# Tom Lehrer is still alive! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 13, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044 "2015-09-13T03:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/21 "2015-09-14T18:14:17Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Given the rather large family of ‘ballad meter’ songs whose lyrics can be sung to each other’s tunes (including “Amazing Grace” and “Pop Goes the Weasel”) that certainly has no bearing on a song’s merits. 🙂 See [“It Scans to Argo”](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.filk/kWhvDnvfwAs). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/22 "2015-09-14T18:29:55Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > He put out a DVD of his performances, The Tom Lehrer Collection, the bulk of which apparently first surfaced on YouTube. There’s a little blurb in the booklet where he describes writing to the uploader of the video (aren’t you supposed to ask my permission?) - and that person’s amazement that he’s still alive. > > Rather weirdly, the only official promotional film ever made for one of his songs (Pollution) doesn’t appear on the DVD… So, perhaps he’s holding things back for another release. Maybe a 90th birthday gala? Ding! Christmas present for my wife. I knew we were compatible since we both loved Tom. In fact, we went to a preview of the show “Tomfoolery” in New York. Preview instead of regular show because she was very pregnant. We were at a table in the Top of the Village Gate and a nice lady asked my wife when her due date was. “Today.” Luckily our kid, who also loves Tom, did not want to miss the show either. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/23 "2015-09-14T19:13:26Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > They’re both “only” 87. The one – in a different creative field from Lehrer – whom I marvel at, is Herman Wouk (_Caine Mutiny_,_Winds of War_, etc.) : still with us at 100. Wouk published a new novel just a couple of years ago. Not his best work, but still . . . ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/24 "2015-09-14T21:18:59Z")
I was introduced to Lehrer by “The Electric Company”, for which he wrote a handful of songs. The animation for “Silent E” is wonderful, but my favorite of the songs is “S-N”, with “I’m a Very Quiet Hound” (melody by Verdi) a close second. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2015, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/25 "2015-09-14T23:46:28Z")
The “Collection” DVD contains all 4 Electric Company short films. They’re rather wonderful!! I found one of his albums in the bins at the local public library in the mid-1970s. I’ve been a fan ever since. I had no idea that music could be like that… It was something absolutely different. I’ve been a fan ever since. For someone with a relatively brief career, he’s got quite a few rare releases (Australian Live album, for example). ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/26 "2015-09-15T00:02:32Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > The “Collection” DVD contains all 4 Electric Company short films. They’re rather wonderful!! I found one of his albums in the bins at the local public library in the mid-1970s. I’ve been a fan ever since. I had no idea that music could be like that… It was something absolutely different. I’ve been a fan ever since. For someone with a relatively brief career, he’s got quite a few rare releases (Australian Live album, for example). A morning DJ I used to listen to in Seattle played one novelty song every day. I distinctly remember _I Got it From Agnes_ being in the rotation. That was before there was any official release of that song; I still have no idea where that particular recording came from. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/27 "2015-09-15T01:03:23Z")
One of my sister’s prized possessions is a letter she received from Mr. Lehrer in 1994, in which he regretfully declined an invitation to perform at her wedding reception. Of COURSE she framed it! What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/28 "2015-09-15T09:01:17Z")
He did many of his songs for “That Was The Week That Was” a sort of precursor to “The Daily Show” starring David Frost. It seems like Lehrer turned out a new song every week, though that must not be the case or there would be a lot more of his songs around. I think “National Brotherhood Week” might have come from that show. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/30 "2015-09-15T10:41:30Z")
> [@denquixote](#): > > He did many of his songs for “That Was The Week That Was” a sort of precursor to “The Daily Show” starring David Frost. It seems like Lehrer turned out a new song every week, though that must not be the case or there would be a lot more of his songs around. I think “National Brotherhood Week” might have come from that show. Only so many songs will fit on an album; seems likely that he wrote some for the show that didn’t make the cut when album time rolled around. I bought a CD years ago that was 60 minutes of highlights from the American version of TW3, edited together as if it was two 30-minutes episodes. Each began with a song recapping the week’s news. I think the tune stayed the same from week to week; don’t know if Lehrer may have contributed to the lyrics). Even if those were Lehrer’s sole work, they’d have quickly become too dated to be worth releasing on a record. I couldn’t find any samples of the American version online, but there are some videos of the British version, including the opening song. If the singer looks familiar, she went on to be Daphne’s mum on _Frasier_. And it’s not safe for work. It’s really not.[spoiler][https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxp98-2i6A[/spoiler]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INxp98-2i6A%5B/spoiler%5D) ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/31 "2015-09-15T11:33:39Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > They’re both “only” 87. The one – in a different creative field from Lehrer – whom I marvel at, is Herman Wouk (_Caine Mutiny_,_Winds of War_, etc.) : still with us at 100. > [@suranyi](#): > > Wouk published a new novel just a couple of years ago. Not his best work, but still . . . In my estimation, the quality of Wouk’s fiction started going down about thirty years ago. Understandably – the “anno domini” factor which affects many (not all) artists, as it does non-creative folk. I reckoned _The Hope_ and _The Glory_ pretty embarrassingly bad: struggled through the former, gave up on the latter, and have left alone any further output by this author. In rather similar case where I’m concerned, is Richard Adams, author of _Watership Down_ – he’s 95, and still industriously writing away. After a novel of his, published some years ago, the general standard of which indicated to me that he was losing his grip; I’ve abandoned reading anything further by Adams which has come out. One honours these bods for the fine stuff which they wrote in their heyday – but finds it a little hard not to wish that they’d realise what the inroads of old age are doing, and “put themselves out to pasture”. On the other hand, though, with writing being what they do… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/32 "2015-09-15T15:08:20Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > See [“It Scans to Argo”](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.music.filk/kWhvDnvfwAs). OK, I know of a _movie_ by that name, but no _song_… ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/33 "2015-09-19T23:12:28Z")
He will never be as famous as Niel Armstrong or Werner von Braun. But I like him all the same. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/34 "2015-09-19T23:17:40Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > OK, I know of a _movie_ by that name, but no _song_… Well, it only makes sense if you’re familiar with Leslie Fish’s classic filksong [“Banned from Argo,”](would a presidential candidate have to do once in office for you to be satisfied with him/her? ) which in turn only makes sense if you’re familiar with _Star Trek TOS._ ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/35 "2015-09-19T23:25:07Z")
It’s a shame the Army still refuses to name “It Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Soldier” its official song because of sheer, blatant favoritism. He and his roommates in boot camp worked on that in their copious free time. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/36 "2015-09-20T00:49:30Z")
Good to know that he’s still sliding down the razor blade of life. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/37 "2015-09-20T03:25:25Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If the singer looks familiar, she went on to be Daphne’s mum on _Frasier_. Holy crap, that’s Millicent Martin?!? :eek: My God, she was one fine piece of crumpet back in the day! :o ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/38 "2015-09-20T04:42:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Holy crap, that’s Millicent Martin?!? :eek: My God, she was one fine piece of crumpet back in the day! :o That’s what you noticed about that show; the song about Mississippi didn’t raise an eyebrow? There’s also a brief appearance by a young Patricia Routledge (Hyacinth from _Keeping Up Appearances_). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/39 "2015-09-20T04:47:09Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That’s what you noticed about that show; the song about Mississippi didn’t raise an eyebrow? Of course it did. She was great in it! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2015, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044/40 "2015-09-20T06:41:47Z")
The mention in post #28 of the connection with “That Was The Week That Was”, went over my head, until the recent posts “further to…”. As an adolescent in the early 1960s, I keenly watched “TWTWTW” (those acting in the capacity of parents to me at the time, were progressive sorts – enjoyed the show themselves, and were OK with my watching it). And it was around the same time, that I first heard of Tom Lehrer and his songs – one of my teachers at school was a fan. At the time, though, I was unaware of any Lehrer / “That Was…” connection: never knew about it, in fact, until this thread. I don’t think the teacher concerned, ever mentioned it – or perhaps he did, but it didn’t register with me: he wasn’t very articulate, and as a kid I was off in a world of my own much of the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-lehrer-is-still-alive/731044.md?page=1)