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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 24, 2024 23:28:49 GMT
I'm sort of going out on a limb here and unilaterally deciding that this will be OK in the Music Forum, because it doesn't really fit anywhere else either. It's not as much of a thing as it used to be; it's more the province of Netflix specials now. But as a kid and young adult I loved comedy records and maybe others here did too. We don't have to define it narrowly; there were lots of fun "parody" and off-the-wall songs as well. I'll start it off with a big favorite by two of the best.
And another duo who crack me up every time.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 25, 2024 1:43:19 GMT
I must defer to my compatriots in all matters comedic. My wheelhouse is empty in this arena. Nothing in there but dust and tumbling tumbleweeds. And a big ( ( ( echo ) ) ) . I guess the comedy album genre was done by the time I ripened? Also, another big influence - my parent's record collection - containing everything from gospel to marching bands, but no comedy that I recall.
And so I am GREATLY embarrassed, as would be someone who, say, listened to singing rodents - to set this item down as evidence in the case against my (lack of) taste. I ADORED THIS SONG and played my little '45 non-stop. I thought it was really clever the way they strung together song & movie references. I cringe a bit now but apparently it made me the woman I am today. So thank you Dickie.
Mr. Jaws (1975) - Dickie Goodman
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 25, 2024 13:52:09 GMT
I must defer to my compatriots in all matters comedic. My wheelhouse is empty in this arena. Nothing in there but dust and tumbling tumbleweeds. And a big ( ( ( echo ) ) ) . I guess the comedy album genre was done by the time I ripened? Also, another big influence - my parent's record collection - containing everything from gospel to marching bands, but no comedy that I recall. And so I am GREATLY embarrassed, as would be someone who, say, listened to singing rodents - to set this item down as evidence in the case against my (lack of) taste. I ADORED THIS SONG and played my little '45 non-stop. I thought it was really clever the way they strung together song & movie references. I cringe a bit now but apparently it made me the woman I am today. So thank you Dickie. Mr. Jaws (1975) - Dickie Goodman Great choice. You need defer to no one. Your comedy dust is sprinkled in every crevice of this forum. Your choice was actually part of a grand tradition of sampling then current songs to flesh out comic bits, which were really popular on radio and probably on jukeboxes too. This is the first one I remember, from Buchanan and Goodman in 1956. They did a few of these and a bunch of imitators sprung up too. I imagine at some point people started thinking about copyrights, but I think at first it was considered an honor to have your song sampled on another hit recording. Naturally, as with all reputable recording artists, a Christmas song was next. Singing rodents. Ahem. Yes, I see what you mean. Before that, the guy responsible for them was casting around for subject matter and landed on this classic bit of stupidity. He then apparently decided to put this big contribution to sound engineering into the mouths of said rodents and the rest is history. Decades later a co-worker and I discovered that we still remembered the hook and tormented everyone else with it briefly until we were mercifully shut down unanimously. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 25, 2024 14:34:54 GMT
The First Family (1962) sold many millions of copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year, almost unheard of for comedy material. It mostly featured Vaugh Meader doing his JFK impression but this section parodied the First Lady's televised Tour of the White House, with Naomi Brossart as Jackie. There was a follow-up (and also very successful) album in 1963, but when JFK was assassinated in November, history swallowed these without a trace for many years.
David Frye also specialized in political humor and did a series of four comedy albums while Nixon was in the White House. Rich Little also did Nixon but Frye was the first to get it on record.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 26, 2024 13:51:17 GMT
And the unforgettable Lily Tomlin as Edith Ann, from her Polydor album "And That's the Truth" (1972). Lily turned out to have a real affinity for recorded comedy, giving it theatrical dimension with her string of concept albums.
The year before she'd done her other famous character from Laugh-In days, Earnestine, on an album called "This is a Recording", one of her famous tag lines.
By 1975 she and Jane Wagner were moving her concept of character-driven comedy further toward its inevitable home on stage in their award-winning show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Modern Scream had some old and some new characters, worked into a format in which Lily interviewed herself.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 26, 2024 23:50:34 GMT
One of the great one hit wonders.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 27, 2024 3:31:28 GMT
I don't ever recall hearing Mr. Springstone's smash hits. Did this get radio play your way?
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 27, 2024 11:56:40 GMT
I don't ever recall hearing Mr. Springstone's smash hits. Did this get radio play your way? I think I just ran across this while haunting record stores and bought both the 45 and the 12-inch, but there was a great FM station in Boston, WBCN, and I do remember hearing it there. I think Springsteen liked the joke because he's led the crowd singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" occasionally since then. |
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Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 27, 2024 13:43:14 GMT
The legendary Carol Burnett made a fool of herself over John Foster Dulles in 1958.
For anyone who doesn't know the name, John Foster Dulles was the American Secretary of State from 1953 until 1959. The song was written by Burnett's long time friend and musical partner Ken Welch in response to the Elvis craze of the same time.
John Foster Dulles -- an interesting man, to be sure, but hardly a heartthrob. Burnett tells a great story about the sensation her recording made. When Dulles was asked about it on Meet the Press, his response was, "I never discuss matters of the heart in public." Clearly, he was funnier than anyone knew.
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 27, 2024 23:00:51 GMT
The legendary Carol Burnett made a fool of herself over John Foster Dulles in 1958.
For anyone who doesn't know the name, John Foster Dulles was the American Secretary of State from 1953 until 1959. The song was written by Burnett's long time friend and musical partner Ken Welch in response to the Elvis craze of the same time.
John Foster Dulles -- an interesting man, to be sure, but hardly a heartthrob. Burnett tells a great story about the sensation her recording made. When Dulles was asked about it on Meet the Press, his response was, "I never discuss matters of the heart in public." Clearly, he was funnier than anyone knew.
That's hilarious. She was just on with Stephen Colbert and the subject came up. Apparently Dulles missed the broadcast (Jack Paar) and she was asked back to do it again so he could watch. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 27, 2024 23:31:58 GMT
:format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-15663483-1595493510-1770.jpeg.jpg) Some of the smartest dumb humor came from The Firesign Theater back in the 1970's (and beyond). They specialized in media satire, film, television and radio, with lots of channel-switching combined with satiric skits. "High School Madness" was woven in and out of Don't Crush That Dwarf Hand, Me the Pliers (1970). Here it is with video elements added, showing the kind of film being satirized. :format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-11885034-1562733869-7351.jpeg.jpg) One of the most inventive ones was I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus (1971) in which citizen Bozos are allowed access to a Wizard of Oz-type shadow president in a fun house setting, with each allowed one question and given a reassuring but meaningless answer, to placate the masses. A tech-savvy non-Bozo uses the opportunity to unravel the phony-baloney hologram by asking a question which makes no sense and can't be answered, resulting in a HAL-like meltdown. It's actually pretty savvy stuff for 1971. |
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Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 28, 2024 5:43:21 GMT
The legendary Carol Burnett made a fool of herself over John Foster Dulles in 1958.
For anyone who doesn't know the name, John Foster Dulles was the American Secretary of State from 1953 until 1959. The song was written by Burnett's long time friend and musical partner Ken Welch in response to the Elvis craze of the same time.
John Foster Dulles -- an interesting man, to be sure, but hardly a heartthrob. Burnett tells a great story about the sensation her recording made. When Dulles was asked about it on Meet the Press, his response was, "I never discuss matters of the heart in public." Clearly, he was funnier than anyone knew.
That's hilarious. She was just on with Stephen Colbert and the subject came up. Apparently Dulles missed the broadcast (Jack Paar) and she was asked back to do it again so he could watch. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 28, 2024 12:32:43 GMT
That's hilarious. She was just on with Stephen Colbert and the subject came up. Apparently Dulles missed the broadcast (Jack Paar) and she was asked back to do it again so he could watch. This was from last Monday night. 91 years old and she can still tell stories that pack a punch. The Dulles story comes in at about 5:30. |
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Post by I Love Melvin on Mar 28, 2024 21:51:25 GMT
I'm not sure what the backstory is on this, but Columbia issued a Peanuts comedy album in 1962. I have it in mono because LP releases still came out both ways back then. It was before the TV specials started in 1965 and well before the Broadway show, but I think this album demonstrated the potential of actors doing Charles Shultz's material.
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Post by galacticgirrrl on Mar 28, 2024 22:33:53 GMT
So many downloads, so little time! And yet so much fun.
I am entitled to 30 per day. And so I am sinking faster than a Led Zeppelin thanks to everyone's nimble fingers. I only just got to the Jerry Lewis show last night. Sorry ILM, thanks BunnyWhit. There is nothing better than a segment where a performer loses the plot during a routine.
I do know what you mean ILM. I am on edge the whole time watching him, afraid he will cross a bridge too far, but he never manages to, much, and there is enough underlying brilliance to placate me. He is entitled to his opinion that women aren't funny. I suppose. I saw him only once live and he nailed it. The line-up to meet with him after the show was enormous.
Carol Burnett tonight. And now adding to my list: Jerry Lewis comedy LPs. Oh my.
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