Tony Scheuren (1948-1993) was one of the most gifted song parodists of the late twentieth century, and possibly of all time. While his released output was small, the quality of his work was uniformly high. In 1968 he sang and played a variety of instruments for the band Chamaeleon Church, along with Kyle Garrahan (guitar, bass, drum, piano), Chevy Chase (drums, piano), and Ted Myers (vocals, guitar). After the original Ultimate Spinach broke up, he and Ted Myers joined the lineup for the third and final (contractually obligated) album. By late 1973 Scheuren had joined the cast of National Lampoon's Lemmings, working alongside John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Rhonda Coullet, Nate Herman, Bob Hoban, and Zal Yanovsky. This, it should be noted, is not the cast that appeared on the album and video--nor apparently is this version of Lemmings identical in other respects, as Nate Herman and Zal Yanovsky are listed as composers along with Paul Jacobs, Christopher Guest, and Sean Kelly. (Nate Herman's contributions included a Joni Mitchell parody and something called "Country Queen.") Tony Scheuren's contributions seem to have been limited to performing. About that same time he began contributing to the National Lampoon Radio Hour as a writer and performer, and also contributed to a number of the albums released after the demise of the show.
Old Maid (Neil Young)Also known as "Southern California Brings Me Down," this extraordinary Neil Young parody exists in two versions: the Radio Hour version, now available on The Best of the National Lampoon Radio Hour, and the LP version, released on Good Bye Pop (now out of print). **more**
What about Reupholsterers (Johnny Cash)on the white album **more**
Methadone Maintenance Man (James Taylor)on the best of set **more**
Ridin' Out on a Rail (Grateful Dead)**more**
Bleeding Heart (Cat Stevens)This was heard several times on the National Lampoon Radio Hourbut as far as I know was never released on any album. This is Scheuren at his best; both music and lyrics are dead on.
?? (Leon Russell)**more**
St. Leonard's Song (Leonard Cohen)Co-written with Sean Kelly, this piece is almost as brilliant as the much better known Neil Young parody. The singer laments the difficulty involved in making it pop but keeping it poetry, concluding that he is a perfect imitation of himself. |
