June 1–8, 2000

disc quicks|comedy

Tom Lehrer

(Warner Archives/Rhino)

Rhino follows up its excellent Stan Freberg boxed set with an equally comprehensive overview of another legendary satirist. Tom Lehrer, the college math instructor whose songs (like "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and "The Old Dope Peddler") are the musical equivalents of Edward Gorey illustrations. The three-CD set is somewhat redundant in that the first disc contains Lehrer’s two 1950s studio albums, while the second has Lehrer’s two 1959 live albums… of the exact same songs found on the first disc. The third CD is Lehrer’s 1965 That Was The Year That Was album, featuring his most covered song, "Pollution" ("They got smog and sewage and mud/ Turn on your tap and get hot and cold running crud") and his most controversial song, the now-quaint "Vatican Rag" ("Two, four, six, eight/ Time to transubstantiate!"). The set also includes previously unreleased tracks from The Electric Company (where many of us were first introduced to his work) plus a 1990 composition, "(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica" ("Wearing sandals/ Lighting candles/ By the sea…"), which puts Adam Sandler’s "Hanukkah Song" to more deserved shame. There’s also hardbound liner notes from Dr. Demento — Did you know Lehrer went to summer camp with Stephen Sondheim? Were you aware that while working for the Defense Department in the 1950s, Lehrer helped develop… the Jell-O vodka shot?? — with great original art and complete lyrics to all his songs. It’s an appropriate homage to a unique figure in American comedy.

—Andrew Milner