Posted on 03/30/2023 11:48:15 AM PDT by Borges
Mark Russell, a master of political satire who stood at a star-spangled piano and kept the cognoscenti in stitches for six decades with musical parodies and professorial tomfoolery that tweaked politicians and captured the silly side of Washington, died on Thursday at his home there. He was 90.
The cause was prostate cancer, his wife, Alison Russell, said.
With his deadpan solemnity, stars-and-stripes stage sets and fusty bow ties, Mr. Russell looked more like a senator than a comic. But as the capital merry-go-round spun its peccadilloes, scandals and ballyhooed promises, his jaunty baritone restored order with bipartisan japes and irreverent songs to deflate the preening ego and the Big Idea.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I remember him.........................Rest in Peace, Mark..........You had a good run....................
Overrated leftist. RIP.
Victor Borge was funny. This guy? Not so much…
Really enjoyed his songs, very un-PC by today’s standards. Made fun of Reagan a lot, but also Dems. You’ll never see the likes of him in today’s ultra-PC, polarized political world.
See ya later Mom
I’m off to drop the bomb
I’m off to fight World War Three
Mark Russell took no prisoners, He was a riot. RIP.
I never found this guy funny at all. And not for political reasons. He was just obvious and corny.
My Dad was a HUGE Mark Russell fan back in the 60s and 70s. Those were the great Art Buchwald days, too. The pair of them could write with the best and keep you in stitches.
RIP, Mr. Russell.
At least he poked fun at both sides.
You wrote:
See ya later Mom
I’m off to drop the bomb
I’m off to fight World War Three
You are misquoting a song by Tom Lehrer, who is still alive.
Tom Leher turns 95 a week from Sunday.
“ See ya later Mom
I’m off to drop the bomb “
That was Tom Lehrer. Same kind of gig, though.
Kinda corny but harmless.
Kinda corny but harmless.
We got dems who won’t obey the law. Satire doesn’t work against them anymore. They are clawing and scratching and doing all sorts of lawbreaking to stay in power. Russell was ok for that time....now, few would listen to him.
That was Tom Lehrer.
A true loss
Insufferable elitist. But still a human being. And I have no idea what sort of blessedness he may have offered those who knew him personally.
Truthfully, I thought he died 25 years ago.
As others have mentioned, I think you're recalling Tom Lehrer's 1965 LP album, That Was the Year That Was. It included several songs he had contributed that year to the weekly, liberal, TV news satire show called That Was the Week That Was. Lehrer might seem to be a reflexive liberal, but he never had a problem skewering liberal sentimentalists, which set him apart from the herd. Everyone should look online for another no-holds-barred classic from the same album, "National Brotherhood Week."
I think the following is final reprise of the opening theme from "So Long, Mom!" bringing us to the song's conclusion.
Thank you for reminding us of this!
"So long, Mom!
I'm off to drop the Bomb,
So don't wait up for me.
Although you may swelter
Down there in your shelter,
You can see me
Right on your TV!
So remember, Mommy,
I'm off to kill a Commie,
So send me a salami,
And try to smile somehow.
I'll see you when the war is over . . .
An hour and a half from now!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.