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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZLEHRER, Tom(b 9 April 1928, NYC) Pianist, singer, satirical songwriter, professor of mathematics. He studied piano as a child, obtained degrees from Harvard and taught mathematics there. His songs were performed for friends in private at first, then on his own 10-inch LPs Songs By Tom Lehrer and More Of Tom Lehrer, later That Was The Year That Was '65, An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer '66 on Reprise: his total output. The earlier work was reissued on Reprise; the 10-inch LPs in their original formats on Decca UK '81. Described as a demented Cole Porter, he actually stole a few tunes from Gilbert & Sullivan. He once wrote that 'If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while.' He entertained in clubs '53-60 and '65-7; on TV with David Frost mid-'60s. He was bracketed with iconoclasts Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl in the cosy years of Eisenhower, but he seemed to anticipate Bob Dylan in implying that nothing could or would be done, so that examining our own attitudes is all there is; in his case he did it with laughter. 'National Brotherhood Week' and 'I Wanna Go Back To Dixie' attacked racism but also weak-minded, patronizing liberal attitudes to it ('I wanna go back to my dear old mammy/ her cooking's lousy and her hands are clammy/ but what the hell, it's home'). 'We Will All Go Together When We Go' is as true now as during the Cold War; 'Vatican Rag', 'Werner Von Braun', 'The Old Dope Peddler' are still caustically funny; 'Be Prepared' sent up the Scouts; 'Lobachevsky' was about plagiarism in mathematics. 'Alma' was about Alma Mahler, the composer's widow, who kept herself famous by marrying famous artists, and was still appearing on TV talk shows as late as Jack Paar's heyday. 'The Masochism Tango' had something for everyone; 'Poisoning Pigeons In The Park' is self explanatory. Lehrer stopped writing in the late 1960s because not he could laugh at Vietnam; he said he saw nothing funny in Watergate either. He wrote two songs for a children's TV show The Electric Company '72; Tomfoolery '80 was a London musical revue based on his work; Too Many Songs By Tom Lehrer '81 was a complete published collection of words and music. He was approached for an interview by Lawrence Maslon, one of the writers of the PBS TV series Make ’Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (2009); 'He said, "The only thing I would prefer more is to have my eyes gouged out with steel needles." So it’s like, I guess we’re not interviewing Tom Lehrer.' They included him anyway, using archival footage from a performance in Norway. |