Thursday, March 08, 2007

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In - Epic FXS 15118, LP


Track by track, the first record album based on the comedy series:

Side 1:
1) Cuckoo Laugh-In World - Sock it to me and very interesting. It's a cuckoo laugh-in world! Very bubbly track. I just want to swing! This is the best track on the album.
2) Monologue and Cocktail Party - Dan and Dick and cast, with Dick trying to be sentimental but just getting twisted up. Dan says, "I couldn't have said it better myself." These guys were old-fashioned but cool doing it, right out of a vaudeville style but with a cool '60s edge. And there's a great laugh track. Dick wants to be dirty, but the censors, NBC, and the sponsors "cut down the odds" as to what he can talk about. Still he knows of a great party in Room 1537, to which we go. Swinging go-go music and the cast's jokes, first up Barbara Feldon on reading, writing, and rhythm. Then JoAnne Worley. Henry Gibson frowning on the phrase, "Here Come De Judge." Goldie Hawn thinks she ought to rent her groceries, since the prices are so high. Ruth Buzzi plays Robert Goulet records till she could just scream. Polygamies are not tall, Goldie's cute remark!
3) New Talent - Arte Johnson presented as a rock 'n' roll singer from behind the Iron Curtain. Mr. Desminco. He's going to sing a song from the musical theater of his people, kind of a Borat character, but much more shy. Then it's "Mame," in some Russian-sounding language. He has an enthusiastic but flawed ending. When the fickle finger of fate beckons, stardom might be yours! And "Goodnight Tiny Tim, wherever you are!"
4) Personality of the Week - Dan and Barbara Feldon. She works with the Girl Scouts, with a very sexy outlook on the things they ought to be learning. The girls in her troop are about 27-28 years old, older than Brownies. Their marriages didn't work out so they're back in uniform. They sell cookies to keep a roof over their head. Heh heh. Alimony is one of the subjects she teaches the girls. Then they go on a camping trip. The girls love their campouts, near Fort Dix, New Jersey, right outside the main gate. "Those cookies move real fast."
5) News of Past, Present, Future - "What's the news across the nation, we have got the information, in a way we hope will amuse youse, we just love to give you our news. Bop bop bop de bop, Ladies and gents, Laugh-in looks at the news!" Here's Dan! Then to Dickie! A wish for stardust on your bippy. Then back to Dan via Goldie. 1988 - GM execs discuss plans for a one-day work week. Walter Reuther purchases GM. 1988 - Indians have any grievances? Both said no.
6) Etcetera - All cast. Almost two minutes of cast jokes. Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the clock. Very interesting, but stupid. Knock knock jokes. Tijuana punch in the nose?

Side 2:
1) Half time, with Arte, Gary Owen, and JoAnne. A take-off on "Havah Nagilah." Have two Nagilah, have three Nagilah, they're pretty small.
2) Here Come The Judge - Roddy Maude-Roxby, Henry Gibson, and Male Cast. "We Love The Law," a show number! Some good jokes in here. "Have you ever been up before me?" "I don't know, your honor, what time do you get up?"
3) The Other Cocktail Party - Full cast with jokes interspersed with swinging music. The pastor's favorite denomination is the five dollar bill. A wetbacks joke, that can't be good today. Goldie's IQ has never been mentioned. Joan Baez's autographed fingerprints. Boris gave JoAnne a Polish goldfish, which drowned. Gladys will do anything to have children, and Dick tells her "Adopt." The dirty old man has cornered the market on Walnettos. A lame Christian/Jewish joke about crossing the road, Christians get across in New York, Jews a star.
4) Sock It To Me - Potpourri - Judy Carne and Cast. Henry Gibson got it socked to him "pretty must in the usual way." Potpourri is sure spelled funny, says Goldie. They need to make more zeppelins! Ruth asks the guy making obscene phone calls to please stop. Her number has been changed, which she gives out. She says Gladys ORMphy, not Frump.
5) Mod Mod World - Dan, Dick, and Cast. The coolest generic swinging music! The subject is people in America. The air will be filled with people flying around, to which Dick says "Yeah, baby!" and "I'll drink to that." The guy was a partier! A good Tiny Tim reference, on making it to New York two hours before he leaves. Dancing ladies in Tahiti are the answer to everything if you have the right question. "I'm a little stiff from bowling." "I don't care, let's dance." "Wanna buy a sexy postcard? Wanna buy a sexy book? Wanna buy a sexy movie? Wanna buy a softer handbag?" Whack, whack, whack!
6) The Cuckoos - By Arte, Henry, and Ruth. "Victory On The Farm March" and "Holiday Strings" are the music. Cowboys like hash because it gives them a reason to turn on the rain. Ruth does a Snooky Lanson laughing version of "Holiday Strings."
7) Goodnight Dick - Dan, Dick, and Full Cast. Includes "Tip-Toe Through The Tulips." Dick gets things confused in the end, wanting to say something his aunt once said to him. She was nine days in a Turkish bath with Tiny Tim. What she said should be of interest. She dried off and came out singing, "Tip-Toe..." Viet Cong nearly wrecked the Empire State Building. Gladys just wants to swing. You can hear the opening and closing of the holes in the wall. Then in the end the record self-destructs, like on Mission Impossible.

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