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From Radio DinnerDeteriorata I include this one merely for the sake of completeness; "Deteriorata" is a take-off on "Desiderata", a piece of 1970s feel-good fluff that once hung on everybody's refrigerator and is now (I think) mostly forgotten. "You are a child of the universe" it proclaimed, "you have a right to be here." Michael O'Donoghue and Tony Hendra will have nothing to do with that; "Go placidly amid the noise and waste," they advise, "and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. . . . You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here; and whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back." Christopher Guest (later to become Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap) set the whole thing to music and plays guitar; Melissa Manchester, believe it or not, plays keyboard. Magical Misery Tour (John Lennon) Though the lyrics are credited to O'Donoghue and Hendra, the words of this piece are mostly John Lennon's, taken straight from the scorched earth interview in Rolling Stone. It's funny as hell; Lennon rants about his fans, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney ("Paul said he hated Yoko; tell me, why should Yoko have to take that kind of shit, shit from those f-cking sons of bitches"), George Harrison ("him with his f-cking Hari Krishna"), Eastman ("a f-cking stupid middle-class pig"), finally ending with the refrain "Genius is pain" repeated ad nauseum. The final voice is Yoko Ono's with the stark comment "The dream is over" which probably summed up the situation as seen by the average fan in 1971. Tony Hendra (later to become Spinal Tap's manager Ian Faith) plays John Lennon, and Melissa Manchester plays Yoko Ono. She also plays piano. Christopher Cerf composed the music, and Christopher Guest arranged it. Pull the Tregros (Joan Baez) This rather cruel parody (another O'Donoghue/Hendra effort) takes aim at the protest songs of Joan Baez and scores a bullseye. The singer, safe in her home "just across the bay" urges blacks to to take up armed revolution. She's "needed from Belfast to Bangla-Desh" but she knows they will "always be there to fall back on." Diana Reed (and I don't know anything else about her) plays Joan Baez; the song is composed by Tony Hendra and arranged by Christopher Guest. From LemmingsLemmings' Lament (CS&N) This song illustrates some of the complexities that come up when trying to categorize parodies--come up for the critic, anyway, though probably not for either the parodist or his audience. The album Lemmings as a whole parodies the live Woodstock album, and this song--a parody of a Joni Mitchell composition as performed by Crosby, Stills, and Nash--is the keynote to the entire piece. "We got our heads together while the planet fell to bits--now the one side left to take is suicide." Comparing the Woodstock Generation to a "mighty mass of furry little mindless animals, a million lemmings marching to the sea" the song mimics the CS&N tight vocal harmonies with devastating effect. Written by Paul Jacobs and Sean Kelly, the song was performed by Paul Jacobs (as David Crosby; the other performers are not given though they probably were Chevy Chase, Garry Goodrow and/or Christopher Guest). Positively Wall Street (Bob Dylan) Unfortunately, after a magnificent start with "Lemmings' Lament" the album rapidly slides downhill with this poor attempt at a Bob Dylan parody. The singer puts down his fans who expect him to have all the answers: "You say I was your leader, You say I turned you on; You're starting to suspect now that it was all a con"--and he doesn't give a damn about it. Musically it's barely passable, but lyrically--and any Bob Dylan parody had damn well better pay special attention to the lyrics--it's a complete miss. And Dylan really isn't that hard a target for God's sake. Christopher Guest plays Bob Dylan, and he doesn't do a bad job of it, but the material just isn't worth it. The song was written by Paul Jacobs, Christopher Guest, and Sean Kelly. Pizza Man This genre parody takes aim at death rock, probably with "Leader of the Pack" in mind, and is mildly amusing, though it's basically an old joke set to music. **more** Colorado ?? Papa was a Running-Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie (Motown) ?? Highway Toes (James Taylor) By Christopher Guest and Sean Kelly. Christopher Guest: vocal and guitar. Paul Jacobs: piano and backing vocals. Possibly John Belushi on bass and Chevy Chase on drums. Lonely at the Bottom (Joe Cocker) ?? Megadeath (Heavy Metal?) ?? From Good-Bye PopThe B Side of Love (Country) ?? I'm a Woman This is another marginal item, included only for completeness. "I'm a Woman" barely exists at all as a song; rather it exists only to support a sketch rememiscent of some of Stan Freberg's work. Gilda Radner atteempts to sing a Helen Reddy-esque anthem while being interrupted by an A&R man and by her husband, who are concerned that she will not bring out the meaning of this celebration of woman. Bill Murray plays her manager; backup musicians include Christopher Guest and Paul Jacobs. Southern California Brings Me Down (Neil Young) ?? Art Rock Suite ?? From Best of the National Lampoon Radio HourLittle Miss Muffet (Otis Redding) ?? Methadone Maintenance Man (James Taylor) ?? Sperm Whale Song (Traditional) ?? Well Intentioned Blues (Pete Seeger) ?? Steppin' on a Spaniel You Put Me Through Hell (Joni Mitchell) Every Day I Feel Depressed (B. B. King) |
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