Social Studies

Social Studies

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
They're are two types of topical songwriters. You have your all-the-news-that's-fit-to-sing variety, with Phil Ochs representing its quintessence; for them, "topical" means "protest"--serious business, indeed. And then there's the laugh-to-keep-from-crying stripe spearheaded by Tom Lehrer. Social Studies finds Loudon Wainwright III throwing his lot in with the latter camp. Largely composed on demand for National Public Radio, Social Studies finds the acerbic wordsmith taking aim at the likes of rough-and-tumble skater Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson, imprisoned "Panamanian strongman" Manuel Noriega, and President Bill Clinton. With more a smirk than a scowl, Wainwright deftly skewers such 1990s icons as Jesse Helms ("If Jesse don't like it, it's probably not art / Jesse knows what's good, old Jesse is smart") with just enough bite to leave teeth marks. --Steven Stolder

Tracks:

What Gives
Tonya's Twirls
New Street People
Carmine Street
O.J.
Leap Of Faith
Conspiracies
Christmas Morning
Y2K
Number One
Bad Man
Inaugural Blues
Our Boy Bill
Jesse Don't Like It
Pretty Good Day

Amazon.com

They're are two types of topical songwriters. You have your all-the-news-that's-fit-to-sing variety, with Phil Ochs representing its quintessence; for them, "topical" means "protest"--serious business, indeed. And then there's the laugh-to-keep-from-crying stripe spearheaded by Tom Lehrer. Social Studies finds Loudon Wainwright III throwing his lot in with the latter camp. Largely composed on demand for National Public Radio, Social Studies finds the acerbic wordsmith taking aim at the likes of rough-and-tumble skater Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson, imprisoned "Panamanian strongman" Manuel Noriega, and President Bill Clinton. With more a smirk than a scowl, Wainwright deftly skewers such 1990s icons as Jesse Helms ("If Jesse don't like it, it's probably not art / Jesse knows what's good, old Jesse is smart") with just enough bite to leave teeth marks. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

Musical satire.......2004-05-02

The album opens with What gives, which pokes fun at musical legends of the past, many of them now dead. I confess that I fail to see what message Loudon was trying to get across but it's a good trip down memory lane so I don't mind.

The remaining songs are much easier to understand. Some of them may seem dated but they are often interesting for what they symbolize. For example, Tonya's twirls (about the ice-skater, Tonya Harding) reminds us about the pressures of competitive sport and the cheating that some are tempted into.

Other songs deal with smokers, the trial of O J Simpson, Santa Claus, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein and premium telephone lines. Loudon is sympathetic to smokers as they face ever more restrictions but pours scorn on the others.

More seriously, Carmine Street is about somebody barricading themselves inside their house because of rioting in the streets. It was about Los Angeles but would be just as relevant to riots in London or anywhere else.

With an album like this, it is difficult to know whether to recommend it or not. I enjoy listening to it occasionally despite the fact that most of the events that inspired the songs are old news. I try to relate them to something topical and in that way I still find most of them relevant, therefore still amusing.

Histerical -.......2002-06-07

Wainwright manages to make fun of just about everyone in this CD, in his usual sarcastic, cynical style that seems to attack humanity as a whole. The themes are a bit outdated, (as they were written for NPR... although most were rejected for being too controversial), but it doesn't take away from the music or message of the songs. You'll either love or hate this CD.

Loudon Cleans His Attic.......2002-06-02

A truly pedestrian effort, this album is composed of topical tunes whose time has past. This collection would have been better left unrecorded.

Too Topical?.......2000-11-15

A collection of songs written over about a ten year period on the latest fads and fashions, about as far from his usual stuff as you could get. An informal survey of Loudon fans had them all agreeing that this wasn't his best stuff, but no agreement on which songs were representative of decline in quality.

I offer this opinion: They're all good, but how you view them has a lot to do with how personally you take the issue being addressed.

Hate the (now common) practice of digging up a dead musicians tapes to record new songs? "What Gives?" is bound to resonate.

A smoker forced to relocate to the streets in the current atmosphere of "no smoke tolerance"? "New Street People" is the song for you.

The strongest songs on the album are probably those which are still startlingly relevant, whether through the cleverness of the songwriter or by accident of current events. "Leap of Faith" and "Inaugural Blues" apply depressingly to the current election. "Bad Man" and "Christmas Morning", about troubles with dictators and the middle east, will probably never go out of fashion. "Tonya's Twirls", though about ice skater Tonya Harding, has a nice twist in it that makes one reflect on the Olympics in general. "Carmine Street" and "Pretty Good Day So Far" are fair estimates of what being exposed to the news media can do to a person, both good and bad.

You probably won't like all the songs or think some of them are just "so so", but it's almost guaranteed to be two or three on here that will be "worth the price of admission alone".

old news.......1999-09-18

Cartoons of O.J. Simpson, Tonya Harding, Santa Claus and John Lennon appear on the cover of Loudon Wainwright III's Social Studies, and that should give you some idea of the scattershot material preserved inside. Culled mostly from tunes he wrote over a ten-year period as drop-ins for National Public Radio, the disc shows Wainwright at his least insightful, his least imaginative and his least interesting. The kind of tossed-off style that can be charming in his more personal material is annoying when applied to topical matters - especially when those same subjects are joked on radio, television and comedy club stages. I suspect that Wainwright doesn't think he's saying anything profound when he offers lines like "Ice used to be a nice thing/When you laced up figure skates/Now it's a thing to win a medal on/For the United States." But he's not saying anything particularly funny either. Or very musically interesting.

Average customer rating:

One of the best Jazz albums and Carla's best!

Social Studies
Carla Bley
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000260UO
Release Date: 2000-07-25

Tracks:

Reactionary Tango
Copyright Royalties
Utviklingssang
Valse Sinistre
Floater
Walking Batteriewoman

Customer Reviews:

One of the best Jazz albums and Carla's best!.......2000-12-19

Social Studies represents a somewhat sharp break from the humor that had accompanied Carla's previous efforts. Here the emphasis is on extended composition, stunning melody, and beautiful harmonies. Copyright Royalties, an obvious nod to Ellington, has a breathtaking solo by Tony Dagradi on clarinet. Reactionary Tango, the longest piece in the set divides neatly into 3 sections that bring out the best in the band.

Bley resurrects an old tune, Floater, that appeared on a Steve Swallow album in the early 60s to great effect here. Swallow gets to strut his stuff with an intense intro and solo.

Utviklingssang shines as another brillant melody and an opportunity for Dagradi to show why he remains one of Carla's best sidemen (and, with Gary Valente, the source of some of the best solos on her CDs).

The set ends with the start-stop Walking Batteriewoman, just in case a small dose of humor is needed. But the humor has now been totally channeled into the composition.

Tracks:

Reactionary Tango
Copyright Royalties
Utviklingssang
Valse Sinistre
Floater
Walking Batteriewoman

Customer Reviews:

One of the best Jazz albums and Carla's best!.......2000-12-19

Bley resurrects an old tune, Floater, that appeared on a Steve Swallow album in the early 60s to great effect here. Swallow gets to strut his stuff with an intense intro and solo.

The set ends with the start-stop Walking Batteriewoman, just in case a small dose of humor is needed. But the humor has now been totally channeled into the composition.

It doesn't get ANY better than this.

Social Studies Songs And Music
Average customer rating:
Social Studies Songs And Music
Scott Foresman
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000KSYYV8

Product Description

Social Studies Songs And Music Intermediate English And Spanish Enjoy a rich collection of patriotic songs Listen to songs that celebrate world cultures Sing along with recordings of songs featured in the Pupil Editions

Music Review:

Music Review

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