BBurns Loc: South Bay, California

'That was the Year that Was'. And he is still alive.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

He's a retired mathematics professor from California.

trapper1 Loc: Southside Virginia

Tom Lehrer was a first rate pianist and satirist who wrote, performed, and sang his own songs, some of the most satirical music extant. In his real life he was a mathematician, a professor at Yale and was very active in the 60s and 70s. He wrote off-the-wall satirical songs about a wide range of topics. One of his songs consisted of nothing but the all of the chemical elements set to music. In one of put-downs of the folk singers of the time included the line that you were to imagine that he was playing an 88-string guitar. He wrote songs about bullfighting, nuclear warfare, wayward women who now charged for what they gave away for free in high school. He would have a field day with the looney toons in charge of our government today. I have three of his albums, including his first which was cut on a 10"LP and the graphics depicted him as Old Scratch. He is well worth listening to as some of the themes he satirized still plague us today.

toxdoc42

I have all his CDs, saw him.perform once. Is that a see you and raise you? I also have the piano sheet music for just about all of his music!

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

One of the PBS specials was a Tom Lehrer program in my area. (greater LA, KCET).

d2b2 Loc: Catonsville, Maryland, USA

One of the greatest satirists of all time!

David in Dallas Loc: Dallas, Texas, USA

One of his songs consisted of nothing but the all of the chemical elements set to music--it was called "The Elements". The tune used was the Major General's song from Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" and it was a hoot!