Tom Lehrer - That Was the Year That Was (1965) Vinyl LP; New Math, Satire Comedy

Catalog Number: R-6179

Record Grading: Excellent (EX), Sleeve Grading: Very Good Plus (VG+)

Condition Details:

Vinyl plays with occasional light-crackles (play-graded). Cover has a few creases near edges (front/back); discoloration on back, watson on back near opening. Inner-sleeve is original (Reprise ads). Spine is easy-to-read with mild-wear (partially crooked). Shelf-wear along top/bottom-edge and corners. Splits on top-center. Opening is crisp with signs of light use and divots and a small tear near center. (Not a cut-out.)

Tracks:

• National Brotherhood Week
• MLF Lullaby
• George Murphy
• The Folk Song Army
• Smut
• Send The Marines
• Pollution
• So Long, Mom (A Song For World War III)
• Whatever Became Of Hubert?
• New Math
• Alma
• Who's Next?
• Wernher Von Braun
• The Vatican Rag

About The Record:

That Was the Year That Was, is a satirical parody by Tom Lehrer. An Allmusic review by Jonathan Lewis gives some insight into this album. "Tom Lehrer's work always had a biting, satirical edge to it, but never was this more obvious than on this album, a collection of songs regarding events of the year 1965. Very little was sacred from Lehrer's sharp wit, from racism to the Catholic Church, and, while much of his subject matter has become outdated, his shrewd comic talents are beyond question...Lyrically, he was superb. Where his contemporaries...relied on clever wordplay, Lehrer's caustic wit was his strength. The nuclear threat was the major theme here, an example being the tale of nuclear proliferation, Who's Next?, which, when mentioning Israel's need for nuclear weapons, states "The Lord's our shepherd, says the Psalm/But just in case -- we're going to get a bomb." So Long Mom (A Song for World War 3) came about because, as Lehrer says in his introduction, "if any songs are going to come out of World War 3, we'd better start writing them now." "Wernher von Braun" questions the United State's dubious moral decision to grant the Nazi scientist von Braun asylum if he worked for the U.S. Space Program, while Send the Marines highlights unwritten U.S. foreign policy, specifically on invading another country: 'They've got to be protected/All their rights respected/Until somebody we like gets elected.' This is one of Tom Lehrer's finest works, and it is a pleasure to hear him actually sing these songs himself. While very much a product of the '60s, much of Lehrer's comedy is still relevant. This album gives a fascinating insight into the politics of the 1960s United States and also shows one of the finest comedic talents of that decade at his absolute best."