Firesign Theater sample in hiphop song? [And Firesign Theater in general]

it's from a child's garden of grass, if i'm remembering the right sample. not firesign theatre though.

Jeru The Damaja, "Frustrated Nigga" from Wrath of the Math (1995 Payday Records) featuring a sample of "Nick Danger, Private Eye" by the Firesign Theater in the intro.

how could this be the only firesign thread?

we could always shoot him with the camera

http://www.firesigntheatre.com/domm/index.html

And it took five years for someone to revive it.

And I started it! Yeah, many various mentions in comedy threads and such, but no devoted thread, sadly. (My mom even says 'department of redundancy department,' which she got from me but has never heard the source.)

So anyway, post random Firesign-related stuff here. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_WbiF-I5BU

I keep meeting fans in the strangest of places -- a lot of the younger ones were turned onto them by their parents, so I like imagining the family bonding experiences.

WFMU ran old Firesign Theatre Radio Hour shows during their summer schedule this year -- archived here:

http://wfmu.org/playlists/FT

I listened to the first one a few weeks ago -- KWKWT-TV -- and it was interesting to hear "Don't Crush That Dwarf" material in rough form with laughing and flubs, not tightly edited like the studio version.

Well, this thread cost me 45 bucks--that Duke of Madness Motors set is incredible.

the 'Dear Firends' double-live LP culled from the radio shows is my favorite for pure lolz.

has anyone else done the full album (or side) radio-play narratives like these guys? I have a couple albums by the Conception Corporation that try to pull it off but fall way flat.

make that 'Dear Friends' :p

I have two Conception Corp. albums, too, and only "Conceptionland" has the side-long suite. Yeah, they're not very good. For dry, studio based comedy (not exactly Firesign-y, but nothing is) this has its moments, including a spot-on Johnny Carson parody with Harry Shearer:)

http://www.tvworthwatching.com/werts/credibility%20gap%20record.jpg

One of my alltime favorite moments in a bar was once when a too-drunk woman lost her balance. My Firesign-loving buddy said "Oh, she's no fun..." and we both finished in unison "SHE FELL RIGHT OVER!!!"

I was just thinking about resuscitating this thread. I have never understood why they have never had a real revival. That box set is clearly a must, so long as you have everything else! I recently scored their "Alternative Rose Parade" broadcast, which is pretty sweet. As to restaging it, I think someplace did a live version of "Don't Crush that Dwarf" a few years ago (maybe with Jon Goodman?). But it's hard to imagine it being very successful. The thing that's really surprising is that practically no one has attempted to copy or extend the multi-tracking/long narrative technique that they invented.

so excited for this. some of the complete shows were pressed to vinyl, WFMU hosted a few: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2009/05/a-memory-with-trip-lane-doctor-down-.html - and it is amazing to hear them walking more of a line between scripted and spontaneous, most of it just being winged until one of them just finds the exact moment to drop in a completely scripted mindbomb

The thing that's really surprising is that practically no one has attempted to copy or extend the multi-tracking/long narrative technique that they invented.

few could -- though it makes sense that this is coming out on Negativland's record label, as the one of the only shows that came close to this was their radio show Over The Edge, especially in the mid 80's to early 90's when they were really pouring all their energy into it. some of that shows up on some of the more narrative-based Over The Edge CDs (Pastor Dick / Dick Vaughn / Time Zones Exchange Project) -- but they're still a mix of pre-production and edited radio improvs, not the flat out multi-tracked compositions those Firesign albums are

I just put "Beat The Reaper" on a mix CD for my nephew. SO classic.

Re. the radio shows: you're exactly right about the improv/scripted relationship. For almost everyone else, it's the improvisation that's the exception, not the rule. I love those radio shows: Dear Friends is definitely the best of the three.

Part of the reason the records sound so good, I think, is that they are recording on the old CBS radio sound stages with vintage mics, etc. They cut a rock star deal with Columbia and were able to funnel money that would normally have gone to touring support into studio time. Also they had access to all of Columbia's music to use in the mix: like the hilariously crappy version of Also Sprach Zarathustra that ends side one of Everything You Know is Wrong.

Negativeland: for sure. Though which are the good "Over the Edge" comps? I only have the Willsaphone Stupid Show, which I don't think too much of. Escape from Noise is the nuts, though. I met TFT back in the 90s and David Ossman said he was a Negativeland fan.

for Firesign fans:

Over the Edge Vol. 2: Pastor Dick: Muriel's Purse Fund
Over the Edge Vol. 4: Dick Vaughn's Moribund Music of the '70s <<< particularly amazing edits of some shows from the early 80's about a radio DJ's desperate attempt to jump the gun and be the first to capitalize on 70's nostalgia

thanks!

Word from a friend who would know is that Peter Bergman has passed on. :-/ Am looking for more information.

Confirmed, sadly, by Philip Proctor:

https://www.facebook.com/philip.proctor2/posts/10150620086438752

RIP :(

just realized firesign theatre recs are on spotify :)

One of the stranger and more wonderful gifts my mother gave me was raising me on a heavy dose of Firesign Theatre and Flying Circus

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150673823910209&id=282668140208

back to the shadows again

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/farewell_dear_friend_peter_bergman_1939_2012

aw, hell.

Milton I finally tracked down Dear Friends on yr recommendation and it is a real treat.

Don't Crush That Dwarf Hand Me The Pliers & Everything You Know Is Wrong are my favorites but I've been slowly going through the Duke Of Madness radio shows on the DVD -- hours and hours of them -- and the more I listen the more I think them live on the radio was the best way to hear them -- less concentrated than the albums but when something happens, it really happens right then

'Avoid eye contact! And if there are no eyes... avoid ALL contact.'

I am so sad about this news.

The last minute of Peter's last Radio Free Oz from Super Tuesday

"Take heart, dear friends. We are passing through the darkening of the light. We're gonna make it and we're going to make it together. Don't get ground down by cynicism. Don't let depression darken the glass through which you look. This is a garden we live in. A garden seeded with unconditional love. And the tears of the oppressed, and the tears of the frustrated, and the tears of the good will spring those seeds. The flag has been waived. It says occupy. Occupy Wall Street. Occupy the banks. Occupy the nursing homes. Occupy Congress. Occupy the big law offices. Occupy the lobbyists. Occupy...yourself. Because that's were it all comes together. I pledge to you, from this moment on, whatever it means, I'm going to occupy myself.
I love you. See ya tomorrow."

http://firesigntheatre.com/peterbergman/pbsignoff.mp3

I saw that. What a signoff!

Shit.

Their material just gets better every year, like a fine wine.

Inferior people should not be employed

I saw them at Town Hall in NYC in 1981, their last tour before Ossman left the group. It was pretty amazing being in a theatre full of Fireheads, in a "these are my people!" sort of way--let's just say that I wasn't the only one who brought a bozo horn. (Also, I had never seen so many beards in one room.)

Before the show started, while the audience was still filing in, the guys had a microphone backstage and every few minutes they'd throw a line at us--"What's all this brouhaha?" or "Let's stand him on his head!"--and we'd shout out the next line in unison, then a barrage of horn honking. The show itself was probably 2 hours, with new material and long, heavily revamped sections of "Nick Danger," "Dwarf" and "Bozos" weaving in and out. Comedy nerd heaven.

I've started teaching some of their stuff in my college English classes and the kids are into it.

Sad news to report that Phil Austin, Nick Danger himself, has passed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153086195198752&set=a.44777088751.57259.671658751&type=1&fref=nf

RIP :( Perhaps the other Phil will read some words as Pastor Flash.

Oh, no public memorial.

Damn. RIP

wish I could think of an appropriate quote

RIP

He's no fun, he fell right over.

out of all of the solo records this one definitely makes the least sense, the kids were smoking this the year they disappeared the high school

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04GoVJXavUs

never noticed the brief half speed raymond scott soothing sounds sample on side 2 until now! phil austin you fellow traveller have fun where you are

"i am trying to think like a girl, but... all I keep thinking of is girls!"

Tragic news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4k23EYlv4c

RIP, Regnad Kcin.

William I was gonna say that, but reconsidered

thank you :)

: )

You have violated Robot’s Rules of Order and will be asked to leave the future immediately. Thank you.

Reminds me I've been meaning to change my screen name.

Oh yeah and I'd been meaning to post this: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/the-organist/be-in-two-places-at-once-the-firesign-theatre

That, there, there, that’s Steve Reeves.
No, that’s Agnes Moorehead.

Autocorrect wanted Agnes Motörhead.

Let’s see, it was a jackal-headed woman with her eyes akimbo.

Chippéd nose uplifted thusly

All engraven on a Pyramus of massy sighs

I have the Shoes For Industry 2cd which has some great stuff on it. Was there a more comprehensive box set?
Found the 2cd in an alternative shop in Dublin. May have been prompted to get it by a feature in one of Big Chiefs magazine in the mid 90s.

There has not been a comprehensive box set, though all of the Columbia records are available here: https://laugh.com/?s=firesign+theatre&post_type=product

There was, though, a very comprehensive box set of their radio shows that was put together a few years ago: http://firesigntheatre.com/domm/whatitis.html

The radio shows are very different, because it's pretty much all improvised live radio. But they are fascinating and with lots of moments of greatness.

And archived on WFMU, as posted above.

http://wfmu.org/playlists/FT

I think the Red Rolling Stone Record Guide had at least a couple of the lps rated at 5 stars come to think of it. Pretty sure there's at least one record sleeve pictured in the book.

Yeah, Don't Crush That Dwarf and How Can You Be in Two Places at Once were both 5-stars, and deservedly so.

Autocorrect wanted Agnes Motörhead.

― Irae Louvin (James Redd and the Blecchs)

what autocorrect wants, autocorrect gets

Everything You Know is Wrong also 5-stars, and In the Next World You're On Your Own (my fave) is 4. Reviews written by Greil Marcus. It's surprising he hasn't written about them more.

Odysseus! Odysseus!

Odysseus! Odysseus!

Ha, guess I only needed to type if once

"Things you were shockingly old when you learned (where a reference came from on a Firesign Theatre album)"

It was only a few years ago that I learned about the parliamentary rule book "Robert's Rules of Order"

What's the birdseye lowdown on this caper?

Agnes Motörhead still one of the all time great display names.

Somewhere Marcus mentioned that he was doing a lot of writing with Firesign records on---wanna say in the background, but what kind of background would that be?
Back in the 70s, my friend and I found most of his several Monty Python LPs to have similar appeal, sounding great even on his less-than-great stereo. Only exception was the one live one we heard then or a little later, blanking on the title. The others were as satisfying in their way as the movies and TV series. Of course they had (though doing without Terry Gilliam's clip art animations etc.) Neil Innes writing songs (along with the use of BBC library sounds etc.): "I've suffered for my music. Now it's your turn."

Maybe not nec. BBC.

Ha, love that line, and the way he does that one.
xp

Not seeing GM's own ref to the above practice, but his buddy Xgau mentions Lipstick Traces [Rough Trade, 1993]:
punk as Ur-political vanguard as per G. Marcus, a man who considers the Firesign Theatre background music (Adverts, "One Chord Wonders"; Mekons, "Never Been in a Riot") *

Oh well, might be somewhere in here: https://greilmarcus.net/?s=firesign+theatre

Marcus has mentioned he wrote Lipstick Traces while wearing out his Firesign vinyl.

From: https://rockcritics.com/2013/07/16/from-the-archives-greil-marcus-online-exchange-2002-2/

I hope the book is not devoid of humor, but I couldn’t have imagined turning it into a comedy, even if I wrote the whole thing while listening over and over to Monty Python and Firesign Theater records, for nine years, until they were all grey and cracked.

I asked the question!

Buncha other ilxors in there too

Wow