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From the Vault...
10/26/2008
#1122 |
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info
The Firesign Theatre
"How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All"
© Columbia/Legacy Records
Year of Release: 1969
Rating:
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track listing
How Can You Be In
Two Places
At Once
When You're Not
Anywhere At All
Drink To Me
Only With Thine
(Mr. Catherwood
And Ensemble)
The Policemen's Brawl
(Officers Bradshaw
And Henderson)
Yankee Doodle
Came To Terms
(All Fecal People's
Chorus)
Uber Dubbing Over Alice
(Arry 'n' Friends)
You Ain't Got No Friends
On The Left
(Babe And The
Unknown Soldiers
"We're Bringing The War
Back Home!"
From "Babes In Khaki"
(Lily Lamont)
Babes In Khaki
TV Or Not TV
The Further Adventures Of
Nick Danger
Babes In Khaki
TV Or Not TV
Babes In Khaki
TV Or Not TV
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WSVNRadio Archives
The Firesign Theatre related sites:
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The Firesign Theatre
"How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All"
Saturday Night Live, Second City Television, Monty Python ... Comedy groups
very popular throughout the 1970s and mid-1980s... But this wasn't the reason
why I took an interest in another late 1960s-1970s comedy group, called The
Firesign Theatre. It was the album cover for this week's review, How Can
You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All: Pictures of
a famous comedian and rock and roll star were on the front cover. And like the
album's title, both pictures of these famous celebrities had no resemblance.
All Hail Marx/Lennon was another album title for this release, as pictures of
Groucho Marx (The Marx Brothers) and a bearded John Lennon (The Beatles)
captured my attention.
The Firesign Theatre consisted of Phillip Austin, Peter Bergman, David
Ossman, and Phillip Proctor. How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When
You're Not Anywhere At All was the group's second album of their career,
released in 1969. The original vinyl LP consisted of two tracks: Side One,
having six comedy sketches as one album side, and on Side Two, a look at an
old time radio show concept, taken after the radio show, Yours Truly,
Johnny Dollar. (After learning of this old-time radio show concept, now I
was really interested.)
The CD version breaks Side One's sketches as seven individual tracks, with
different titles.
| Original Title | CD Title |
Drink To Me Only With Thine
(Mr. Catherwood And Ensemble) |
The Ralph Spoilsport Mantrum |
The Policemen's Brawl
(Officers Bradshaw And Henderson) |
Zeno's Evil |
Yankee Doodle Came To Terms
All Fecal People's Chorus) |
The Land Of The Pharoahs |
Uber Dubbing Over Alice
Arry 'n' Friends) |
Vacancy - No Vacancy |
You Ain't Got No Friends On The Left
(Babe And The Unknown Soldiers) |
The Lonesome American Choo-Choo Don' Wan' Stop Here Any Mo' |
"We're Bringing The War Back Home!" From "Babes In Khaki"
(Lily Lamont) |
Two Tracks:
- Babes In Khaki
- TV Or Not TV
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In listening to each sketch, it resembles the Old-Time Radio format, as it was updated (based on the
times) with stories of war, changes, murder, and music relations, such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan.
Side One has the comparisons of Monty Python dialogue in some places, and yet it does keep your attention,
in hearing how the Firesign Theatre can keep up with storylines relating to the current trends. Yet, its
the "Nick Danger" radio episode that is the gem. It's Old-Time Radio brought back to the surface, as
OTR shows had long passed by 1969.
Reviews from Amazon.com of this album proves to those Firesign fans, that their comedy
was and is worth listening to. For OTR fans, How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All
captures Old-Time Radio formats as if it never went away, including sound effects, theatrical music fillers,
and enthusiastic character portrayals.
Also, check out The Firesign Theatre website.
The Flash display of their albums is great to watch, as it features sound bites and album covers from their 30-year
+ span. Listening to this week's album review will encourage those to discover more of the Firesign Theatre,
and listen to the debut album, and albums after How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not
Anywhere At All.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Columbia/Legacy Records
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