Vinyl Distractions

From 1984, my final vinyl for The Firesign Theatre. Their next release, the rather excellent “Eat or Be Eaten,” came out in 1985 on CD, and that’s how I got it. This one and...

They hinted at an attempt at Shakespeare spoof on the back side of “Not Insane,” with the piece titled “Anything You Want To.” That is the name of the play captured here and presented...

I was pretty pleased at the level of support Rhino seemed to be giving to The Firesign Theatre in the early ’80s — Rhino was a label that specialized in minor repackaging of ’50s...

1980: Firesign Theatre brings its incisive political humor to modern politics. It’s hard to explain, but in 1980, the ’60s seemed decades away. The early Firesign material from the late ’60s had always had...

I think anyone who thought about how to expand any of the Firesign Theatre’s classic bits into something repeatable would pretty quickly settle on Nick Danger, their hardboiled detective, and the cast of characters...

So, everything I said about Proctor & Bergman’s “What This Country Needs” a couple of days back applies to “Give Us A Break” as well. If I ever saw it before (it came out...

This is a nice, laidback piece with a simple concept: an introduction to the denizens of Ducktown for the incoming president, whose name is Jimmy, which gives you some idea how old this is....

This one’s an interesting attempt at hardboiled police drama with elements of soap opera and game shows — full-on surrealist media satire with a healthy dose of progressive politics. It is, I must say,...