Top 3 Inspirational – Part 4
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009Can comedy be Inspirational? You bet. I’m Tired from Mel Brook’s Blazing Saddles sung by the inimitable Lili von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn) and Springtime For Hitler from The Producers both written by Mr. Brooks are two cases in point. They make you laugh. They make you feel instantly better. That’s Inspirational. Here are my Top 3.
La Mancha
COMEDY
1. Cocktails For Two — Spike Jones / Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston
Coslow was the first Broadway songwriter to be hired by Paramount. During his decade with Paramount, he wrote songs for many of their films, including most of the early Bing Crosby pictures. “Cocktails For Two” (1934, with Arthur Johnston, for Murder at the Vanities) was one of them.
But it was the Spike Jones approach to the song that really killed me and still does today. His “send up” arrangements of popular songs of the day were simply hysterical. Weird Al learned a lot from Spike.
2. I Wanna Go Back To Dixie — Tom Lehrer
Probably may favorite comedy writer of all time, this clever, funny man always made me laugh. His albums are just full of great satirical songs. If you don’t know Tom Lehrer’s music and need a good laugh (and who doesn’t?) rush right out and buy a couple of his albums. Stephen Sondheim said that one of the hardest things to do in a song was to make people laugh out loud. For Tom Lehrer, it was a breeze.
