Conjunction Junction/I'm Just a Bill

[sjarrell]

Reading Schoolhose Rocks liners and learned that's Jack Sheldon singing those two. I had know idea.

[JSngry]

He also did Louie the Lightning Bug for some PS commercial about power line safety or something.

I'm telling you, the guy should write an autobiography.

[Man with the Golden Arm]

Who remembers Jack as Merv Griffin's right hand wise guy after Aurthur Treacher?

A good afterschool afternoon was Jack and then Jackie Vernon (frosty the snowman fer you yunguns) wiping off one liners. Only reason I paid attention to Jack Sheldon was that voice from the School House Rock bits. I was very, very young then.

[Alexander]

Other jazz voices you've heard in Schoolhouse Rock include Bob Dorough ("The Shot Heard Round the World," "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly (Get Your Adverbs Here)," and "Three Is a Magic Number"...among others) and Blossom Dearie ("Unpack Your Adjectives").

Also, Essra Mohawk (Uncle Meat from Zappa's Mothers) sang "Sufferin' Until Suffrage."

Edited June 11, 2005 by Alexander

[JSngry]

Hell, Bob Dorough pretty much WAS Schoolhouse Rock, wasn't he?

[Alexander]

Hell, Bob Dorough pretty much WAS Schoolhouse Rock, wasn't he?

←

Yep. "Three is a Magic Number" was the first. While Bob didn't sing all of them, he at least wrote the music to most of the songs, if not both music and lyrics.

[Free For All]

Speaking of A.T.'s delight............

Remember this place?

Still around in some parts I believe.

Heavenly greeze!

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Dorough is wonderful and hugely important, but let's not minimize the work of the others who made great contributions to the show, including Dave Frishberg (who wrote I'm Just A Bill), Lynn Ahrens, and the singers like Grady Tate and Blossom Dearie, among others - full details here:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~varnum/Stor...choolhouse.html

Mike

[sidewinder]

Speaking of A.T.'s delight............

Remember this place?

Still around in some parts I believe.

Heavenly greeze!

←

Who the $%*& is 'Arthur Treacher' ? Never heard of it !

[Michael Fitzgerald]

http://www.treachers.com/pages/1/page1.htm...h=1099162921507

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0871546/

I haven't had a meal at an Arthur Treacher's in at least 25 years. I do have fond memories, though.

Mike

[JSngry]

Arthur Treacher's in Longview, Tx was where I got my first taste of malt vinegar, whilst in my very early teens.

I been rurnt ever since!

[Big Al]

Reading Schoolhose Rocks liners and learned that's Jack Sheldon singing those two.  I had know idea.

←

And Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla!

Blossom Dearie's singing "Unpack Your Adjectives!" Cool! Never knew that! My son and I performed that song at a talent show years back, he sang while I played guitar. Great memory, that one!

[Bright Moments]

Reading Schoolhose Rocks liners and learned that's Jack Sheldon singing those two.  I had know idea.

←

And Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla!

Blossom Dearie's singing "Unpack Your Adjectives!" Cool! Never knew that! My son and I performed that song at a talent show years back, he sang while I played guitar. Great memory, that one!

←

and blossom dearie singing figure eight!!!

how about that elliott smith?!

[Kalo]

Tom Lehrer wrote and performed a couple, too, including the great "Silent E" song.

Not a jazz guy, though. However, he is a serious student of the Great American Songbook, as I learned from listening to a radio interview with him a number of years ago.

Edited June 11, 2005 by Kalo

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Tom Lehrer is a favorite of mine, but he had nothing to do with Schoolhouse Rock. His "Silent E" and "L-Y" songs were written for "The Electric Company", a show on PBS (perhaps most famous now for featuring Morgan Freeman).

Mike

[Free For All]

I remember my parents owning this album. I remember not getting it at the time, but I was but a young'un. I haven't heard it for a long time.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

That one is "topical" - all about the news of that time (but there are still some things which never go out of style - like National Brotherhood Week). My favorite is his first album, the 10" "Songs By Tom Lehrer" which is much more accessible, in my opinion.

Mike

[Alexander]

I remember my parents owning this album. I remember not getting it at the time, but I was but a young'un. I haven't heard it for a long time.

←

I grew up on Tom Lehrer. Always loved his stuff. My favorites are "So Long Mom, I'm Off to Drop The Bomb" (I sang that for an audition in high school), "Poisoning Pidgeons in the Park," and "The Irish Ballad." That last one was a great example of what in the 60s was called "sick" humor:

About a maid I'll sing a song,

Sing rickety-tickety-tin,

About a maid I'll sing a song,

Who didn't have her fam'ly long.

Not only did she do them wrong,

She did ev'ryone of them in, them in,

She did ev'ryone of them in.

One morning in a fit of pique,

Sing rickety-tickety-tin,

One morning in a fit of pique,

She drowned her father in the creek.

The water tasted bad for a week,

And we had to make do with gin, with gin,

We had to make do with gin.

Her mother she could never stand,

Sing rickety-tickety-tin,

Her mother she could never stand,

And so a cyanide soup she planned.

The mother died with a spoon in her hand,

And her face in a hideous grin, a grin,

Her face in a hideous grin.

She set her sister's hair on fire,

a-Rickety-tickety-tin,

She set her sister's hair on fire,

And as the smoke and flame rose high'r,

Danced around the funeral pyre,

Playin' a violin, -olin,

Playin' a violin.

She weighted her brother down with stones,

a-Rickety-tickety-tin,

She weighted her brother down with stones,

And sent him off to Davy Jones.

All they ever found were some bones,

And occasional pieces of skin, of skin,

Occasional pieces of skin.

One day when she had nothing to do,

Sing rickety-tickety-tin,

One day when she had nothing to do,

She cut her baby brother in two,

And served him up as an Irish stew,

And invited the neighbors in, -bors in,

Invited the neighbors in.

And when at last the police came by,

Sing rickety-tickety-tin,

And when at last the police came by,

Her little pranks she did not deny.

To do so she would have had to lie,

And lying, she knew, was a sin, a sin,

Lying, she knew, was a sin.

My tragic tale I won't prolong,

Rickety-tickety-tin,

My tragic tale I won't prolong,

And if you do not enjoy my song,

You've yourselves to blame if it's too long,

You should never have let me begin, begin,

You should never have let me begin.

[Alexander]

Another Leherer song I loved was "The Vatican Rag." I can never keep myself from humming it when I get dragged to a church wedding...

First you get down on your knees,

Fiddle with your rosaries,

Bow your head with great respect,

And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Do whatever steps you want if

You have cleared them with the Pontiff.

Everybody say his own

Kyrie eleison,

Doin' the Vatican Rag.

Get in line in that processional,

Step into that small confessional.

There the guy who's got religion'll

Tell you if your sin's original.

If it is, try playin' it safer,

Drink the wine and chew the wafer,

Two, four, six, eight,

Time to transubstantiate!

So get down upon your knees,

Fiddle with your rosaries,

Bow your head with great respect,

And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

Make a cross on your abdomen,

When in Rome do like a Roman;

Ave Maria,

Gee, it's good to see ya.

Gettin' ecstatic an' sorta dramatic an'

Doin' the Vatican

Rag!

[Alexander]

I acutally use this one in class, and my students love it...

"Oedipus Rex"

From the Bible to the popular song,

There's one theme that we find right along;

Of all ideals they hail as good,

The most sublime is motherhood.

There was a man though, who it seems,

Once carried this ideal to extremes.

He loved his mother and she loved him,

And yet his story is rather grim.

There once lived a man named Oedipus Rex,

You may have heard about his odd complex.

His name appears in Freud's index

'Cause he loved his mother.

His rivals used to say quite a bit

That as a monarch he was most unfit.

But still in all they had to admit

That he loved his mother.

Yes, he loved his mother like no other,

His daughter was his sister and his son was his brother.

One thing on which you can depend is,

He sure knew who a boy's best friend is.

When he found what he had done,

He tore his eyes out, one by one.

A tragic end to a loyal son

Who loved his mother.

So be sweet and kind to mother,

Now and then have a chat.

Buy her candy or some flowers,

Or a brand new hat.

But maybe you had better let it go at that.

Or you may find yourself with a quite complex complex

And you may end up like Oedipus.

I'd rather marry a duck-billed platypus

Than end up like old Oedipus Rex.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

The Irish Ballad is a classic, with the first version found on that 10" LP I mentioned - not from the 1960s - it's from *1953*!! This guy was so fiendishly ahead of his time. I had the pleasure of meeting TL a couple of years ago and thanking him for his wonderfully warped mind.

If I may, here's one that, like so many Lehrer bits from over 50 years ago, still rings true.

=================

My Old Town

I really have a yen

To go back once again,

Back to the place where no one wears a frown,

To see once more those super-special just plain folks

In my home town.

No fellow could ignore

The little girl next door,

She sure looked sweet in her first evening gown.

Now there's a charge for what she used to give for free

In my home town.

I remember Dan, the druggist on the corner, he

Was never mean or orner-y,

He was swell.

He killed his mother-in-law and ground her up real well,

And sprinkled just a bit

Over each banana split.

The guy that taught us math,

Who never took a bath,

Acquired a certain measure of renown,

And after school he sold the most amazing pictures

In my home town.

That fellow was no fool

Who taught our Sunday School,

And neither was our kindly Parson Brown -

(I guess I better leave this line out, just to be on the safe side)

In my home town.

I remember Sam, he was the village idiot,

And though it seems a pity, it

Was so.

He loved to burn down houses just to watch the glow,

And nothing could be done,

Because he was the mayor's son.

The guy that took a knife

And monogrammed his wife,

Then dropped her in the pond and watched her drown.

Oh, yes indeed, the people there are just plain folks

In my home town.

=====================

Mike

Edited June 12, 2005 by Michael Fitzgerald

[Quincy]

Another Leherer song I loved was "The Vatican Rag."  I can never keep myself from humming it when I get dragged to a church wedding...

First you get down on your knees,

Fiddle with your rosaries,

Bow your head with great respect,

And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!

←

I knew the words to this song & "Pollution" when I was 5. Didn't completely understand "Vatican Rag" at that age, but I knew the lyrics nonetheless.

That Was The Year That Was is still my favorite for those songs and "National Brotherhood Week" and "Wernher Von Braun." Oh hell, "So Long Mom I'm Off To Drop The Bomb" too, and...

When telling someone about Lehrer one time the person interrupted and said "Oh, you mean like Mark Russell." I nearly bit the person's head off for trying to associate Mark Russell with Tom Lehrer.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Well, Mark Russell did pick up on a limited aspect of Lehrer's stuff. If all you know is the TWTYTW album, I could understand the association. All Mark Russell does is political satire with a piano. But TL was so much more.

"Mr. Lehrer's muse was not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste as he eulogized that lovable character, the old dope peddler, or sang of the joys of poisoning pigeons in the park." - NYT 2/9/59

Those ain't no Mark Russell songs.

Mike

[Quincy]

Well, Mark Russell did pick up on a limited aspect of Lehrer's stuff. If all you know is the TWTYTW album, I could understand the association. All Mark Russell does is political satire with a piano. But TL was so much more.

←

As my friend found out after I played a few of Lehrer's songs (I had 3 albums to pick from) a couple of days later.

Those ain't no Mark Russell songs.

Which is exactly what my friend said afterwards.

Yet another thing Lehrer does better than Russell. Math!

[Kalo]

Guess I was wrong about Lehrer and Schoolhouse Rock.

Glad to see so many Lehrer fans on the board. I grew up with his stuff. He was a true pioneer of the sick humor that emerged in the 1960s, though he began doing it about ten years earlier. A few years ago I sprung for the 3 disc CD Box, which was well worth it.

Mark Russell isn't even in the same universe as Lehrer.