Life is skittles and life is beer

Been quiet the last couple of days finishing off deadline. As I was sick earlier in the week we got a bit of leeway with out printers and I was able to send the files off for our magazine this morning. In one respect this meant I had more time (yay!) but bad in another because I had to work on a Saturday (hiss!) but it did give me a chance to whack on some tunes of my choice as I worked.

And today it was the turn of Tom Lehrer. A man for whom the phrase "before his time" must have been invented. He was 81 this month and recording in the '50s and '60s. I'm quite proud that his breakthrough came in Great Britain where Princess Margaret listed herself as a fan and he got airplay for song which... well, you can see why they weren't mainstream in that era US. Take, for example, this little ditty, The Masochism Tango:

Even by modern sensibilities, it's not the kind of thing you'll find John Barrowman slaughtering on Saturday night TV.

Of course, his most famous hit is probably The Element Song, which is almost entirely harmless. But there there's also Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, which Dr. Demento covered. But not a patch on the original.

That's the song I ended up singing at a meal with my dad when we were on holiday last. It's a song he'd sometimes mention in the same breath as Spike Jones and it transpires a friend of his had a bunch of Tom Lehrer on 78s that they'd listen to after night school. The fact that my dad loves the song as much as I do says a lot about where I get my rather black sense of humour from.

The fact that he finds the song about Oedipus Rex as funny as I do shows how timeless this stuff is. And undoubtedly beyond its years.

That was recorded in 1959. Which is pretty incredible considering public taboos at the time. (And hey, despite what Jeph Loeb's Ultimates might tell you, incest is till frowned on generally).

And then there's the satire stuff like the Cold War prompted We Will All Go Together When We Go. Or The Vatican Rag or National Brotherhood Week or Pollution or So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III) all with hidden barbs beneath the silly surface.

Oh well, since one of my friend's fond of calling me Agnes, we can end on the bright and happy note of I Got It from Agnes.