Firesign Theatre — Everything You Know Is Wrong
The Firesign Theatre’s seventh album is a real immersive experience. Atypical for Firesign, this one is narrated directly to the listener by Happy Harry Cox, a somewhat harmless believer in all kinds of fringe theories who lives in a nudist trailer park in Hellmouth, California. While explaining his theories to us, he is interrupted by visitors including his whacko followers (“Seekers”) and conducts interviews in support of this theories. There are aliens, stoned founding fathers, an Evel Knievel type who is going to jump over a hole made by a comet’s impact. He ends up in the hole instead, and the spectators follow him. The aliens arrive, find no one but Cox to deliver their message to, and take off for another millennium.
While engaging, this has far less of the clever wordplay or deep concepts that their previous records featured. The piece I think of the most is a segment with a supposed wire recording of an old-time play, done in the horrible broad style of a minstrel show, in which emancipation is proclaimed and it is declared that no one has to be a slave full-time anymore. “We’s gwine take turns . . . and guess whose turn it is!” No question that Firesign were progressives and that their reference to minstrelsy was a critique of its offensive approach.
This one I bought brand new, but comparatively late in my Firesign fandom. It could have been 1982 or even 1983. Not generally regaled as one of their best, it’s still a pointed commentary on new age nonsense, parapsychology, alien visitations and conspiracy theories. It’s by no means bad, it’s just not nearly as entertaining, biting or informative as their earlier works.
“That was no crazed Sterno-bum, but a respected law enforcement officer: Sherrif Luger Axehandle of …”
Or…
“Two flying saucers have just landed in my plate.”
“The… eggs, sir?”
No doubt “Happy” Harry Cox and his radio show/recording was inspired by Art Bell’s syndicated “Coast to Coast” radio show out of Las Vegas and later Bell’s home in Pahrump (I kid you not). Bell frequently discussed paranormal topics, and interviewed “contactees”, Bigfoot-hunters, revisionist historians, conspiracy theorists, and other passionate crackpots. If not for Bell (and the radio show that continues today), the History Channel would still be playing old WWII newsreels.
Putting this album into the context of 1974 helps. It was a weird time. I remember my college bookstore was filled with paperbacks by Erich von Däniken (ancient astronauts) and Carlos Castaneda (shamanism), and that black holes (a relatively new idea) and pyramid power were also popular topics.. Spoon bender Yuri Geller was on the tube, and Richard Nixon was riding in his last parade. The cumulative message was that, truly, everything we did know was wrong.
Incidentally, I encountered that line – along with numerous other references to this album – in an episode of NUMB3RS. An independent investigator (I believe) admonished the stars, Charlie and Don, by pointing out that “everything the Epps boys knew was wrong!” Fun.