tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post6978232717704711568..comments2024-03-29T10:06:07.231-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Tomfoolery! Happy Birthday to Tom LehrerLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47507560359939699962024-01-08T11:33:54.230-05:002024-01-08T11:33:54.230-05:00I'm really happy that he did us all a thoughtf...I'm really happy that he did us all a thoughtful favor of allowing us/ or me to access his music. I listen to his songs while I'm taking a walk. They all brighten my day Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-71790941853594507972024-01-08T11:30:44.820-05:002024-01-08T11:30:44.820-05:00Oh yes. So interesting. And the war will probably ...Oh yes. So interesting. And the war will probably be much faster. But he has the right idea. He probably got into a little trouble with his songs and might have had a change of heart due to the government didn't think it was so funny.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63590032593590221492024-01-08T11:27:55.251-05:002024-01-08T11:27:55.251-05:00The Vatican Rag is hilarious. I couldn't stop ...The Vatican Rag is hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing. And the I got it from Agnes is as much so. But what does it mean?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-83974359671346187662023-04-11T16:45:01.924-04:002023-04-11T16:45:01.924-04:00I got my copy of "Too Many Songs..." bac...I got my copy of "Too Many Songs..." back in college. It's one of the only books I ever wore out and replaced years later!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-4314963642609930662013-04-10T14:32:26.945-04:002013-04-10T14:32:26.945-04:00I was reading your article, but didn’t realize who...I was reading your article, but didn’t realize who you were talking about, until I saw that list including <i>The Vatican Rag.</i> <br /><br />That’s when I jump up and yelled, “This is the guy Mr. B was always playing!” My high school Chemistry teacher, Mr. Bryant, used to play Lehrer’s records in class all the time. We (the students) loved them – especially when the venerable “Mr. B” would sing along while walking around to make spot corrections in our work!<br /><br />--DixDixon Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11220791609338404147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8911452360730528362013-04-10T09:48:53.719-04:002013-04-10T09:48:53.719-04:00Wow, lot of comments on this one. My friend Zeke ...Wow, lot of comments on this one. My friend Zeke Hoskin, who occasionally comments here, has a new album out soon and one item is a new verse for The Elements, capturing the ones that have been discovered, excuse me, discarvard, since Mr. L. recorded his version.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-90074197596913730392013-04-10T09:38:31.586-04:002013-04-10T09:38:31.586-04:00The sheet music book that Jeff references, "T...The sheet music book that Jeff references, "Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer", lives on my piano, right next to the sheet music for the NBC Ellery Queen theme. Therein Lehrer also provides an alternative version of "When You Are Old and Gray," (performed in Tomfoolery) that converts the dark humored song about an aging heterosexual couple into a dark humored song about an aging homosexual couple, proving, once again, that Mr. Lehrer can be completely open minded and egalitarian when he crosses the boundaries of the politically correct. Equal opportunity insults! Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-66101249586029182352013-04-10T00:39:04.403-04:002013-04-10T00:39:04.403-04:00Dale, you and I chatted about Tom Lehrer when I vi...Dale, you and I chatted about Tom Lehrer when I visited and when I saw your title, I started humming the Vatican Rag.<br /><br />For the life of me, I can't think of what might upset parents. My introduction was from my girlfriend's family– they sat around listening to his records. (now humming the Elements song…)Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-55007351505697809702013-04-09T23:45:08.452-04:002013-04-09T23:45:08.452-04:00"I remember the day he told me the secret to ..."I remember the day he told me the secret to mathematical success: Plagiarize! Plagiarize! Plagiarize!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30430070231829988362013-04-09T23:03:22.570-04:002013-04-09T23:03:22.570-04:00Dale the book "Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer&q...Dale the book "Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer" includes an alternate lyric for "Mexico." To wit: "To the land of mananna/and of cheap marijuanna--it's so easy to grow."<br />Lehrer was a huge influence on my brief, local comedy career. And I knew a couple of kids whose parents gleefully played Lehrer's albums for them!Jeff Bakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00316081079528920123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89489736719313104132013-04-09T15:00:27.027-04:002013-04-09T15:00:27.027-04:00While We're attacking front-aly
Watch Brinkley...While We're attacking front-aly<br />Watch Brinkley and Huntely<br />describing Counter-puntely<br />The cities we have lost --<br /><br />No need for you to waste one minute<br />of the agonizing Holocaust, Oh Yeah!Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-57202656093290889892013-04-09T14:41:34.349-04:002013-04-09T14:41:34.349-04:00"...so don't wait up for me. While you ar..."...so don't wait up for me. While you are a-swelter, down there in your shelter, you will see me. (dah dah dah) On your TV..." I was far too young to understand some of those lyrics when I first heard them, but that didn't stop me singing along!<br /><br />And for some reason, my brothers and I got out the Tom Lehrer records on Sundays after church. Not sure what that means...Janet Kochhttp://www.lauraalden.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87935549465018423832013-04-09T13:27:45.005-04:002013-04-09T13:27:45.005-04:00And just to prove I can do it, "So long, Mom,...And just to prove I can do it, "So long, Mom, I'm off to drop the bomb"..."I'll see you when the war is over, an hour and a half from now." Sheer genius.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-79798655406050374092013-04-09T13:25:14.167-04:002013-04-09T13:25:14.167-04:00Keys? What keys?Keys? What keys?Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-63293986692577216492013-04-09T12:39:31.340-04:002013-04-09T12:39:31.340-04:00Mike --
Great stuff!
I almost deleted the Stev...Mike --<br /><br />Great stuff! <br /><br />I almost deleted the Steve Allen reference since, on reflection, I am pretty convinced that the song he DID sing was "So Long Mom," not "National Brotherhood Week." <br /><br />I also toyed with referencing those Republican preemptions of TW3. The show premiered the first year on Fridays, but then moved the second year to Tuesday nights. (This may have had something to do with the feud the show had with Jack Paar, whose hour long showed followed TW3 on Fridays.) Tuesdays was hard enough to begin with -- how do you "reflect" on a week on Tuesday? But worse, something like 7 of the first 8 shows were preempted by paid Goldwater commercials -- always without warning. I would sit down, turn on NBC, and there would be Barry. The week after the election TW3 returned with a lip-synched bit where Goldwater appeared to announce that due to circumstances beyond his control the political commercial normally seen at this time would not be aired tonight.<br /><br />By the way, while you are looking for your keys see if you can find mine as well. Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-27681190893467041072013-04-09T12:25:35.857-04:002013-04-09T12:25:35.857-04:00I remember the debut of "National Brotherhood...I remember the debut of "National Brotherhood Week" on TW3 in '63.<br /><br />That first season featured a sizable cast, recruited mainly from Broadway and introduced (hurriedly) at the top of the show. Because I was always a credit reader/listener, I made it a point to put names and faces together.<br />The singer on "National Brotherhood Week" was Stanley Grover, a B'way baritone with many musicals under his belt; he generally drew any extended songs on TW3, alongside Nancy Ames.<br />On "Brotherhood", Grover got a brief assist by Roscoe Lee Browne on one line (listen to the song and see if you can guess which one).<br /><br />I also want to mention the show's 1st-season announcer, Dick Noel, who got the job because he was a dead ringer for NBC's then-President, Robert Kintner.<br /><br />When TW3 returned for Season 2, the budget was cut, the regular cast drastically reduced, and contributions by non-staff members (such as Tom Lehrer) almost entirely eliminated. The Republican pre-empts didn't help either (nor did competition from <i>Peyton Place</i> and <i> Petticoat Junction</i>); you know the rest.<br /><br />I was all of 13-14 years old when all of this happened; that I remember it all these years later probably says more about me than I want anybody to know.<br /><br />Oh, by the way, Stanley Grover went back to Broadway, with very occasional film and TV appearances; you might spot him in <i>Network</i>, as the backup news anchor who fills in whenever Peter Finch melts down.<br /><br />You see, Dale, <i>this stuff</i> I remember.<br />Where I put my keys at home ...<br />... oh, forget it.<br />(As I do. :-) )Mike Dorannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8756756759384864652013-04-09T12:09:32.456-04:002013-04-09T12:09:32.456-04:00LOVE TOM LEHER!LOVE TOM LEHER!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-26937066584047833792013-04-09T11:39:28.104-04:002013-04-09T11:39:28.104-04:00Brou-ha-ha? (Ha, Ha, Ha).Brou-ha-ha? (Ha, Ha, Ha).Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-39529794583503232352013-04-09T11:37:42.291-04:002013-04-09T11:37:42.291-04:00Liz -- I grew up in Missouri. I "found"...Liz -- I grew up in Missouri. I "found" that album in 1963 and, while a bit hard to remember, things were a lot different back then. <br /><br />I am one of those who can sing almost every Lehrer song by heart. In the years before I retired from the Department of Transportation another attorney and I used to perform Lehrer's songs at office parties. (I was Deputy Assistant General Counsel for Litigation and he was the Deputy in the Regulations Office, so we billed ourselves as "the Singing Deputies.}" In 2009 we sang Lehrer's "In Old Mexico" and were requested (err, ordered) to change the lines "How I long to get back, to the land of the wetback, and forget the Alamo." I altered them to "Where safety is protected, cause the trucks are all inspected, let's forget the Alamo." which gave it a transportation spin. But the larger point is that even then Lehrer's lyrics as written (and loved) are sort of cutting edge. The difference between my father's reaction and the reaction from the ruling gentry at DOT is really only a difference in degree, though separated by 35 years. Dale Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10553503281187956955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-36769863133080400912013-04-09T11:32:59.476-04:002013-04-09T11:32:59.476-04:00Oh, yes - me and my girlfriends sitting in the liv...Oh, yes - me and my girlfriends sitting in the living room, hunched around the record player, listening to and memorizing "Vatican Rag", "Wehrner von Braun", "Poisoning Pigeons"... Laughing ourselves silly and we weren't even stoned. Yet. ;) <br /><br />Two other very important parts of our mis-education: Frank Zappa and Firesign Theater. Who can ever forget Brown Shoes? And Brou-ha-ha! <br /><br /> Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47671523175725939832013-04-09T09:15:36.145-04:002013-04-09T09:15:36.145-04:00The only part of your post I didn't understand...The only part of your post I didn't understand, Dale, was your parents' reaction. Uh, what state did you live in? One part of the Lehrer phenomenon that you didn't mention is how many of us (of a certain age) STILL REMEMBER the lyrics to Lehrer's songs, whether or not we've heard them again in the past fifty years. There was a long thread about it on the mystery e-list DorothyL a few years back, so I know it's not just me and my own old friends.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-34039413261991803742013-04-09T02:13:35.225-04:002013-04-09T02:13:35.225-04:00Dale, I ditto Robert!Dale, I ditto Robert!Fran Rizerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08655783035179620991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-10008974402633521772013-04-09T01:07:41.357-04:002013-04-09T01:07:41.357-04:00If you don't love Mr. Lehrer you and I are not...If you don't love Mr. Lehrer you and I are not likely to get along, I find. A few years ago he was interviewed by Sing Out, the folk song magazine. He explained he was not fond of folk songs because they were written by the people. "The people elected Reagan twice. The hell with the people." What a character.Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.com