Here's why a former Topekan is thrilled 'Mr. Lonely' is finding so much company on Spotify

A sad ballad Jerry Dycke recorded in late 1967 while living in Topeka and working for Memphis-based Sun Records has struck a chord over the past year with hundreds of thousands of fans discovering it.

That song, "Come In Mr. Lonely," has been streamed 1.3 million times, including more than 900,000 times on Spotify, after being featured in the Netflix superhero series, "The Umbrella Academy."

Dycke, 87, isn't "getting rich" off the song, because streaming services don't pay much, he told The Capital-Journal.

He gets a check every three months totaling $500 to $600, he said.

Still, Dycke said, he finds it satisfying to know his song is being enjoyed by so many people after going unnoticed for so long.

"Better late than never," he said.

'This song made me cry like child'

Dycke recorded the song while under contract with the famed Sun Records, where owner Sam Phillips had previously discovered singing stars Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins.

"Come In Mr. Lonely" was released as the B-side of Dycke's first Sun Records single, a remake of a Bobby Darin song called "Things."

That record wasn't a hit.

But Dycke said he realized last year, to his surprise, that he was suddenly getting thousands of viewings on the YouTube page he created more than a decade ago highlighting "Come In Mr. Lonely."

People from around the world shared heartfelt praise for the song in comments posted below.

"This song made me cry like child," one said.

"It's so sad and good," said another.

'The Umbrella Academy' highlights dysfunctional family of superheroes

Dycke learned his song had been part of the eighth episode of the third season of "The Umbrella Academy." Netflix made all episodes from that season available on June 22, 2022.

That series tells a story about how 43 women worldwide give birth simultaneously at noon Oct. 1, 1989, with none having previously shown any sign of pregnancy. An eccentric billionaire adopts seven of them and gives them numbers instead of names. They become a dysfunctional family of superheroes he calls "The Umbrella Academy."

Dycke's song appears in "Wedding at the End of the World," an episode in which a character named "Number Five" — played by Aidan Gallagher — drunkenly sings onstage along with the first part of Dycke's recording.

Number Five is a popular character on the show, Dycke said.

He thinks Number Five's having sung along with it helped pique a lot of people's interest in the song.

Song is popular with movie makers, too

Dycke wrote the music for "Come In Mr. Lonely," while Larry Habluetzel wrote the words.

Habluetzel, who is 80 and lives in Overland Park, said he feels thrilled about the song's recent success.

"We're really enjoying the newfound fun here," he told The Capital-Journal.

Habluetzel said "Come In Mr. Lonely" was also part of the soundtrack for a 2017 film called "A Crooked Somebody" featuring Ed Harris, Amy Madison, Rich Sommer, Clifton Collins Jr. and Joanne Froggatt.

Over the past couple of years, he said, the song has appeared in the Paramount Plus series "Joe Pickett," which stars Michael Dorman, Julianna Guill, Sharon Lawrence, David Alan Grier and Paul Sparks; and as part of the soundtrack for the movie "Jockey," starring Clifton Collins Jr., Molly Parker and Moises Arias.

'You're too late. Miss Heartache is gone'

Habluetzel said he composed the lyrics for "Come In Mr. Lonely" in about 10 minutes, after being jilted by a young woman in Topeka.

A native of Clay Center, Habluetzel at the time was attending Washburn University and working at a Topeka bank.

The song begins: "Come on in. Sit right down, Mr. Lonely. You're too late. Miss Heartache has gone. Mr. Sadness will move in tomorrow. I don't know, but I guess he'll stay on."

For help putting the song to music, Habluetzel sought out Dycke, whom he knew about but hadn't met.

A native of Auburn, Dycke was an alumnus of Auburn High School and what is now Emporia State University.

At the time he met Habluetzel, Dycke said, he was working as an innkeeper while also playing in a band and making records. He had started out playing mostly guitar, then shifted to playing mostly keyboards.

'I'm a songwriter'

Habluetzel recalled going to the house where Dycke lived in Topeka with Elena, his wife at the time.

"She answered the door and I said, 'I'm a songwriter,'" Habluetzel recalled. "She said, 'So?' "

Dycke's wife let Habluetzel wait for him at their house for about two hours before Dycke got home and they met.

The two ended up writing several songs together, Dycke said.

'Another Jim Reeves'

In about 1967, Dycke said, he was attending a convention in Memphis when — in a room of about 200 people — he coincidentally found himself sitting next to Dottie Abbott, who went by the air name Dolly Holiday while hosting a nationally syndicated program on the Sam Phillips-owned Memphis radio station WHER-AM.

Dycke was familiar with Abbott. He told her he had made a record. She asked for a copy to play on the air, and he gave her one.

About two months later, Dycke said, he got a call from Phillips, who asked him to come record for Sun Records.

Dycke knew Phillips had played a key role in making Presley a star.

He said Phillips told him, "I can't make you another Elvis."

However, Philips suggested he could make Dycke "another Jim Reeves."

Reeves, a baritone-voiced singer, recorded hits that included "Four Walls" and "He'll Have To Go" before dying in a 1964 plane crash.

'That was the only one I could remember'

At Dycke's first recording session, he said, Phillips asked if he had any original songs they might record.

Dycke mentioned "Come In Mr. Lonely."

"That was the only one I could remember," he said.

Phillips heard the song and liked it. They recorded it at Sun Studios in Memphis, with Phillips as the producer, Dycke said.

He said Phillips enhanced "Come In Mr. Lonely" by adding backup singers and strings after Dycke finished.

Dycke's first Sun Records single, featuring "Things" on one side and "Come In Mr. Lonely" on the other, came out April 4, 1968, the same day the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, not far from Sun Studios, he said.

"We were having a party at Sun Studios celebrating the record release when all hell broke loose," Dyckes said. "The city was shut down."

Those present included Audrey Sheppard Williams, who had been the first wife of deceased country music star Hank Williams and was the mother of Hank Williams Jr.

"Her flight was canceled, so she had to stay at Sam's house," Dycke said. "I was already staying there. So I got to hear that evening about Hank Sr. and Hank Jr., Elvis and the other Sun artists."

Dycke said during his time at Sun Records, he got to briefly meet Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.

But Dycke wasn't nearly as successfully as they were. He said the songs he recorded "didn't do much."

Phillips sold Sun Records in 1969, while Dycke was still recording for it. Phillips died at age 80 in 2003.

Here's why Jerry Dycke's name has had several spellings over the years

Dycke's name was "Dyche" when he lived in Topeka. After he joined Sun, the company's owner Phillips changed it to "Jerry Dyke," saying he needed to have a name that was easy for DJs to pronounce.

Dycke then found himself having trouble getting banks to cash and deposit checks that said "Jerry Dyke." So after leaving Sun, he changed the spelling to the current "Dycke." He had no trouble getting checks cashed and deposited after that, because "h" and "k" look pretty similar.

Dycke: 'I don't have any band members to argue with now'

Dycke said he moved away from Topeka in 1971, and has lived since 1975 in Fort Myers, Florida. After leaving Sun Records, he recorded for Nashville-based MCA Churchill.

Dycke never became a big star, but his website tells of how he enjoyed a long career in which he received numerous honors.

Dycke's wife, Brenda Dycke, died in March at age 80 after a long battle with lymphoma. He said he's 87 years old "but feels 37."

He said he still occasionally performs solo using a synthesizer that provides "amazing" background music.

Dycke joked, "I don't have any band members to argue with now."

Habluetzel: 'I came out really good in that deal'

Habluetzel, the song's lyrics writer, went on to enjoy a long, successful career in business.

He and his wife, Carol, have been married for 56 years.

Habluetzel said they met when she came to apply for a student loan at the bank where he worked.

"I came out really good on that deal," he said.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 'Umbrella Academy' gave former Topekan's song sudden popularity boost