Allan Sherman
PR photo of Allan Sherman
Born	November 30, 1924 Chicago, Illinois
Died	November 20, 1973 Los Angeles, California

Allan Sherman (sometimes incorrectly Alan and "Allen"), November 30, 1924 – November 20, 1973, was an American musician, parodist, satirist, and television producer. Image File history File links Allanshermanpublicity. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 31 days remaining. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... November 20 is the 324th day of the year (325th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... The World According To Ronald Reagan - a Finnish satirical poster from 1984 Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... A Television producer oversees the making of television penis programs. ...

Early Life

Sherman took his mother's maiden name after being abandoned in childhood by his father, Percy Copelon, a stock car racer, mechanic and inventor. Copelon would much later offer to pay for Sherman's education if he would re-take the family name, but when no support was forthcoming, the young man became Allan Sherman once again. His mother married four times, with numerous relationships in-between. Sherman attended 21 schools. At Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, Sherman wrote the senior musical, starring classmate Ricardo Montalban.

Early career: Classic Albums

Sherman was the creator and original producer of the popular I've Got a Secret (1952-1967), but was fired after a particularly unsuccessful episode (featuring Tony Curtis) that aired June 11, 1958. Later, he found that the little song parodies he performed to amuse his friends and family were taking a life of their own. He released an LP of these parodies, My Son, the Folk Singer, in 1962. The album was so successful that it was quickly followed by My Son, the Celebrity. Ive Got a Secret (abbreviated as IGAS) was a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television and was created by Allan Sherman as essentially a knockoff of Whats My Line?. The original version of the show premiered in June 19, 1952... Roger Moore and Tony Curtis in The Persuaders! Tony Curtis (born June 3, 1925) is an American film actor. ... A gramophone record, (also phonograph record - often simply record) is an analog sound recording medium: a flat disc rotating at a constant angular velocity, with inscribed spiral grooves in which a stylus or needle rides. ...

The first two LPs were mainly Jewish-folk-culture rewritings of old folk tunes (as suggested by the albums' titles), and his first minor hit was Sarah Jackman, a takeoff of Frère Jacques in which he and a woman (Christine Nelson) exchange family gossip (Sarah Jackman, Sarah Jackman, How's by you? How's by you? How's by you the family? How's your sister Emily? etc.) By his peak with My Son, the Nut in 1963, Sherman had begun to appeal to a larger audience, and broadened both his subject matter and his choice of parody material. For a discussion of Jews as an ethnicity or ethnic group see the article on Jew. ... Frère Jacques is a well-known childrens song in French. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ...

Sherman's parody lyrics were written in collaboration with Lou Busch. A few of the Sherman/Busch songs are completely original creations...featuring original music as well as lyrics, rather than new lyrics applied to an existing melody. The Sherman/Busch originals — notably "Go to Sleep, Paul Revere" and "Peyton Place" — are delightful novelty songs, showing genuine melodic originality as well as deft lyrics. Joe Fingers Carr was the professional pseudonym used by pianist Louis Ferdinand Busch (July 18, 1910 - September 19, 1979). ...

In My Son, The Nut, his pointed parodies of classical and popular tunes savaged summer camp ("Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" to the tune of Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours), encroaching automation in the workforce ("Automation" to the tune of "Fascination"), space travel ("Eight Foot Two, Solid Blue" to "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue"), the exodus to the suburbs, ("Here's to the Crabgrass" to the tune of "English Country Garden"), and his own bloated figure ("Hail to Thee, Fat Person", which blames his obesity on the Marshall Plan). Summer camp, principally a New world phenomenon, is a common destination for children and teenagers during the summer months. ... Allan Shermans Camp Granada Game, released by Milton Bradley Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (also Faddah) is Allan Shermans best known song parody. ... Amilcare Ponchielli (August 31, 1834 – January 17, 1886) was an Italian composer, largely of operas. ... Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems (e. ... Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer-Earth objects and generally anything that involves the technologies, science, and politics regarding space endeavors. ... Housing subdivision near Union, Kentucky, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. ... Map of Cold-War era Europe showing countries that received Marshall Plan aid. ...

Sherman's 1965 album My Name Is Allan (which bears a childhood photograph of Sherman on the jacket sleeve) is something of a theme album: except for a couple of original novelty songs with music by Sherman and Busch, all the songs on this album are parodies of songs that had won the Academy Award for Best Song, including "That Old Black Magic", "Secret Love" and "The Continental". Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ...

Later work

At the height of his popularity in 1965, Sherman published an autobiography, A Gift of Laughter. For a short period, Sherman was culturally ubiquitous.

He sang on and guest-hosted The Tonight Show, appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, and narrated his own version of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with the Boston Pops under Arthur Fiedler (this concert was released as an album Peter and the Commissar). The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was the full name of NBCs The Tonight Show during the years that Johnny Carson hosted from 1962 to 1992. ... Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated in much of North America, generally observed as an expression of gratitude, usually to God. ... Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Russian: , Sergej Sergejevič Prokofev, 15/April 271, 1891–March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian-born Russian composer who mastered numerous musical genres and came to be admired as one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. ... The Boston Pops Orchestra was founded in 1885 as a subsection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. ... Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was the long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specialized in popular music. ...

A children's book version of "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" with illustrations by Syd Hoff was released. A pirate album, More Folk Songs by Allan Sherman and His Friends, contained two parodies Sherman had recorded in the early 1950s with material by other artists. Syd Hoff (1912 – May 12, 2004) was an American children’s book author and cartoonist. ...

Later albums grew more pointedly satirical and less light-hearted as the decade lost its innocence, and Sherman took up his pen to skewer protesting students ("The Rebel"), consumer debt ("A Waste of Money" to "A Taste of Honey"), and the generation gap ("Downtown", "Pop Hates the Beatles"). This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

A unique voice

Allan Sherman's large body of parody work (over 100 recorded parodies in five years) was brilliant on many levels: His choice of material was itself funny, his lyrics were self-contained and consistently funny (and usually led to a climactic punchline), and yet spookily paralleled the sounds of the original, and his choice of topics was always timely and relevant.

Finally, his humor was charming, self-deprecating, insightful, and never seemed to be trying too hard. His brilliance inspired a new generation of developing parodists such as "Weird Al" Yankovic, who pays homage to Sherman (for the sharp-eyed) on the cover of his own first LP. Sherman is also credited with introducing Bill Cosby to a national audience, and thus launching that popular entertainer's career. Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician best known for his parodies of contemporary radio hits throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. ... Bill Cosby William Henry Bill Cosby, Jr. ...

Like his contemporary Tom Lehrer, Sherman wrote satirical songs for the two-year-long "highbrow" satire program (the American version) That Was The Week That Was (1964 - 1965), including his Dropout's March. Tom Lehrer in 1960. ... That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, was a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. ...

Unfortunately, his topics were often relevant only to his own time and place; unlike most of Lehrer's, Sherman's parodies generally did not date or travel very well. But anyone familiar with the American concerns of the era will still find all his songs hilarious.

And a few are timeless -- "Hello Muddah", the abovementioned story of the boy from Camp Granada, is as fresh now as ever, and has been translated into other languages: Sweden, for example, has translated and adopted the song as its own. Allan Shermans Camp Granada Game, released by Milton Bradley Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (also Faddah) is Allan Shermans best known song parody. ...

Decline

Sherman's creative career was rather short. After its peak in 1963, his popularity declined precipitously during 1964; some have attributed this decline in part to the Kennedy assassination, as the public felt less open to Sherman's type of comedy. By 1965 he had released two albums that did not make the top 50. In 1966 Warner Brothers dropped him from the label. Warner Bros. ...

Disillusioned but still creative, in 1973 Sherman published the controversial "The Rape of the A*P*E*", which detailed his point of view on American Puritanism and the Sexual Revolution. The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Sherman wrote the script and lyrics (but not the music) for The Fig Leaves Are Falling, a flop Broadway musical that lasted only four performances in 1969. This failed comedy seemed to consider itself a sharp satire on sexual hypocrisy, but came across as merely mealy-mouthed.

In 1971 he was the voice of the Cat in the Hat in Dr. Seuss' animated specials. The Cat in the Hat is a fictional cat created by Dr. Seuss. ... Postage stamp honoring Dr. Seuss and depicting him along with several of his creations, such as The Cat in the Hat and (courtesy of the United States Postal Service) Theodor Seuss Geisel (March 2, 1904 – September 24, 1991), better known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss, was a famous American...

Personal life and legacy

A smoker, Sherman struggled with lung disease, and finally succumbed to emphysema ten days before his 49th birthday. In medicine, pulmonology is the specialty that deals with diseases of the lungs and the respiratory tract. ...

Sherman's personal life was rather miserable, both before and after his sudden success as a singer-songwriter. An excellent ([1]) biographical article details his rise and fall, as well as the follow-on story of his son, Robert Sherman, who was the original "Boy from Camp Granada".

Allan Sherman was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. ... Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. ...

His works were not forgotten after his death: a "Best of" CD was released in 1990 and a musical revue of his songs entitled "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" toured in 2003. A box set of most of his songs was recently released under the title "My Son, The Box".

"The Rape of the A*P*E*" is once again topical and actively sought-after, though rare.

National Public Radio profiled Sherman on All Things Considered 14 March 2006 through the eyes of Jesse Green, a writer. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5279983

Brief discography

• My Son, the Folk Singer (1962)
• More Folk Songs by Allan Sherman and His Friends (1962) [pirated album]
• My Son, the Celebrity (1963)
• My Son, the Nut (1963)
• Allan in Wonderland (1964)
• Peter and the Commissar (1964)
• For Swingin' Livers Only (1964)
• My Name is Allan (1965)
• Live!! (Hoping You Are The Same) (1966)
• Togetherness (1967)
• My Son, The Greatest (Posthumous, 1990)
• My Son, The Box (Posthumous, 2005)

This page is a candidate to be copied to Wiktionary. ...

Work for Broadway

• The Fig Leaves Are Falling (1969) - musical - lyricist and book-writer
  • Songs: "All Is Well in Larchmont", "Lillian", "All of My Laughter", "Give Me a Cause", "Today I Saw a Rose", "We", "For Our Sake", "Light One Candle", "Oh, Boy", "The Fig Leaves Are Falling", "For the Rest of My Life", "I Like It", "Broken Heart", "Old Fashioned Song", "Lillian, Lillian, Lillian", "Did I Ever Really Live"

Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ...

Trivia

• Sherman's song "Ratt Fink" was covered by punk rock band The Misfits on their 1979 single Night of the Living Dead. Sherman wrote the song as a parody of "Rag Mop", originally performed by The Ames Brothers in 1950.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, "Weird Al" Yankovic makes a guest appearance. When Homer asks Yankovic if he got the two songs he recorded and sent in, he replies with a yes. When Homer asks which he liked better, Al replies, "They were pretty much the same, Homer." Homer then mutters angrily, "Yeah, like you and Allan Sherman."

The Misfits canonical skull graphic was lifted from the 1946 television serial, The Crimson Ghost, while the typeface is from the 1950s-60s magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland. ... Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 black-and-white independent horror film directed by George A. Romero and stars Duane Jones and Judith ODea. ... The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Malden, Massachusetts who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits. ... Three Gays of the Condo is an Emmy Award-winning episode from the fourteenth season of The Simpsons that aired April 13, 2003. ... The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox network. ... Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician best known for his parodies of contemporary radio hits throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. ...

Bibliography

• Instant Status (or 'Up Your Image')' (G.P. Putnam & Sons, 1964) (tear-out pages of celebrity thank you letters you can address to yourself and leave around your home or office to impress people.)
• A Gift of Laughter: The Autobiography of Allan Sherman (Atheneum, 1965)
• The Rape of the A*P*E* -- The Official History of the Sex Revolution 1945-1973: The Obscening of America. An R*S*V*P* Document
  • ISBN 0872164535, Playboy Press, 1973.
  • (The title page notes that APE stands for American Puritan Ethic and RSVP for Redeeming Social Value Pornography -- depending on their points of view, readers may find the book wildly funny, wildly offensive, or both.)
• Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, (children's picture book)
  • ISBN 0525469427, Dutton Books; 1st edition (May 1, 2004)
  • Hardcover: 32 pages

External links

• Allan Sherman at the Internet Movie Database
• Allan Sherman: The Internet Site
• Complete Discography
• Allan Sherman discography
• Review of Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, the Allan Sherman Musical Revue
• Allan Sherman's Gravesite