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There’s a name that brings back more than a few memories if you’re one of the, ahem, more experienced readers. Tom Lehrer, the ’50s and ’60s satirist, died and was found at his home Saturday.<\/p>\n
Lehrer was a well known satirist in the ’50s and ’60s. Probably remembered best as the primary songwriter host of “That Was The Week That Was”, aka TW3, Lehrer was often lumped together with the likes of\u00a0 “subversive” comics like Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce, and inspired more modern folks like Randy Newman and Weird Al Yankovics (whose early producer, the brilliant guitarist Ric Derringer, just died a few weeks back.)<\/p>\n
\nThe lean, bespectacled Lehrer essayed such then-taboo subjects as sexuality (\u201cThe Masochism Tango\u201d), drug addiction (\u201cThe Old Dope Peddler\u201d), homosexuality in the Boy Scouts (\u201cBe Prepared\u201d) and militarism (\u201cIt Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier\u201d) on his early, self-released albums. Lehrer was lofted to fame by the caustic material he wrote for \u201cTW3,\u201d NBC\u2019s U.S. spinoff of a popular British show hosted by the young David Frost.<\/p>\n
His 1965 Reprise album \u201cThat Was the Year That Was\u201d climbed to No. 18 on the American charts. Its razor-edged songs skewered prejudice (\u201cNational Brotherhood Week\u201d), nuclear proliferation (\u201cSo Long Mom\u201d) the Catholic Church (\u201cThe Vatican Rag\u201d) and, appropriately, education (\u201cThe New Math\u201d).Variety<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
There was a lot more to this 1957-1959 Army draftee than biting lyrics, though. Lehrer graduated from Harvard in 1946 after being admitted at age 15 and completed his masters in mathematics one year later. Wikipedia says he spent his enlistment at Ft. Meade – it doesn’t take much of a leap of faith to guess what he did. Math prodigy, Ft. Meade – bet he spent his time in buildings decorated in Early Golfball, most likely as an early cryppie.<\/p>\n
After he got out he released a second album and\u00a0 toured in the US and Europe. He campaigned for McGovern in 1972, and returned to teaching math and musical theater at the University of California Santa Cruz. Given his probable military background, it’s a pity his presence at Santa Cruz wasn’t well known across the bay at the Defense Language Institute, although his music could often be heard on Dr. Demento’s radio show.<\/p>\n
More service links?<\/p>\n
Lehrer even wrote a submission for the Army song that talks about picking up cigarette butts, officers who can\u2019t spell, bad food, and junior enlisted shenanigans.<\/p>\n
In all, Lehrer released 11 albums, with great titles like \u201cAn Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer\u201d and \u201cThe Remains of Tom Lehrer.\u201d He even wrote a song for the Air Force\u2019s Strategic Air Command for the 1963 film \u201cA Gathering of Eagles.\u201dWe Are the Mighty<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
One last thing – whether you know it or not, if you’ve ever been a partier, he touched your life.<\/p>\n
\nWhat he did have in common with his brothers in arms was a fondness for having a few drinks at a party. But the party in question was on a naval base in Washington, D.C. \u2014 and no alcoholic beverages were allowed.<\/p>\n
So he and a friend went right to work before the big day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to have a little party, so this friend and I spent an evening experimenting with Jell-O. It wasn\u2019t a beverage\u2026\u201d he told San Francisco Weekly, \u201c\u2026so we went over to her apartment and we made all these little cups\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
After a few experiments with gin and vodka and number of different Jell-O flavors, they found that vodka and orange Jell-O worked best.\u00a0\u00a0We Are the Mighty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Let us bow our heads in reverence for the Army SP3* who invented the Jell-O shot.<\/p>\n
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Had to look that up, the original Specialist ranks before 1958 ran like Navy petty officer ranks and an E-4 was a SP3, an E-5 and SP2, etc. 1958 they changed to what we know as the SP4-SP9 ranks. SP8 and SP9 were abolished with no one having ever been promoted to those ranks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"