The musical comedian has surrendered the rights to his work. Although it amounts to only 37 songs, each one is brilliant and timelessly funny
sell for hundreds of millions of dollars, few songwriters are likely to follow Mr Lehrer’s lead. The move is, however, entirely in character for Mr Lehrer, who has spent no more than 20 of his 94 years working in show business. This goes some way towards explaining why he is as obscure today as Mr Dylan is famous, yet his impact on his chosen form is every bit as profound. If anyone has a claim to have been present for the birth of modern satirical comedy, it is Mr Lehrer.
A distinct new comic sensibility was on the rise in America in the early 1950s: a kind of erudite, quick-fire, madcap insolence cloaked in dumb-guy shtick that endures to this day. Mr Lehrer shared it, but his humour had a mordant and often macabre tone. This, combined with his scientific interests—he delighted in devising hilariously inventive songs about plagiarism among mathematicians , or the periodic table —made him unpalatable to the mainstream entertainment business.
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