recording made by pianist Johnny Maddox.
The song is actually a medley of several pieces of music originally recorded by the German comic performer Fritz Schulz-Reichel under the pseudonym of Otto der Schrage.
The opening song is "Ivory Rag" by Lou Busch and Jack Elliott. The closing song is "Play a Simple Melody" by Irving Berlin. The songs sandwiched in between these two are pop songs from Germany. The first of them is "In der Nacht ist der Mensch nicht gern alleine" by Franz Grothe. The second is "Das machen nur die Beine von Dolores" by Michael Jary. The third is "Was macht der alte Seemann" (Heino Gaze & Günther Schwenn ).
The Medley entered the Billboard Charts on February 5, 1955, where it spent 14 weeks, peaking at #2. It also became the first million-selling ragtime record and eventually sold in excess of two million copies.
Due to its success, the Crazy Otto Medley became synonymous with Maddox, and resulted in him earning the nickname "Crazy Otto". The nickname had also been given to Schulz-Reichel.
The Grateful Dead song "Ramble on Rose" contains a line about Crazy Otto, apparently a reference to Maddox.
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