National Lampoon
Band members Related acts
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- George Agoglia -- (1977) - Jackson Beck -- vocals - Richard Belzer
-- vocals (1977) - Pat Bright --
vocals (1977) - Rhoda Coulet -- vocals (1977) - Sid Davis -- vocals (1977) - John Dunn -- vocals (1977) - Bob Dryden --
vocals (1977) - Brian Doyle-Murray -- vocals (1977) - Bill Murray -- vocals (1977) - Larrain Newman
-- vocals (1977) - Gilda Radner
(RIP) -- vocals - Anna Upstrom -- vocals (1977) - John Weidman -- vocals (1977) - Gracie Whitehead -- vocals (1977)
line up 2 (1973) - John Belushi (RIP)-- vocals - Chevy Chase-- vocals - Gerry Goodrow-- vocals - Christopher Guest-- vocals - Paul Jacobs -- vocals - Mary Jenifer Mitchell -- vocals - Alice Playten -- vocals
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- The Blues Brothers (John Belushi) - Gilda Radner (solo efforts) - Spinal Tap
(Christopher Guest) |
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Genre: comedy Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: Radio Dinner Company: Blue Thumb Catalog: BTS-38 Year: 1972 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4717 Price: $12.00
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With the release of 1972's "Radio Dinner" Michael O'Donoghue and Tony Hendra can take credit for writing and producing what may be the funniest comedy album of the early and mid-1970s. (Admittedly, the results wouldn't have been anywhere near as good without performers such as Christopher Guest and Melissa Manchester.) Even though the album's some thirty years old, the majority of material is still hysterical. Highlights include the opener 'Deteriorata' which effortlessly crushes Les Crane's flaccid and nauseating 'Desiderata'. 'It's Obvious' does more for Caribbean tourism than a motel full of travel agents. You'll never watch a game show without laughing after hearing 'Catch It and You Keep It.' 'Those Fantastic Sixties' - Dylan doing a commercial for a greatest hits ... Perhaps the best track here is 'Magical Misery Tour'. Based on John Lennon's interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Hendra turns in a performance that is uncannily close to the real man, while leaving tears in your eyes. Lennon isn't the only Fab Four to get ripped. McCartney fans will take note of Clues #2, #3, #4 and #5. Apparent digs at McCartney's recently banned single, these unlisted segments feature an Irish tenor starting to sing 'Give Ireland Back To the Irish" only to be cut short by a gun shot. In case there's any doubt, the inner sleeve includes a picture frame with 'Clue Number Six R.I.P. P.Mc.') Harrison gets his on side two 'Concert In Bangla Desh'.
"Radio Dinner" track listing:
1.) Deteriorata (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 2.) Phono Phunnies (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 3.) Tennyrap (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra - Christopher Guest) 4.) It's Obvious (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 5.) Clue Number Five 6.) Catch It and You Keep It (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 7.) Pigeons (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 8.) 'Quinas 'n' Rasmus (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 9.) All Kidding Aside (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 10.) Magical Misery Tour (Bootleg Records) (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra)
(side 2) 1.) Those Fantastic Sixties (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 2.) Profiles In Chrome (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 3.) Support Your Local Polece (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 4.) Pull the Tregris (Bootleg Tape) (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 5.) Head Bands (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 6.) Concert In Bangla Desh (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra) 7.) The Voice of the Future (Michael O'Donoghue - Tony Hendra)
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Genre: comedy Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Lemmings Company: Blue Thumb Catalog: BTS-6006 Year: 1973 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: gatefold sleeve with insert Available: 1 Catalog ID: 6131 Price: $15.00
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I'll readily admit that lots of National Lampoon's catalog escapes me - maybe its an age thing, but much of their catalog never struck me as being particularly funny. 1973's "Lemmings" was one of the exceptions. Based on National Lampoon's off-Broadway Lemmings comedy review which included a mixture of sketch comedy and parodies of popular pop and rock acts, the show was a sometimes mean-spirited stab at the Woodstock Nation (aka The Woodchuck Festival of Peace, Love and Death). If you've ever seen the Woodstock movie, large parts of the album will strike a chord with you and you're bound to recognize most of the superstar acts getting their comeuppances here (CSN&Y, Joe Cocker, John Denver, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, etc.)
- 'Lemmings Lament' started the album off with a great funny parody of the Woodstock stage announcements (which continued between the individual songs). Once the introductory stage comments were over, Paul Jacobs turned in a stunning David Crosby impression as part of 'Freud, Marx, Engles & Jung'. Not sure who provided the guitar solo, but it was suitably manic. rating: **** stars - Christopher Guest handled lead vocals on the Dylan parody 'Positively Wall Street'. Turning in another stunning impersonation, Guest's performance made for one of the funnier numbers ... rating: **** stars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS83HGHU934 - Alice Playten was Goldie Oldie - I'm guessing this one was meant as a stab at either Brenda Lee, or Reparta and the Delrons. Not particularly funny. rating: ** stars - Chevy Chase took dead aim at John Denver and the singer/songwriter genre via 'Colorado'. rating: *** stars - Guest did an even more deadly Richie Havens cover (though it only lasted a split second). - Motown was the next target via the hysterical 'Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie'. Amazing how much of Berry Gordy's patented sound they managed to cram into two and a half minutes. rating: *** stars - 'The All Star Dead Band' managed to name check an impressive collection of dead and still alive stars ... Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix getting the biggest applause. rating: ** stars - Guest saved some of his sharpest arrows to skewer for James Taylor and the wave of early-1970s singer/songwriters. They even managed to nail Taylor's backing band ... rating: **** stars - Canned Heat survives about two seconds at the start of the 'Hell's Angels' segment which then basically descends into a couple of minutes of pure obscenity. Guess it was funnier back then ... rating: ** stars - The 'Farmer Yassier' segment was probably lost to anyone who didn't see the film, but was a parody of farmer Max Yasgur who owned the land on which Woodstock was held. rating: * star - Showcasing John Belushi, 'Lonely On the Bottom' was a truly spooky take on Joe Cocker and the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Belushi did this one of Saturday Night Live ... one of his all time great performances. rating: **** stars http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15addI6Es30 - 'Megadeath' was funny and surprisingly on target as a precursor to Guest's forthcoming Spinal Tap career, to say nothing of the wave of heavy metal espoused by the likes of Megadeth (note the missing 'e'). Quite heavy. Think they turned it up to 11 ... rating: *** stars
Yes, this one hasn't aged all that well and anyone younger than 30 may simply scratch their head wondering what all the excitement was about.
"Radio Dinner" track listing:
1.) Stage Announcements - 1:54 2.) Lemmings Lament (Paul Jacobs - Sean Kelly) - 3:05 3.) Stage Announcements - 2:10 4.) Positively Wall Street (Paul Jacobs - Christopher Guest - Sean Kelly) - 2:42 5.) Weather Person - 1:20 6.) Pizza Man (Christopher Guest - Sean Kelly - Tony Hendra) - 3:45 7.) Stage Announcements - 0:58 8.) Colorado (Christopher Guest - Sean Kelly - Tony Hendra) - 4:13 9.) Richie Havens / Crowd Rain Chant - 1:20
(side 2) 1.) Stage Announcements - 0:44 2.) Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie (Paul Jacobs - Tony Hendra) - 2:35 3.) The All Star Dead Band - 2:15 4.) Highway Toes (Christopher Guest - Sean Kelly) - 2:41 5.) Hells Angel Stage Announcements - 4:58 6.) Farmer Yassier 7.) Lonely On the Bottom (Paul Jacobs - John Belushi) - 5:48 8.) Megagroupie 1:50 9.) Megadeath (Paul Jacobs - Sean Kelly) - 3:22
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Genre: comedy Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: Missing White House Tapes Company: Blue Thumb Catalog: BTS-6008 Year: 1974 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: cut corner; slight warp, but doesn't impact play Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4718 Price: $12.00
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In contrast to earlier efforts, 1974's "Missing White House
Tapes" suffered from the group's narrow choice of topical material. That's not to say the Nixon administration didn't provide lots of opportunity for
ridicule; rather extended excerpts from Nixon's tape archives, speeches, interviews, Congressional hearings and other sources simply weren't very funny, even when heavily (and rather clumsily) edited. Add to that the fact this stuff hasn't aged well and it's one of their duller exploits. At least the flip side featured a couple of mildly entertaining bits ("Introduction and Impeachment Parade", "Plumber Commercial" and "Mission: Impeachable"). That and the LP cover was kinda cool.
Inexplicably one of their better sellers, the album hit # 118. The collection also marked their finally
outing for Blue Thumb.
1.) Checkers - 1:07
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Genre: comedy Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: Gold Turkey Radio Hour/Greatest HIts Company: Epic Catalog: PE-33410 Year: 1975 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Catalog ID: 206 Price: $10.00
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After three albums for Blue Thumb, the group switched to Epic, releasing 1975's
"Gold Turkey Radio Hour/Greatest Hits". In terms of talent, this line up marked the group's creative zenith - John Belushi, Richard Belzer, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, etc. all contributing material. That said, the results were surprisingly hit or miss. Much of the topical humor simply hasn't aged particularly well over the ensuing years, while other bits ("Well Intentioned Blues", the seemingly endless "A Laugh from the Past" and "Stand Up") probably weren't even funny in
1975. While everyone has a different idea of what's funny, to our ears "Public Disservice", "Terminal Football", "Hockey" and "Prison Farmer" were among the isolated highlights. A minor seller, the LP peaked at
# 206.
1.) Front Row Center (Sean Kelly - Bill Murray) -
(side 2)
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Genre: comedy Rating: **** (4 stars) Title: Goodbye Pop Company: Epic Catalog: PE 33956 Year: 1976 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 6235 Price: $20.00
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To be honest, lots of 1970s comedy albums (even National Lampoon stuff), is pretty dull, not having aged particularly well. 1975's "Goodbye Pop" suffers from some of the same problems, but the music business plotline/orientation saves the collection for the most part. The mid-1970s targets are all fairly obvious with the results ranging from mildly entertaining (the country spoff 'The B Side of Love'), to roll-on-the-floor funny (the Neil Young takedown 'Old Maid (Southern California Brings Me Down)'). As always, pretense comes in for special attention - rock 'historians' ('Roger de Swanns'), late night djs ('The Mel Brewer Show'), and anyone/anything associated with progressive music ('Roger Raps With Sid About: The Art Rock Suite'). This time out Christopher Guest gets prime billing throughout the set, with inputs from the usual National Lampoon suspects - Sean Kelly, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Schaffer, etc. Another thing I've always found appealing about this set was the absence of the mean-spiritedness than plagues some of their other work. This time out you can tell they still love the targets their aiming at.
- If you're like me, the thought of a rock 'historian' makes you laugh yourself silly and Christopher Guest nails the highbrow pretense exuded by such pseudo-intellectuals perfectly on 'Roger de Swanns'. rating: *** stars - Featuring Paul Jacobs on lead vocals, even with the snide lyrics 'Good-Bye Pop' was a near perfect slice of top-40 pop. Elton John would have been hard pressed to write something as catchy. As the liner notes say, "Good-bye Pop is our bullet and main title there," rating: **** stars - If you ever listened to late night FM radio, then you'll snicker at Bill Murray's 'dj impersonation 'The Mel Brewer Show' . The interview with Ron Fields (aka Ira Schnorrs) on whaling music as the coming hit sound was only mildly funny, but you were left wishing they would have recorded a longer snippet of the actual song. Hum, wonder how I missed this trend ... rating: ** stars - Opening up with Christopher Guest and Gilda Radner doing their best 'love couple' interaction (hard to imagine a time when couples actually listened to the radio), 'Down the Dial to: Kung Fu Christmas' nailed mid-1970s soul music trends including kung fu themes, 'love man' ballads, social activist lyrics, heartfelt spoken word segments, and electric sitar perfectly. David Hurdon's vocal easily matched soul's best known performers. The song was also released as a single. rating: **** stars - Based on his amazing insight into their history, Flash Bazboo (Christopher Guest) was clearly the fifth Beatle ... His insightful narrative 'A History of the Beatles' finally finally sets the record straight ... rating: ** stars - For a guy who probably wasn't a particularly big country and western fan, Guest's 'The B Side of Love' managed to capture the genre head-on. Geez, he even got the patented echo sound down. This is probably one of the few country songs I'd actually be willing to listen to more than once. rating: *** stars - Ah, 'I'm a Woman' captured Radner at her best ... who needed the likes of Helen Reddy when you had this stirring feminist anthem ... Hearing a bunch of sexist guys telling an increasingly frustrated Radner how to sing the song was funny and sad at the same time. rating: **** stars - So if there's an artist who needed to be taken down a peg or two, Neil Young would clearly be in the running. Needless to say, he gets his just desserts on 'A History of Neil Young'. The thing is, having heard some Young solo albums over the last couple of decades I've occasionally wondered if he was indeed dead ('Trans" comes to mind). rating: ** stars - Following up the abbreviated Neil Young history with 'Old Maid (Southern California Brings Me Down)' was just icing on the cake. I can't imagine anyone turning in a better impersonation that Tony Scheuren did. Maybe the funniest performance on the album with these guys managing to splice together a fantastic 'best of'' collage of Young tunes - and the lyrics were equally funny "[Southern California] it's safer than Alabama, it's safer than Ohio ..." rating: ***** stars - Roger de Swanns reappeared interviewing Sid Gormless of The Dog's Breakfast. Ah, the boundaries and expense accounts seemed limitless back then ... Judging by 'The Art Rock Suite', I bet the album would have been killer had those cheap management bastards allowed the band to pursue Gormless' original artistic vision ... Right down to the sophomoric lyrics and ripped-off classical motifs, this was simply the perfect encapsulation of mid-1970s progressive pretense ... Another album highlight. rating: **** stars - Murray's Mel Brewer dj character returns with 'The Return of Ron Fields'. This time out the happening sound is ... well, ever wanted to hear Dylan doing a reggae tune ? rating: *** stars - Guest's Dylan impersonation on 'Down to Jamaica' only had one flaw - it was too short. rating: **** stars - 'Goodbye Ron, Mel and Pop' closed the album out with a brief refrain of the earlier 'Good-Bye Pop' theme song. rating: *** stars
As mentioned above, the album was tapped for a hard-to-find single:
- 1975's 'King fu Christmas' b/w 'Kung Fu Christmas' (Epic catalog number AS 193)
Perhaps my favorite National Lampoon release ...
"Radio Dinner" track listing:
1.) Roger de Swanns intros: (Paul Schaffer - Sean Kelly - Paul Jacobs) - 2.) Good-Bye Pop (Paul Schaffer - Sean Kelly - Paul Jacobs) - 3:40 3.) The Mel Brewer Show - 2:18 4.) Down the Dial to: Kung Fu Christmas (Brian Doyle-Murray - Gilda Radner - Bill Murray - Paul Shaffer) - 4:43 5.) A History of the Beatles - 1:53 6.) The B Side of Love (Sean Kelly - Christopher Guest) - 3:53 7.) I'm a Woman (Paul Jacob- Sean Kelly) - 3:37
(side 2) 1.) A History of Neil Young - 1:10 2.) Old Maid (Southern California Brings Me Down) (Tony Scheuren) - 4:11 3.) Roger Raps With Sid About: The Art Rock Suite (Paul Schaffer - Sean Kelly - Christopher Guest -Paul Jacobs) - 8:57 4.) The Return of Ron Fields - 3:03 5.) Down to Jamaica (Sean Kelly - Christopher Guest) - 1:23 6.) Goodbye Ron, Mel and Pop (Paul Schaffer - Sean Kelly - Paul Jacobs) - 1:27
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Genre: comedy Rating: ** (2 stars) Title: That's Not Funny, That's Sick Company: Label 21 Catalog: IMP 2001 Year: 1977 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5482 Price: 20.00
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As most folks will be able to deduce from the cover art and LP title, 1977's "That's Not Funny, That's Sick" isn't going to win over anyone with a sensitive disposition. Not that National Lampoon was ever known for being particularly sensitive, but on this one they threw away what little internal censorship they might have employed (in fact when reissued in CD format in 2004 the package carried a parental warning label). Ignoring their earlier penchant for politically oriented comedy, this time out the focus was on more mundane topics ranging from free form college radio, confession, and big oil greed with a special focus on potty mouth deliveries. With Bill Murray and brother Brian Dole-Murray running amok through the proceedings, most of the LP was actually pretty funny in a pimply sophomore guy kind of way. Of the 27 sketches (most about a moment in length), highlights included 'Gymnasty' (with a nod to Nadia Commaneci and out of the blue ending), Christopher Guest's skewering of Mr. Rogers interviewing a rock musician ('Mr. Roberts # 1') and Mr. Rogers and the concerned next door neighbor ('Mr. Roberts # 2'), a hysterical X-rated disco song ('Height Report Disco'), and their hijacking segment.
"That's Not Funny, That's Sick" track listing:
1.) The Square Show - 0:15 2.) Confession - 1:02 3.) Dick Ballentine Phone-In Show # 1 - 2:01 4.) Disco Hotline - 0:24 5.) Dick Ballentine Phone-In Show # 2 - 0:53 6.) LoveBirds / Flashanova - 1:37 7.) Listener Sponsored Radio # 1 - 1:06 8.) For $25,000 - 0:48 9.) Gymnasty - 1:07 10.) Dick Ballentine Phone-In Show # 3 - 1:16 11.) Yiddishco - 0:26 12.) Listener Sponsored Radio # 2 - 1:08 13.) Pulp - 1:10 14.) For $15,000 - 0:21 15.) Rapeline - 0:17 16.) Mr. Roberts # 1 - 3:28
(side 2) 1.) Stereos and Such - 0:42 2.) Listener Sponsored Radio # 3 - 0:25 3.) Height Report Disco - 3:42 4.) Mr. Roberts # 2 - 2:43 5.) Dial a Curse - 1:45 6.) Humpback Whales - 1:23 7.) Listener Sponsored Radio # 4 - 0:30 8.) 2,015 Year Old Man - 0:56 9.) Fasten Your Seatbelts - 3:30 10.) Listener Sponsored Radio # 5 - 0:16 11.) Monolithic Oil - 1:42
Funny story - In 2004 when the Uproar Entertainment label reissued the LP in CD format they apparently did one of those cheapy 'needle drop' jobs - literally recording the material off of an old LP (complete with hiss and tics), rather than trying to track down the original master tapes.
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Genre: comedy Rating: * (1 star) Title: White Album Company: Label 21 Catalog: IMP 2002 Year: 1979 Country/State: US Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 2 Catalog ID: 6249 Price: 10.00
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Looking at the liner notes credits, 1979's "White Album" seemed to have been stitched together from odds and ends spanning the entire National Lampoon radio show catalog. Listening to the album, two things jumped out at me: 1.) How many of the performer names I didn't recognize and 2.) How unfunny much of this collection was (even my six year old thought 'Fartman' was pathetic). Anyhow, rather than go through all 17 selections, why don't I save everyone the time and effort and simply list the handful of selections that were worth hearing.
- With Tony Scheuren sounding like the ultimate used car salesman, 'The Sounds of Physical Love' had such a weren't-the-'70s-cool vibe that you simply had to snicker. rating: *** stars - One of the oldest tracks, 'Gay Alliance' featured John Belushi, Chevy Chase, and Christopher Guest on a nice homage to Hollywood's toughest 'he-man' stars. rating: **** stars - Written and sung by Tony Scheuren, 'What About Reupholsterers?' wasn't particularly funny, but delivered the best Johnny Cash impersonation I've ever heard. rating: **** stars - Again, it wasn't particularly funny, but 'What Turns Women On' probably held more truth than most men cared to hear. rating: *** stars
All told a clear and sad sign National Lampoon was rapidly losing their edge. (I had to snicker when I noticed that current CD pressings carry a parental warning notification.)
"That's Not Funny, That's Sick" track listing:
1.) Perrier Junkie (Alice Playten) - 2:22 2.) At the Bar - 0:40 3.) What Is God? - 3:53 4.) Fartman - 1:01 5.) Discoleptic (Tony Scheuren) - 2:47 6.) Steak (Lynn Goldsmith - Marc Rubin) - 1:04 7.) The Sounds of Physical Love - 1:46 8.) Gay Alliance - 6:06
(side 2) 1.) Robert Caucasian vs. Squab - 1:57 2.) What About Reupholsterers? (Ted Mann - Tony Scheuren) - 2:12 3.) Shakespeare Knock Knocks - 2:09 4.) Nude Figure Model - 0:30 5.) Couple At the Door (Lynn Goldsmith - Marc Rubin) - 0:53 6.) Christopher Street - 4:49 7.) California Hot Tub - 1:02 8.) What Turns Women On - 3:26 9.) What Were You Expecting - Rock 'n' Roll? (Steve Goodman - Sean Kelly) - 3:42
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