Tom Lehrer recorded rather sporadically starting in the 1950s then abruptly retired in the mid-'60s from his unique solo musical comedy act. He's a competent pianist with a voice that is perfect for his original material. This compilation combines both of his records that were originally pressed and sold privately on the Lehrer label, which he ...
"Greatest Hits," as Seeger himself wryly wrote in his liner notes, is a misnomer considering that he never had hit singles or huge-selling albums as a solo artist, though actually "Little Boxes" (included here) made the lower reaches of the charts. In reality this 1967 compilation (since reissued on CD) collects the most popular tracks of his 1962 ...
Tom Lehrer's work always had a biting, satirical edge to it, but never was this more obvious than on this album, a collection of songs regarding events of the year 1965. Very little was sacred from Lehrer's sharp wit, from racism to the Catholic Church, and, while much of his subject matter has become outdated, his shrewd comic talents are beyond ...
Rhino's Halloween Hits delivers everything anyone could want from a collection of spooky, campy rock & roll novelty songs about ghouls, ghosts, goblins, and monsters -- namely, "The Monster Mash." Just kidding, folks -- it has much more than that, including Jumpin' Gene Simmons' "Haunted House," the Five Blobs' "The Blob," Ray Parker, Jr.'s ...
The bad news is that Allan Sherman hasn't received the credit and praise he deserves. The good news is that his gifts and genius are manifest in abundance on this best of package. The word-playing godfather of the modern parody, Sherman's songs are definitely rooted in his Jewish culture. However, his humanity is so strong and universal that ...
For Elmo & Patsy fans -- or any admirer of tongue-in-cheek tunes with country flair -- the title track on this album alone is a good enough reason to purchase it for your Christmas collection. Elmo & Patsy are really characters portrayed by a man named Elmo Shropshire, a man who has lead a varied enough life to create many more characters, if he ...
Shel Silverstein is a hard guy to pin down, which is part of not only his charm, but his genius. He's best known as a children's author, but also was a Playboy cartoonist who couldn't resist a dirty joke. He penned novelty songs, but also could write songs as heart-wrenching as "Silvia's Mother" and "Once More With Feeling." He was also a terrific ...
Halloween is further proof that Chip Davis and his American Gramaphone outfit plan to provide and market proper musical accompaniment for all holidays, themes, and moods. Davis and his Mannheim Steamroller hit that categorical trifecta in 2003 by releasing three discs within months of each other: Romantic Melodies (mood), American Spirit (theme), ...
If you ignore, with the benefit of "grown-up" hindsight, the fact that the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were somewhat shrill, occasionally tuneless, and arguably annoying to obnoxious levels, the first volume of Christmas With the Chipmunks is a classic holiday record, and it certainly is that. The minor failings of those three cartoon ...
Combining Tom Lehrer with Spike Jones (would that make Tom Jones?) and Nichols and May with Joe Friday (a May weekend perhaps?), musical comedian Stan Freberg skewers everyone from Walt Disney to Cole Porter. Mumbling through "Sh-Boom," Freberg drags "The Great Pretender" snarling to "The Heartbreak Hotel," snares "The Yellow Rose of Texas," and ...
Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time gathers two discs' worth of highlights from the five-volume Dr. Demento Presents series, as well as some of the good doctor's other favorite novelty singles. Anyone familiar with Demento's show will instantly recognize the Firm's "Star Trekkin'," Barnes & Barnes' ...
On Tom Lehrer's second studio album, he got a little more daring and biting, particularly on "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," "The Masochism Tango," and "We Will All Go Together When We Go." Six years, after all, had elapsed since his 1953 debut, and social mores had loosened, if only a little. There's also one of his most well-known pieces, "It ...
There have been many compilations of Spike Jones' music, but few have been better than RCA's 1999 collection, Greatest Hits. Over the course of 20 tracks, all of Jones' best-known songs are presented in their best-known versions, including "Leave the Dishes in the Sink, Ma," "My Old Flame," "Der Fuehrer's Face," "The Sheik of Araby, "William Tell ...
If you like your Christmas tidings with a dollop of good humor, then this batch of holiday tunes is right up your alley. The lineup ranges from cute and innocuous (the Chipmunks, the Singing Dogs, and Spike Jones) to satirical (Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman) and just plain weird (Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and Tom ...
As Weird Al Yankovic gets older, his albums get more reactionary, and Bad Hair Day is no exception. The first single, a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" entitled "Amish Paradise," was a hit. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Dare to Be Stupid begins with what is perhaps Weird Al Yankovic's best parody ever, the brilliant and cutting "Like a Surgeon." Turning the tacky Madonna hit inside out and upside down, Yankovic comes up with a hilarious satire of the medical profession. Although the implications were probably missed by the none too bright Madonna, and may not ...
Sing the phrase "I'm just a Bill, yes I'm only a Bill" to any American between the ages of 25 and 40 and they'll answer "and I'm sittin' here on Capitol Hill" without thinking twice. "I'm Just a Bill" was only one of dozens of School House Rock! animated videos that ran on ABC Saturday morning TV throughout the '70s. Following the lead of Sesame ...
"Weird Al" Yankovic makes his debut with this self-titled album, which can best be described as a silly collection of mid-'80s parodies. While a few original songs such as "Gotta Boogie" may attain a few laughs, the album's strong points are spoofs like "Ricky" and "I Love Rocky Road." Although not nearly as entertaining as some of his later ...
Crackin' Up! is exactly what you'll be doing the minute this Ray Stevens gem comes on -- instant classics like "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex," "I'm My Own Grandpaw" and "Three Legged Man" don't just make you laugh, they make you think, too. God bless you, Ray Stevens! ~ Chuck Donkers, All Music Guide
It's been said that artists will truly know they've entered pop culture when Weird Al Yankovic records a parody of their hit. But what does it mean when pop culture is ahead of Weird Al? Take his parody of the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way," which Yankovic turns into "Ebay," but his satire is not far removed from the auction website's own ...
Three years between Weird Al Yankovic albums has been the norm since the '90s, but a lot happened to the parody king between 2003's Poodle Hat and his 2006 release, Straight Outta Lynwood. First off, Poodle Hat stalled after one single. Then while on tour promoting the album, Yankovic's parents were both killed in their home from carbon monoxide ...
This disc contains another dozen seasonal sides from the novelty singing group, the Chipmunks. Like its predecessor, Christmas With the Chipmunks, Vol. 2 (1963) has become a year-end institution. This is thanks in part to the initial success of multimedia mastermind Ross Bagdasarian's hit 45" "Chipmunk Christmas Song," which spent four weeks atop ...
Cha-cha music at its Whitest and most easy listening-friendly, recorded for Capitol in the 1950s and 1960s by Dean Martin, Julie London, Billy May, Martin Denny, Les Baxter, Walter Wanderley, and a number of other performers who are only coming to light in the lounge revival. Yma Sumac, Perez Prado, and Tito Rodriguez add a little (a very little) ...
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