Jack...this is such a wonderful piece. His song "Wernher von Braun" changed my life. I always heard Tom Lehrer retired the day Kissinger won The Nobel Peace Prize, claiming "he couldn't write anything funnier than that" but it was probably urban myth. It doesn't matter, knowing he could easily have written that line. Again, thank you for such a beautiful tribute.
Man, what a feast: not just Tom Lehrer (who’s more or less the post-war American Mozart) but Proops, Dr Demento, Tony Hendra—embedded satire reportage. I grew up on “An Evening Wasted” and still think those solely negative blurbs define “insouciance.”
Great one, Jack! (You once sent me to see Proops and get a quote from him for the weed issue of The Nose, which made me feel almost like a journalist.)
We should have all paid more attention to Proop’s prediction about the no smoking ban in bars. I wondered if Harry wrote “The Merry Minuet” but now it was Harold Sheldon.”Spinal Tap”is King. Great article, especially the shift in audience attention.
Jack...this is such a wonderful piece. His song "Wernher von Braun" changed my life. I always heard Tom Lehrer retired the day Kissinger won The Nobel Peace Prize, claiming "he couldn't write anything funnier than that" but it was probably urban myth. It doesn't matter, knowing he could easily have written that line. Again, thank you for such a beautiful tribute.
Aww thanks Stephen. It was truly a special afternoon.
Thanks for this post. Everyone should hear Tom Lehrer. He made me laugh as a kid in 1963. I thanked my parents years later.
Man, what a feast: not just Tom Lehrer (who’s more or less the post-war American Mozart) but Proops, Dr Demento, Tony Hendra—embedded satire reportage. I grew up on “An Evening Wasted” and still think those solely negative blurbs define “insouciance.”
Great one, Jack! (You once sent me to see Proops and get a quote from him for the weed issue of The Nose, which made me feel almost like a journalist.)
We should have all paid more attention to Proop’s prediction about the no smoking ban in bars. I wondered if Harry wrote “The Merry Minuet” but now it was Harold Sheldon.”Spinal Tap”is King. Great article, especially the shift in audience attention.