A week is a time unit equal to seven days. The English word week continues an Old English wice, ultimately from a Common Germanic *wikōn-, from a root *wik- "turn, move, change". The Germanic word probably had a wider meaning prior to the adoption of the Roman calendar, perhaps "succession series", as suggested by Gothic wikō translating taxis "order" in Luke 1:8. The term "week" is sometimes expanded to refer to other time units comprising a few days. Such "weeks" of between four and ten days have been used historically in various places.^[1] Intervals longer than 10 days are not usually termed "weeks" as they are closer in length to the fortnight or the month than to the seven-day week.

Seven-day week[link]

Evidence of continuous use of a seven-day week appears with the Jews during the Babylonian Captivity of the 6th century BC.^[2] Both Judaism (based on the Creation narrative in the Bible) and ancient Babylonian religions used a seven-day week.^[3] Other cultures adopted the seven-day week at different times. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries the Roman Empire gradually replaced the eight-day Roman nundinal cycle with the seven-day week. Hindus may have adopted a seven-day week earlier than 11th century BC.^{[citation needed]} See Rig Veda. There is evidence of some Chinese groups using a seven-day week as early as 4th century.

Systems derived from the seven-day week[link]

Soviet Union[link]

Soviet calendar
12 December 1937
(Below 12:)
"Sixth day of the six-day week"
—————————
"Election day for the Supreme Soviet of the USSR"

Between 1929 and 1931 the USSR changed from the seven-day week to a five-day week. There were 72 weeks and an additional five national holidays inserted within three of them totaling a year of 365 days.^{[citation needed]}

In 1931, after its brief experiment with a five-day week, the Soviet Union changed to a six-day week. Every sixth day (6th, 12th, 18th, 24th and 30th) of the Gregorian Calendar was a state rest day. The five additional national holidays in the earlier five-day week remained and did not fall on the state rest day. But as January, March, May, July, August, October and December have 31 days, the week after the state rest day of the 30th was seven days long (31st–7th). This extra day was a working day for most or an extra holiday for others. Also as February is only 28 or 29 days depending on whether it is a leap year or not, the first of March was also made a state rest day, although not every enterprise conformed to this. To clarify, the week after the state rest day, 24/25 February to 1 March, was only five or six days long, depending on whether it was a leap year or not. The week after that, 2 to 6 March, was only five days long.^{[citation needed]}

The calendar was abandoned 26 June 1940 and the seven-day week reintroduced the next day.^{[citation needed]}

Decimal calendar[link]

A 10-day week, called décade, was used in France for nine and a half years from October 1793 to April 1802; furthermore, the Paris Commune adopted the Revolutionary Calendar for 18 days in 1871.

Christian "eighth day"[link]

For early Christians, Sunday, as well as being the first day of the week, was also the spiritual eighth day, as it symbolised the new world created after Christ's resurrection. The concept of the eighth day was symbolic only and had no effect on the use of the seven-day week for calendar purposes. Justin Martyr wrote: "the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first".^[4] This does not set up an eight-day week, since the eighth day is also considered to be the first day of the next cycle (i.e., not the following day).

A period of eight days, starting and ending on a Sunday or starting on a major feast day and finishing on the same day of the week a (seven-day) week later, is called an octave. For centuries these were a major feature of the liturgical calendar, particularly of the Catholic Church, and some are still observed, though the number of such octaves has now been radically reduced. Some modern Church uses also preserve the idea of an eight-day period, starting and finishing on the same day of the week, and retain the name "octave" for them; for example, many churches observe an annual "Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity" on 18–25 January or in the week that begins with Pentecost Sunday. Organizations such as 8th Day Center for Justice, based out of Chicago, Illinois, use the concept in terms of social justice as well.

Hermetic lunar week[link]

The Hermetic Lunar Week Calendar is one of many proposed reforms to the Gregorian Calendar. The lunation is divided into the four moon phases and has six, seven, eight, or nine days depending on the actual time difference between the full moon, first quarter, new moon and last quarter.^[5]

"Weeks" in other calendars[link]

Periods termed "weeks" in calendars unrelated to the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Three-day[link]

The names of the days of the week (aste) in Guipuscoan Basque point to an earlier three-day week.^[6]

1. astelehena ("week-first", Monday)
2. asteartea ("week-between", Tuesday)
3. asteazkena ("week-last", Wednesday)

Four-day[link]

The Igbo of Nigeria have a traditional calendar with a four-day week. This "market week" features prominently in the fiction of Chinua Achebe.

Five-day[link]

The Javanese people of Indonesia have a five-day week known as the Pasaran cycle. This is still in use today and superimposed with seven-day week of the Gregorian calendar and Islamic calendar to become what is known as the 35-day Wetonan Cycle.

Six-day[link]

The Akan people of West Africa have a 42-day cycle known as Adaduanan. The Adaduanan cycle appears to be based on an older six-day week, still extant in some northern Guan communities such as the Nchumuru, on which is superimposed a seven-day week which may have been brought south with itinerant traders from the Savannah.^[7] The six-day week is referred to as Nanson (literally seven-days), reflecting an inclusive numbering system.

Eight-day[link]

Nundinal cycle[link]

The ancient Etruscans developed an eight-day market week known as the nundinal cycle around the 8th or 7th century BC. This was passed on to the Romans no later than the 6th century BC. As Rome expanded, it encountered the seven-day week and for a time attempted to include both. The popularity of the seven-day rhythm won and the eight-day week disappeared forever.

The cycle of seven days, named after the sun, the moon, and the five planets visible to the naked eye, was already customary in the time of Justin Martyr, who wrote of the Christians meeting on the Day of the Sun (Sunday).^[8]

Emperor Constantine eventually established the seven-day week in the Roman calendar in AD 321.^[9]

Celts[link]

It is believed the ancient Celts of the British Isles used a nine-night week. The moon was used to measure one day from another so nights were more significant. The nine nights divided nicely into a sidereal month of 27 nights. Each week of nine nights had eight days.^[10]

Marathi[link]

The Marathi language describes a week as Athavada, which means group of eight days and nine nights, though nowadays a seven day week is accepted and used according the roman calendar. In Marathi calendars the lunar tithis (lunar dates) are printed alongside the date and day of the seven day week used nowadays.The days are: Sunday means Ravivar named after the sun, Monday means somwar named after the moon, Tuesday is mangalwar named after planet Mars, Wednesday is budhwar named after the planet Mercury, Thursday is Guruvar named after the planet Jupiter, Friday is Shukrawar named after the planet Venus, Saturday is Shanivar named after the planet Saturn and back to Sunday (ravivar).

Nine-day[link]

The Gediminas Sceptre, a medieval Lithuanian calendar. Showing 12 months and 9 days in a week

Baltic calendars[link]

In the 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania used a solar-lunar calendar. The structure of this calendar was understood with the help of the so-called Gediminas Sceptre discovered in 1680.^[11]

Historical records^{[citation needed]}give evidence that the week of the ancient Balts was nine days long. Thus, the sidereal month must have been divided into three parts.^[12]

Ten-day[link]

China[link]

The Chinese ten-day week went as far back as the Shang Dynasty (1200-1045 BC).^[13] The law in the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) required officials of the empire to rest every five days, called mu (沐), while it was changed into 10 days in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907), called huan or xún (旬). Months were almost three weeks long (alternating 29 and 30 days to keep in line with the lunation). The weeks were labelled shàng xún (上旬), zhōng xún (中旬), and xià xún (下旬) which mean roughly "upper", "middle" and "lower" week.

Egypt[link]

Ancient Egypt had a ten-day week, three weeks per month with five extra days at the end of the year.

Revolutionary France[link]

The French Republican Calendar consisted of three ten-day weeks in a month called décades

Other calendar intervals[link]

Aztecs[link]

Restored Aztec sun stone showing the 20 Days

The Aztecs divided a ritual cycle of 260 days, known as Tonalpohualli, into 20 weeks of 13 days known as Trecena.

The Aztecs divided a solar year of 365 days, Xiuhpohualli, into 18 periods of 20 days and five nameless days known as Nemontemi. Although some call this 20-day division or grouping a month, it has no relation to a lunation and therefore the word "week" is more appropriate.^{[citation needed]}

Maya[link]

The Maya divided a 260-day ritual cycle known Tzolk'in into 20 weeks of 13 days known as Trecena.

The Maya also divided the year, Haab', into 18 periods of 20 days, Uinal, and five nameless days known as Wayeb'.

Bali, Indonesia[link]

The Pawukon is a 210-day calendar consisting of 10 different concurrent weeks of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 days.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Colson, Francis Henry (1926). The Week: An Essay on the Origin and Development of the Seven-day Cycle. Cambridge University Press. OCLC 59110177. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Week

• Englisc Rímbóc: The Anglo-Saxon Calendar
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "week". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

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Rick Astley
Astley performing in Santiago de Chile, in 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Richard Paul Astley
Born	(1966-02-06) 6 February 1966 (age 46) Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England
Genres	Pop, dance-pop, blue-eyed soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, drums, keyboards
Years active	1985–1993 2000–present
Labels	RCA, Polydor, Cruz
Associated acts	FBI Stock Aitken Waterman
Website	rickastley.co.uk

Richard Paul "Rick" Astley ( /ˈrɪk ˈæstli/; born 6 February 1966) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, and radio personality. He is known for his 1987 song, "Never Gonna Give You Up", which was a #1 hit single in 25 countries.^[1] Astley holds the record for being the only male solo artist to have his first 8 singles reach the Top 10 in the UK^[2] and by retirement in 1993 had sold approximately 40 million records worldwide.^[3][4][5]

After retiring from the music industry in 1993, Astley made a comeback in 2007 when he became an Internet phenomenon, as his video for "Never Gonna Give You Up" became part of a popular Internet meme known as "Rickrolling".^[6] Astley was voted "Best Act Ever" by Internet users at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2008.^[7]

Early life[link]

Richard Paul Astley was born on 6 February 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, England, becoming the fourth child of his family. His parents divorced when he was five, and Astley was brought up by his father.^[8] His musical career started when he was ten, singing in the local church choir.^[9] During his schooldays, Astley formed and played the drums in a number of local bands, where he met guitarist David Morris.^[2][10] After leaving school at sixteen, Astley was employed during the day as a driver in his father's market-gardening business and played drums on the Northern club circuit at night in bands such as “Give Way” - specialising in covering Beatles and Shadows songs - and “FBI”, which won several local talent competitions.^[9]

Signing to Stock Aitken Waterman[link]

In 1985, Astley was performing as a drummer with a soul band named FBI, with Morris on guitar. They were a well known local band writing and performing their own music, gigging in pubs and clubs. When FBI's lead singer left the band, and Morris left to concentrate on his career in hairdressing,^[10] Astley offered to be the lead vocalist. This was when he was noticed by the record producer Pete Waterman, who persuaded him to come to London to work at the PWL recording studio,^[2] with RCA Records publishing his records. Under the tutelage of the production team of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman, Astley was taught about the recording process and groomed for his future career, supposedly starting off as the recording studio 'tea boy'.^[11] The reason for Astley to be hired initially as a 'tape op', was to overcome his shyness.^[12] SAW also hired most of FBI, including Morris as a guitarist/songwriter.^[10]

Success[link]

His first single was the little-known "When You Gonna", released as a collaboration with Lisa Carter, with little promotion. It did not chart. His first solo offering was "Never Gonna Give You Up", recorded on New Year's Day 1987, and released eight months later, in August. Astley's distinctive rich, deep voice combined with dance pop, made the song an immediate success,^[13] spending five weeks at the top of the British charts and becoming the year's highest-selling single. The song was also a worldwide number one hit, topping the charts in 24 other countries, including the U.S., Australia, and Germany. It would become the first of 13 (worldwide) top 30 hit singles for him. "Never Gonna Give You Up" won Best British single at the 1988 BPI awards (now called the BRIT Awards),^[14] and he performed the hit in front of a global audience of 100 million.^[2][15]

His next single was "Whenever You Need Somebody", which was released in October. The single was a recycled Stock, Aitken, Waterman song, originally recorded by O'Chi Brown in 1985. It became a successful European hit, reaching #1 in seven countries, including Germany and Sweden, following up the success of his debut single. It also reached #3 in the UK. It was not released in North America.^[16]

In November 1987, the album Whenever You Need Somebody, containing four Astley-written tracks, also reached number one in the UK and Australia, and #10 in the U.S. It was certified 4x Platinum in the UK and Canada, and 2x Platinum in the US. Overall Whenever You Need Somebody sold 15.2 million copies worldwide, making him the top selling British act of the year.^[2]

In the run up to Christmas 1987, Astley released a cover version of the Nat King Cole classic "When I Fall in Love". This single is mainly remembered for a closely fought contest for UK Christmas Number 1. Rivals EMI, hoping to see their act the Pet Shop Boys reach #1, re-released the version by Nat King Cole.^[17][18] This led to a slowdown of purchases of Astley's version, allowing the Pet Shop Boys to reach the coveted top spot. Despite selling over 200,000 copies and gaining a Silver certification from the BPI,^[19] it peaked in the UK at #2 for two weeks. The re-release of Nat King Cole's version reached #4. The B side was a dance number "My Arms Keep Missing You", which was successful in mainland Europe.

Astley's fourth single release would be "Together Forever" in 1988, reaching #2 in the UK. It was denied the top spot by Neighbours sensation Kylie Minogue's debut "I Should Be So Lucky".^[20] "Together Forever" was more successful state-side, topping the U.S charts, making it his second U.S chart topper, which meant Astley was one of the few British acts to crack the American market. In 1989 he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but lost to Tracy Chapman.

His fifth and final release from his debut album was "It Would Take a Strong Strong Man". It was a more soulful song, when compared to his other releases, and was mainly intended for the North American market. Thus, it was not released in Britain. It was another hit for Astley, reaching #10 on the U.S Billboard Hot 100, and #1 in Canada. During the period between his debut release and his fifth single, Astley outsold every other artist in the world.^[21] In the UK, he was in the Top 40 every week for the first 6 months of his career.^[2]

A fire in the PWL studios destroyed much of Astley's new material,^[2] causing a delay in the release of his second album. Hold Me In Your Arms was eventually released in January 1989, containing five singles, and reached #8 in the UK and #19 in the US, being certified platinum in the UK and gold in the US.

Astley's relationship with British media deteriorated significantly after the release of Whenever You Need Somebody, with the media calling him a 'puppet' of Stock Aitken Waterman.^[14] This was despite Astley writing five of his new album's tracks. The negative press inevitably affected the sales of his singles.^[22] The first single from the album to be released was "She Wants To Dance With Me", a number penned by Astley himself. It was another successful single, reaching #6 on both the UK and US charts. "Take Me to Your Heart" was the next single to be released from the album. It reached #8 in the UK and was not released in the US. The Astley-written ballad "Hold Me in Your Arms" reached #10 in the UK and was also not released in North America. The next two singles released from the album were intended for the North American market. "Giving Up On Love" and a cover of The Temptations song "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" charted at #38 and #89 in the US respectively.

In December 1989, Astley set off on his first world tour, touring 15 countries including the UK, US, Australia, and Japan.^[2] By the end of the tour, Astley was tiring of the negative press, and wanted to explore alternative paths as a musician. Thus, he left his producers Stock Aitken Waterman, with RCA records buying out his contract with PWL.

Switching to soul and AC[link]

By 1990, Astley had parted company with Stock, Aitken, and Waterman. He also decided to leave his dance-pop days behind him, moving towards his passion, soul. This shift in musical genre led him to change his image too, ditching the boy next door look, presenting himself as a mature and passionate musician. His third album, Free, was released in 1991 containing collaborations with Elton John.^[14] The album contained three singles, and reached #9 in the UK and #31 in the US.

He achieved one more major success with the 1991 ballad "Cry for Help", which reached #7 in both the UK and the US. This would place Astley in The Guinness Book of Records, as he became the first male solo artist to have his first eight singles all chart in the UK Top 10. This record still stands to this day.^[2] The other two singles from Free were not as successful. "Move Right Out" reached #58 in the UK and #81 in the US; and "Never Knew Love" reached #70 in the UK and did not chart in the US. Free would mark the end of Astley's successful period, and "Cry for Help" would be the last Astley single to make the Top 10 in either the UK or US (as of May 2010).

His next album, Body and Soul, was released in 1993, and was largely an Adult Contemporary album. By the time the album was released, Astley had decided to retire from the music industry. As a result, the album did not get a lot of promotion,^[2] not charting in the UK but managing to make the Billboard 200, peaking at #182. The two singles, "The Ones You Love" and "Hopelessly", performed very well on the US adult contemporary chart, peaking at #19 and #4 respectively. "The Ones You Love" peaked at #48 in the UK but did not chart in the US. "Hopelessly" also crossed over and peaked at #28 on the US Billboard 100, staying in the US top 40 for five weeks, and #33 in the UK. It was named as one of the most performed songs at the 1994 BMI Awards,^[23] and is one of the few songs to achieve BMI 'Million-Air' status.^[24]

Retirement[link]

After 1993, Astley decided to retire from the music industry at the young age of 27, deciding that family life was more important. During Astley's time out of the music business, he raised his daughter Emilie, born in 1992. Thus, for much of the 1990s and early 2000s, Astley remained largely out of the spotlight. One notable musical appearance by Astley during retirement was as a backing singer on The Lion King soundtrack in 1994.^[11]

Return to singing[link]

Almost 10 years after Body and Soul, Astley finally returned to the music world, signing a co-publishing deal with Polydor and releasing Keep It Turned On in 2002. The album featured the single "Sleeping", which became a minor club hit, thanks to a set of remixes from U.S. house producer Todd Terry. Keep It Turned On was only released in Continental Europe.^[2]

Astley's first compilation album, Greatest Hits, was released in 2002, and reached #16 on the UK Albums Chart. With no promotion from Astley, it sold over 100,000 copies and was certified Gold by the BPI.^[2] After retirement in 1993, Astley continued to write songs for various acts and in 2003 he managed to chart at #10 in the UK as a songwriter with "Shakespeare's (Way With) Words" performed by short-lived boy band One True Voice.

In 2004, Astley toured for the first time in 14 years, which led him to a record contract with Sony BMG.^[2] In March 2005, Astley released the album Portrait in which he covered many classic standards such as "Vincent",^[25] "Nature Boy" and "Close to You". Both Astley and Sony BMG were unhappy with the end result so the album was poorly promoted,^[2] yet managed to reach #26 on the UK Albums Chart.

Astley performing in Denmark '09

In April 2008, the album "The Ultimate Collection: Rick Astley" was released by Sony BMG and by early May it had reached #17 on the UK Top 40 Albums Chart,^[26] again with no promotion from Astley.

In September 2008, Rick was nominated for the 'Best Act Ever' award at the MTV Europe Music Awards^[7] The push to make Astley the winner of the award continued after the announcement, as well as efforts to encourage MTV to personally invite Astley to the awards ceremony.^[27] On 7 November, following a massive internet campaign by fans, Rick won the award in Liverpool, but was not there in person to receive it. Perez Hilton collected the prize on his behalf.^[28] On the back of this, "Never Gonna Give You Up" returned to the UK charts, over 21 years after it was released, peaking at #73 during the Christmas period.

During the late 2000s, Astley continued touring across the globe, touring with various other '80s acts, such as Boy George and Belinda Carlisle, in the Here and Now Tour.^[2] In April 2009, he wrote an article for Time about moot.^[29]

Astley today[link]

Astley was a special guest throughout Peter Kay's new tour, The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour, from 27 April to 22 May 2010. To mark the occasion, Rick Astley released a new single "Lights Out" on his own label. It was released on 7 June 2010.^[30] This was Astley's first release in the UK Singles Chart in 17 years. It was well received by radio, peaking #15 on the UK Airplay Charts, but failed to become a commercial hit, reaching only #97 on the UK Singles Chart.

During the summer 2010, Astley became a radio DJ for London's Magic FM, presenting a Sunday show.^[31][32] Initially the contract was 8 weeks but he proved popular with listeners and his contract was extended till the end of the year.^[33] In December 2010, Astley co-hosted the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 with Peter Kay,^[34] and in March 2011 appeared in Comic Relief's Red Nose Day telethon on the BBC.^[35][36]

Personal life[link]

Rick Astley is married to Lene Bausager, and the couple have one daughter, Emilie, who was born in 1992. Astley met Lene when she was working as a promoter with RCA in 1988.^[8] Lene is a film producer, and was nominated for the 2006 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for the Sean Ellis film Cashback, where she was the main producer.^[37][38] The family lives in the London suburb of Richmond.^[39]

Discography[link]

Canada Top data: for singles and albums from The Record magazine. US Top data: for singles from The Billboard Hot 100, for albums from The Billboard 200; UK Top data for singles and albums is from UK Singles Chart. Based on various music charts in the UK, US and Canada, Astley has charted a grand total of 14 different hit singles and 6 different hit albums, as of April 2010.

Studio albums[link]

• Whenever You Need Somebody (1987)
• Hold Me in Your Arms (1989)
• Free (1991)
• Body & Soul (1993)
• Keep It Turned On (2001)
• Portrait (2005)

Rickroll internet phenomenon[link]

Astley rickrolling the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 2008

In 2007,^[40] Rick Astley became the subject of a viral internet meme known as Rickrolling. This is where internet users are tricked into watching Rick Astley's video "Never Gonna Give You Up" by following a link that claims to be something else.^[41] Views of this video on various websites are now in the millions. The phenomenon became so popular that on 1 April 2008, YouTube pranked its users by making every single featured video on its front page a Rickroll.^[42]

On November 27, 2008, Astley himself participated in a live Rickroll during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends characters were singing "Best Friend", the theme from the 1970s TV series The Courtship of Eddie's Father. Midway through the song, Astley emerged from the float and began to lip sync his signature hit. At the end of Astley's performance, Cheese (a character from Foster's) shouted out "I like Rickrolling!".^[43][44]

Despite the video garnering millions of hits on YouTube, Astley has earned almost no money from the meme, receiving only US$12 in royalties from YouTube for his performance share.^[45]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
• List of number-one albums (UK)
• List of number-one singles (UK)
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of songs by British artists which reached number-one on the Hot 100 (USA)
• The Rickrollerz

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rick Astley

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rick Astley

• Official Rick Astley website
• Official Rick Astley MySpace
• Official Rick Astley YouTube channel (1987-93) (country restricted)
• Official Rick Astley YouTube channel (2010-)^{[dubious – discuss]}

Tom Lehrer
Lehrer performing in 1960
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Andrew Lehrer
Born	(1928-04-09) April 9, 1928 (age 84) New York, New York
Occupations	Mathematician, teacher, lyricist, pianist, composer, singer/songwriter
Instruments	Vocals Piano
Years active	1945–1971, 1998
Labels	Reprise/Warner Bros. Records Rhino/Atlantic Records Shout! Factory
Associated acts	Joe Raposo

Thomas Andrew Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.

His work often parodies popular song forms, though Lehrer usually creates original melodies when doing so. A notable exception is his song "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Lehrer's earlier work typically dealt with non-topical subject matter and was noted for its black humor, seen in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". In the 1960s, he produced a number of songs dealing with social and political issues of the day, particularly when he wrote for the U.S. version of the television show That Was The Week That Was.

In the early 1970s, he retired from public performances to devote his time to teaching mathematics and music theatre at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He did two additional performances in 1998 at a London gala show celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh.^[1]

Early life[link]

Lehrer was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in the New York City borough of Manhattan, and began studying classical piano music at the age of seven. He was more interested in the popular music of the age, however. Eventually, his mother also sent him to a popular-music piano teacher.^[2] At this early age, he began writing his own show tunes, which eventually helped him in his future adventures as a satirical composer and writer in his years of lecturing at Harvard University, and later at other universities.^[3]

Lehrer graduated from the Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY.^[4] He attended Camp Androscoggin, both as a camper and a counselor.^[5] While studying mathematics as an undergraduate student at Harvard College, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" (1945). Those songs were later named The Physical Revue,^[6] a joking reference to a leading scientific journal, The Physical Review.

Mathematics career[link]

Lehrer earned his AB in mathematics (magna cum laude) from Harvard University in 1946, when he was nineteen.^[7] He received his MA degree the next year, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He taught classes at MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley.

He remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time out for his musical career and to work as a researcher at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, working at the National Security Agency. (Lehrer has stated that he invented the Jell-O Shot during this time, as a means of circumventing liquor restrictions.)^[8] All of these experiences eventually became fodder for songs, viz. "Fight Fiercely, Harvard", "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier". Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked a high school diploma, Lehrer served as an enlisted soldier, achieving the rank of Specialist Third Class, which he described as being a "corporal without portfolio".^[9] In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time studies at Harvard, but he never completed his doctoral studies in mathematics.

From 1962, he taught in the political science department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).^[10] In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors—"Math for Tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in musical theater. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures, primarily those relating to the topic.^[11]

In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class (on the topic of infinity) and retired from academia.^[12] He has remained in the area, and still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.^[13]

Mathematical publications[link]

The American Mathematical Society database lists Lehrer as co-author of two papers:

• RE Fagen & TA Lehrer, "Random walks with restraining barrier as applied to the biased binary counter", Journal of the Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics, vol. 6, pp. 1–14 (March 1958) MR0094856
• T Austin, R Fagen, T Lehrer, W Penney, "The distribution of the number of locally maximal elements in a random sample", Annals of Mathematical Statistics vol. 28, pp. 786–790 (1957) MR0091251

Musical career[link]

Lehrer was mainly influenced by musical theater. According to Gerald Nachman's book Seriously Funny, the broadway musical, "Let's Face It" (lyrics by Sylvia Fine; music by Cole Porter) made an early and lasting impression. Lehrer's style consists of parodying various forms of popular song. For example, his appreciation of list songs led him to set an unordered list of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major-General's Song".

Author Isaac Asimov recounted in his second autobiographical volume In Joy Still Felt of seeing Lehrer perform in a Boston nightclub on October 9, 1954, during which Lehrer sang very cleverly about Jim getting it from Louise, and Sally from Jim, "and after a while you gathered the 'it' to be venereal disease [the song was likely "I Got It From Sally (in later versions 'Agnes')"]. Suddenly, as the combinations grew more grotesque, you realized he was satirizing every perversion known to mankind without using a single naughty phrase. It was clearly unsingable (in those days) outside a nightclub." Asimov also recalled a song that dealt with the Boston subway system, making use of the stations leading into town from Harvard, observing that the local subject-matter rendered the song useless for general distribution. Lehrer subsequently granted Asimov permission to print the lyrics to the subway song in his book. "I haven't gone to nightclubs often," said Asimov, "but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time."^[14]

Lehrer was inspired by the success of his performances of his own songs, so he paid for some studio time to record Songs by Tom Lehrer. At the time, radio stations would not give Lehrer air time because of his controversial subjects. Instead, he sold his album on campus at Harvard for three dollars, while "supportive record merchants and dorm newsstands bought copies…and marked them up fifty cents."^{[citation needed]} After one summer, he also started to receive mail orders from all parts of the country (as far away as San Francisco, after The Chronicle wrote an article on the record). Interest in his recordings was spread by word of mouth; friends and supporters brought their records home and played them for their friends, who then also wanted a copy.^[15]

The album—which included the macabre "I Hold Your Hand in Mine", the mildly risqué "Be Prepared", and "Lobachevsky" (regarding plagiarizing mathematicians) became a cult success via word of mouth, despite being self-published and without promotion. Lehrer then embarked on a series of concert tours and recorded a second album, which was released in two versions: the songs were the same, but More of Tom Lehrer was studio-recorded, while An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer was recorded live in concert.

Lehrer's major breakthrough in the United Kingdom came as a result of the citation accompanying an honorary degree given to Princess Margaret, where she cited musical tastes as "catholic, ranging from Mozart to Tom Lehrer". This prompted significant interest in his works and helped secure distributors for his material in the UK. It was there that his music achieved real popularity, as a result of the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and the willingness of the BBC to play his songs on the radio (something that was a rarity in the United States).

By the early 1960s, Lehrer had retired from touring and was employed as the resident songwriter for the U.S. edition of That Was The Week That Was (TW3), a satirical television show. An increased proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as education ("New Math"), the Second Vatican Council ("The Vatican Rag"), race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), air and water pollution ("Pollution"), American militarism ("Send the Marines"), World War III "pre-nostalgia" ("So Long, Mom", premiered by Steve Allen), and nuclear proliferation ("Who's Next?" and "MLF Lullaby"). He also wrote a song that famously satirized the alleged amorality of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who had previously worked for Nazi Germany before working for the United States. ("'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department', says Wernher von Braun.") Lehrer did not appear on the television show; his songs were performed by a female vocalist and his lyrics were often altered by the network censors. Lehrer later performed the songs on the album, That Was The Year That Was, so that, in his words, people could hear the songs the way they were intended to be heard.

In 1967, Lehrer was persuaded to make a short tour in Norway and Denmark, where he performed some of the songs from the television program. The performance in Oslo, Norway, on September 10 was recorded on video tape and aired locally later that autumn; this program was released on DVD some 40 years later.^[16]

Also around 1967, Lehrer composed and performed on piano original songs in a Dodge automobile "industrial" film that was distributed primarily to Dodge automobile dealers. It was also shown at promotional events organized by Dodge. Set in a fictional American wild west town, the full proper title of the film appears to be "The Dodge Rebellion Theatre presents Ballads For '67" Since the film is introducing 1967 model automobiles, it was possibly produced in late 1966.

The record deal with Reprise Records for the That Was The Year That Was album also gave Reprise distribution rights for Lehrer's earlier recordings, as Lehrer wanted to wind up his own record imprint. The Reprise issue of Songs by Tom Lehrer was a stereo re-recording. This version was not issued on CD, but the songs were issued on the live Tom Lehrer Revisited CD instead. The [live] recording also included bonus tracks "L-Y" and "Silent E", which Lehrer wrote for the PBS children's educational series The Electric Company. Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996. That same year, the album That Was The Year That Was went gold.^[15] The album liner notes (and Lehrer himself in one routine) promote Tom Lehrer's songs using reverse psychology, by deliberately quoting his negative reviews. ("I know it's very bad form to quote one's own reviews, but there is something the New York Times said about me [in 1958], that I have always treasured: 'Mr. Lehrer's muse [is] not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste.")

Departure from the music scene[link]

There is an urban legend that Lehrer gave up political satire when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973. He did comment that awarding the prize to Kissinger made political satire obsolete, but has denied that he stopped creating satire thereafter as a form of protest, asserting that he had stopped several years prior to the award.^[17] Another mistaken belief is that he was sued for libel by the estate of Wernher von Braun, the subject of one of his songs, and forced to relinquish all of his royalty income to von Braun. Lehrer firmly denied this in a 2003 interview.^[13]

When asked about his reasons for abandoning his musical career, in an interview in the book accompanying his CD box set (released in 2000), he cited a simple lack of interest, a distaste for touring, and boredom with performing the same songs repeatedly. He observed that when he was moved to write and perform songs, he did, and when he was not, he did not, and that after a while he simply lost interest. Although many of Lehrer's songs satirized the Cold War political establishment of the era, he stopped writing and performing just as the 1960s counterculture movement gained momentum.

Lehrer's musical career was brief; in an interview in the late 1990s, he pointed out that he had performed a mere 109 shows and written 37 songs over 20 years. Nevertheless, he developed a significant cult following both in the United States and abroad.

In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote ten songs for the children's television show The Electric Company—Lehrer's Harvard schoolmate Joe Raposo was the show's musical director for its first three seasons.

Revivals and discographic reissues[link]

In the early 1980s, Tom Foolery, a revival of his songs on the London stage, was a hit. Although not its instigator, Lehrer eventually gave the stage production his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the production (such as "Who's Next", in which Neiman-Marcus [or in the San Francisco production, J.C. Penney], not Alabama, gets the bomb). Tom Foolery contained 27 Lehrer songs and led to more than 200 productions,^[15] including an off-Broadway production at the Village Gate, which ran for 120 performances in 1981.^[18]

In conjunction with the Tom Foolery premiere in 1980 at Criterion Theatre in London, Lehrer made a rare TV appearance on BBC's Parkinson show, where he sang "I Got It from Agnes".^[19][20]

On June 7 and 8, 1998, Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 25 years at the Lyceum Theatre, London as part of the gala show Hey, Mr. Producer! celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh, who had been the producer of Tom Foolery. The June 8 show was his only performance before Queen Elizabeth II. Lehrer sang "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and an updated version of the nuclear proliferation song "Who's Next?". The DVD of the event includes the former song.^[21]

In 2000, a boxed set of CDs, The Remains of Tom Lehrer, was released by Rhino Entertainment. It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, That Was The Year That Was, the songs he wrote for The Electric Company, and some previously unreleased material. It was accompanied by a small hardbound book containing an introduction by Dr. Demento and lyrics to all the songs.

In 2010, Shout! Factory launched a reissue campaign, making his long out-of-press albums available digitally. They also issued a CD/DVD combo called The Tom Lehrer Collection, which includes his best-loved songs, plus a DVD featuring an Oslo concert.^[22]

Musical legacy[link]

Lehrer has commented that he doubts his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted... I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin kabaretts of the 1930s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."^[17]

In 2003 he commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban land mines... I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them."^[13]

In a phone call to Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post in February 2008, Lehrer instructed Weingarten to "Just tell the people that I am voting for Obama."^[23]

A play, Letters from Lehrer, written by Canadian Richard Greenblatt, was performed by him at CanStage, from January 16 to February 25, 2006. It followed Lehrer's musical career, the meaning of several songs, the politics of the time, and Greenblatt's own experiences with Lehrer's music, while playing some of Lehrer's songs. There are currently no plans for more performances, although low-quality audio recordings have begun to circulate around the internet.

Some of his songs ("I Hold Your Hand in Mine" and "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park") were reworked into German by the Austrian-Jewish singer satirist Georg Kreisler who lived in the United States from 1938 until 1955. Lehrer was praised by Dr. Demento as "the best musical satirist of the twentieth century". Other artists who cite Lehrer as an influence include "Weird Al" Yankovic, whose work generally addresses more popular and less technical or political subjects,^[24] and educator and scientist H. Paul Shuch, who tours under the stage name Dr. SETI and calls himself "a cross between Carl Sagan and Tom Lehrer: he sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer." More stylistically influenced performers include American political satirist Mark Russell,^[25] and the British duo Kit and The Widow.^{[citation needed]} British medical satirists Amateur Transplants acknowledge the debt they owe to Tom Lehrer on the back of their first album, Fitness to Practice. Their songs "The Menstrual Rag" and "The Drugs Song" are to the tunes of Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" and "The Elements" (itself set to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan), respectively. Their second album, Unfit to Practise, opens with an update of Lehrer's "The Masochism Tango" and is called simply "Masochism Tango 2008". Syndicated conservative morning-radio talk show host Jim Quinn sings with piano backing in a Lehrer-like tribute in a song on how political correctness has destroyed so many Christmas traditions with the song "A Politically Correct Christmas".

Lehrer has said of his musical career, "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."^[2]

Music lists[link]

Reviews selected by Lehrer for his liner notes[link]

• "Mr. Lehrer's muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste." — The New York Times (9 February 1959)
• "More desperate than amusing" — New York Herald Tribune
• "He seldom has any point to make except obvious ones" — The Christian Science Monitor
• "Plays the piano acceptably" — The Oakland Tribune

Solo discography[link]

• Songs by Tom Lehrer (1953)
• More of Tom Lehrer (1959)
• An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer (1959)
• Revisited (1960) (1990 CD reissue includes 1971 studio recordings of Silent E and L-Y)
• Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice Versa) (1960; Australia-only)
• That Was the Year That Was (1965)
• Songs by Tom Lehrer (1966 re-recording)
• Tom Lehrer in Concert (1994; UK compilation)
• Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer (1997; US compilation of his first two studio albums with additional songs)
• The Remains of Tom Lehrer (2000)
• The Tom Lehrer Collection (2010)

Many Lehrer songs also are performed (but not by Lehrer) in That Was The Week That Was (Radiola LP, 1981)

The sheet music to many of Lehrer's songs is published in The Tom Lehrer Song Book (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954) Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 54-12068 and Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer: with not enough drawings by Ronald Searle (Pantheon, 1981, ISBN 0-394-74930-8; Methuen, 1999, ISBN 978-0-413-74230-8). There is also a second song book, called "Tom Lehrer's Second Song Book," which is out of print and has no ISBN.

Lehrer wrote The SAC Song that was sung in the 1963 film A Gathering of Eagles.^[26]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tom Lehrer

• That Was the Wit That Was Tom Lehrer interview in SF Weekly, published 2000-04-19, retrieved 2010-08-26
• Tom Lehrer Annotated Song Lyrics, many with MIDI files, collected by Graeme Cree, retrieved 2011-04-13
• 59 minute long mp3 radio programme from 1983, with a telephone interview with Tom Lehrer, as well as a 10 minute follow-up 1989 From "Bob Claster's Funny Stuff" on KCRW, retrieved 2010-08-26
• A Conversation with Tom Lehrer done by Paul D. Lehrman on September 7, 1997, retrieved 2010-08-26
• Tom Lehrer page on The Demented Music Database—includes biography, discography, lyrics and other miscellanea, retrieved on 2011-01-23

The following is a list of significant men and women known for being the father, mother, or considered the founders mostly in Western socities in a field, listed by category. In most non-science fields, the title of being the "father" is debatable.

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