It has been an open secret for years that “The Venture Bros.” creators Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick are both connected with the invisible hands that manipulate our world. There’s even a recurring character with invisible hands. Not to mention that Monarch butterflies are connected with MK Ultra. There are not many reasons that a show twice as long and thrice as animated as their other 2003 programming would be not only picked up, but on the air for 15 years despite not raking in as many viewers as a “Family Guy” rerun. “The Venture Bros” is equivalent to the mysterious channels on the radio that just recite numbers instead of numbers, but with deep-cut pop culture references. After several hours of decoding these references, it became clear that the music references were the most important. Here are the top 50 most important findings:
50. Republica
Monarch says that when he first met Dr. Girlfriend she looked like Saffron from Republica. This is accurate in her flashbacks as the name Queen Etherea. The exact dates of these flashbacks are unknown, but it hints at when Queen Elizabeth secretly retook control of England’s Republic
49. In Living Color
In The Forecast Manufacturer, The Monarch and 21 are wearing wetsuits which he claims make him look like they’re in the Cult Of Personality music video. It kind of looks like that enough since the singer is wearing a bright colored onesie. Can you think of any cults that center around “personality” or perhaps “personality tests”? We are not allowed to say as they fund this website, but much like the episode, they control the weather.
48. The Human League
In “Assisted Suicide,” 21 completely butchers “Don’t You Want Me” by The Human League with a completely different rhythm than the actual one. Or did he? What he sang was the real rhythm of the song that only the elites are allowed to know about. This will also likely be the only reference to New Wave or ’80s music on this list.
47. Kraftwerk
While goofing off in a mech suit, Pete White sings the song “Robots” by Kraftwerk. We as Americans are not slacking off in real life due to an electronic music classic, or so the Germans have us believe.
46. Phil Spectre and Harry Nilsson
Two of Dr. Z’s evil friends include Shrill Spectre and Scarry Nilsson. Shrill Spectre attacks with a Wall of Sound and a huge guess here, probably also likes trying to shoot people. Harry Nilsson wrote “The Point,” which takes place in a society that refuses to believe that nothing can exist without a point. Harry Nilsson was a discordian agent that Venture Bros wants you to think is equal to murderers like Spectre.
45. Led Zeppelin
Brock loves Led Zeppelin. He references Led Zeppelin all the time in the show until the end of season 2 when he gets a tattoo of Icarus without wings. Whatever the show was trying to tell us, they were letting us know that they were flying too close to the sun on that one and got their wings clipped.
44. Adam Ant Fashion Montage
Dr. Z has a Clueless-style fantasy of going on a shopping montage and dressing Guild Agent S-464 to look like Prince Charming-era Adam Ant. Adam Ant is secretly in control of all future fashion trends and has the ones for the next 30 years planned out.
43. Mark Knopfler and Loverboy
To cover up the fact that he has six eyes, Jared wears an ’80s headband that welcomes him to be compared to the band Loverboy and Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits by bullies. Mark Knopfler is also who The Monarch is supposed to be when he’s playing party games in “Home Is Where The Hate Is.” Both The Monarch and Jared are awkwardly tall. Dire Straits is most famous these days for containing arguably the first CGI in television. The tall people are responsible for the evil replacement of CGI with practical effects in movies.
42. Mr. Roboto
Dr. Dugong protects himself and the cuttlefish with Mr. Roboto from the Styx music video. Styx is known for being lame music. They want you to think manatees and cuttlefish are lame to avoid people from seeing what is really hiding in the ocean.
41. Rusty’s Dorm Posters
In Rusty’s dorm room, he has knock-off posters for bands such as Pink Floyd and Yes but strangely just straight up the poster for the album “You” by Gong. You is the final part of the “Radio Gnome Invisible” trilogy and VB is telling You that it’s the only thing that is true.
40. The Specials
Colonel Gentleman’s full name is Colonel Horace Gentleman, a reference to the nickname Horace Gentlemen for the bass player for the Specials. Colonel Gentlemen is full of Sean Connery references, so this is the secret wink that Sean Connery is actually the bass player for the Specials.
39. Christmas Songs
Did you know that the creators of the show also release Christmas songs every year? Some include joke versions of “Fairytale In New York” by The Pogues, “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton, and “A Spaceman Came Travelling” by Chris De Burgh. These aren’t even in the show, this is extra homework needed to be done. They are likely released as a part of a blood pact deal with Santa and the consumerist leaders.
38. Jesse’s Girl
While at the altar for The Monarch’s wedding, Dr. Venture quotes lines from “Jessie’s Girl” by Rick Springfield. Oddly enough, the song was originally going to be called “Gary’s Girl” but Springfield decided to change it. Gary(21) is in love with The Monarch’s wife not unlike Dr. Venture. Isn’t that a fun fact? Where was I going with this one?
37. Captain Sunshine and Wonderboy
Captain Sunshine is a Superman parallel with the power of sunshine. Though unconfirmed, this is likely a reference to the Donovan song “Sunshine Superman.” His sidekick meanwhile, is probably-not-by-coincidence the same name as the song “Wonderboy” by the Kinks. If you play both songs at the same time, you will find where exactly on the sun the real president lives.
36. The Doors Movie
When an Andy Warhol-themed group of villains take over Doctor Venture’s building, the Andy Warhol-like Wes Warhammer recreates the scene from Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” biopic in which Crispen Glover plays Andy Warhol. Crispen Glover actually does have a phone that lets him speak to God.
35. Buddy Holly And The Big Bopper
Council of 13 members Red Mantle and Dragoon are heavily implied to be Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper sewn together. This is based off the truth that the day the music died was actually not the literal death of music but rather the sewing together of genres. The Big Bopper claims he invented hip hop so by being sewn together they represent the creation of Nu Metal in the late 1950s.
34. Yazoo
Watch or Ward apparently has too many Yaz albums. Yaz, or Yazoo as the people who think their British call them, only released two albums so the others are just the same songs as compilations and remixes. Or so the nonelite are to believe. Yazoo has created multiple albums only billionaires are allowed to know about.
33. Jesus Jones And Ladysmith Black Mambazo!
In “20 Years To Midnight,” Doctor Venture shouts out the name of the South African Chorus group Ladysmith Black Mambazo as an exclamation. Later on in the episode The Pirate Captain shouts out Jesus Jones as if an exclamation as well, but then is revealed he was remembering one of his favorite bands. You can connect the dots from there.
32. Stop Making Sense
When King Gorilla is emaciated from falling ill, The Monarch compares how he looks in his clothes to David Byrnes wearing the giant suit in “Stop Making Sense.” This is because David Byrnes is the real Koko The Gorilla and there’s no real explanation why.
31. Whitesnake
While explaining the birds and the bees to Dean, Doctor Venture somehow uses the music video to “Here I Go Again” to help explain things. Specifically about how the singer left his wife for the model in the music video leading to what Rusty and Brock both believe was the band’s downfall. Tawny Kitaen did cause Whitesnake’s downfall but because she was the one who worked with the Illuminati to destroy all hair metal with grunge.