Bill and Tom: Bill Clinton

(1:17) My bit on Clinton is up at Bandcamp but by the time he did his televised mea culpa, I was too disgusted to do anything else on him.  Fortunately, radio hosts Bill and Tom were there to make a contribution to the genre.

link

Alen Robin: the Nixon tapes

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the end of the Nixon presidency, here's a little cut and paste.

Alen Robin was a comedy writer when Earle Doud-- who produced the "First Family" John Kennedy comedy records-- picked him to create a series of "press conferences" featuring the (wildly) edited voices of our national leaders.  The album, "Welcome to the LBJ Ranch", was a hit-- apparently the live performance was attended by a still-unknown John Cleese--

and Mr Robin went on to release a few other records based on the same idea.

It's a surprisingly simple concept.  The "interviewer" acts as a straight man for the "subject", and the whole thing's based on altered context.

Today's first offering is from the 1971 "Supershrink" album (available on YouTube), the Nixon psychiatric interview (4:39).
Alen Robin- Nixon 1971

He used most of this routine in his 1974 "Funnyfarm", but added a new bit about the President's king-hell social life (1:17)...
Alen Robin- Nixon 1974 excerpt

...which might have made the producers nervous enough to include this disclaimer at the end of the record (0:25).
Alen Robin 1974 disclaimer

And for those of you interested in audio detritus, here's that twisted, pained little chuckle, one more time--
nixon chuckle
the one minor detail that speaks volumes.  He was a strange man.

Mr. F. Le Mur: PR Gnus

(15:47) Mr Le Mur cuts up NPR News into deranged confessions and surreal word pictures.  Here's 15 minutes of his stuff in one easy-to-play clip, but there's lots more at the redoubtable Internet Archive site, linked below.

Today's illustration quotes dada rockers, The Bonzo Dog Band.

PR_Gnus_0001_1381a

Mr. F. Le Mur collection on the Internet Archive

Henry Mancini: That's It and That's All

(2:55) Music is by nature a cut and paste enterprise. But this piece stands out.  Not only does it swing, but instrumentally and melodically it's all over the map.  Mancini was a genius-- he really understood how to write popular music-- but this one in particular, from its trio (quartet?) of bass flutes to the wacky explosions of strings and organ, is a complete gem.  Subtle, effervescent and one of a kind.
Play it.

whoiseyevan: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1951)

Here's an interesting use of cut-up.  A movie trailer for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1951), starring Charlton Heston and Peter Lorre.  The creator of the piece did an excellent job capturing not only the look, but the spirited verve of old-time movie trailers.  Bravo!

link to YouTube