The Capitol Steps are a popular American political satire group. They have been performing since 1981, and have released several albums consisting primarily of song parodies. 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. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ...

History

The Reagan years

In 1981, two Republican Congressional staffers, Bill Strauss and Elaina Newport, used their spare time while working for the Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Government Processes for the Senate Committee of Governmental Affairs to sing song parodies about current events. They were joined by other Republican Senate staffers Nancy Baskin, Barbie Granzow, and Dave Nichols. Together they decided to put on a Christmas show as their first performance, while continuing to work full-time as Congressional staffers. They chose the name "The Capitol Steps" for their group based on a sex scandal earlier that year, in which Congressman John Jenrette had trysted with his wife on the steps of the Capitol building. 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Republican Party, often called the GOP (for Grand Old Party), is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other being the Democratic Party. ... Congress in Joint Session. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Jesus Christ) is a traditional holiday observed on 25 December. ... A sex scandal is a scandal in which a public figure becomes embroiled in a situation where embarrassing sexual activities (or allegations of them) are publicized. ... John Jenrette is a former American politician. ...

The first show took place on December 11, 1981, at a Christmas party for the Foreign Relations Committee. They deemed the show a success, and performed several more times that month with the same songs. In 1982, the group expanded to include several more members, including House staffers and Democrats. Despite being predominantly Republican, they made a concerted effort to make their shows bipartisan, trying to incorporate a roughly even mix of Democratic and Republican songs. They achieved media interest at this time, but refused all interviews on the grounds that their jobs could be endangered by press coverage of their satirical antics. They were also concerned about how their behavior might reflect on the chair of Strauss and Newport's subcommitteee, Senator Charles H. Percy. December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The chamber of the United States House of Representatives is located in the south wing of the Capitol building, in Washington, D.C.. The Media:United States House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Congress of the United States. ... It has been suggested that Democratic presidents be merged into this article or section. ... Charles Percy Charles H. Percy (born September 27, 1919) was chairman of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964 and Republican United States Senator for Illinois from 1967 to 1985. ...

In February 1983, the Capitol Steps began to do monthly performances at the Shoreham Hotel, opening themselves to publicity for the first time. They received a favorable review in the Washington Post, and their performances became highly successful. In November of 1984, they performed at Senator Percy's election night party. During the party, they learned that the senator had lost, meaning that Strauss and Newport would lose their jobs working for him. Shortly after, they decided to make the Capitol Steps a professional group. They recorded their first album shortly after: The Capitol Steps--Live! at the Shoreham. Look up February in Wiktionary, the free dictionary February is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Three years later, in 1987, the group members finally decided to quit their full-time jobs. At this time, the group included Anne Hill, Ann Schmitt, Brian Ash, and Mike Loomis, all of whom are with the group, along with Strauss and Newport, as of 2004. In September of 1988, the group performed at the White House, in front of an audience that included President Ronald Reagan, his wife Nancy, and hundreds of members of Congress. Reagan, through an aide, requested that the group only perform songs poking fun at him. The group obliged, and Reagan enjoyed the show immensely. 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up September in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The southern side of the White House The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States of America. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... White House portrait Nancy Davis Reagan (born July 6, 1921) is the widow of President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. ...

The Capitol Steps released a total of five albums during Reagan's years in office. In 1988, they sang a song entitled "76 Unknowns" about the vast and, in their opinion, lackluster variety of candidates for the presidential election. This was accompanied by an album entitled "76 Bad Loans". 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Bush Sr. years

With the election of George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988, the Capitol Steps expanded their repertoire of material to include new foreign policy, such as the United States invasion of Panama, as well as local gaffes, such as Bush's declaration of September 7 as Pearl Harbor Day. The group also achieved notoriety for their portrayal of Vice President Dan Quayle, particularly after his famous mistake of correcting a child's spelling of "potato" by encouraging him to add an e. George H. W. Bush - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... ... James Danforth Quayle (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... The letter E is the fifth letter in the Latin alphabet. ...

The Capitol Steps released six albums during this presidency. They also performed for Bush Sr.'s White House several times. On three occasions, he accepted the group's invitations to sing songs about his minor gaffes along with them on stage.

The Clinton years

Prior to the Lewinsky scandal, the Bill Clinton administration provided several minor scandals that turned into a multitude of new songs and albums, as well as a wide variety of personalities that were easy to exaggerate: the easy-going Clinton, his aggressive wife Hillary, the boring Al Gore, and several colorful others in the administration, including Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who recommended masturbation as a means of suppressing teen pregnancy. Time Magazines special report. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947), was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, as the wife of President Bill Clinton. ... Albert Arnold Gore Jr. ... Joycelyn Elders Minnie Joycelyn Elders (born August 13, 1933) was the United States Surgeon General from September 8, 1993 to December 31, 1994, most famous for her outspokenness on sensitive issues of public health. ... Teenage pregnancy refers to the controversial social issue of teenage girls getting pregnant. ...

In 1994, the group performed at the White House in front of both Clinton and Gore. However, after the Lewinsky scandal broke, they were not invited to perform at the White House again, as their humor (like that of most American comedians of the time) focused on allegations of Clinton's womanizing and then covering it up. They did, however, perform for Kenneth Starr's law firm. 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Kenneth Winston Starr (born July 21, 1946 in Vernon, Texas) is an American lawyer and former judge who was appointed to the Office of the Independent Counsel to investigate the Whitewater land transactions by President Bill Clinton. ...

The presidential election of 2000 provided plenty of fodder for humor, including a frustrated song just before the election, "I Want a Brand New Pair of Candidates," and several songs about the recount fiasco afterward. Presidential electoral votes by state. ...

The Bush Jr. years

The popular conception of Bush Jr. possessing an inferior intellect, based primarily on his frequent grammatical errors in speeches, allowed the Capitol Steps to reuse much of their Dan Quayle material. Additionally, they enjoyed exaggerating his right-wing tendencies, and the liberal-perceived sinisterness of much of his administration, including Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Richard Bruce Cheney (born January 30, 1941), widely known as Dick Cheney, is the 46th and current Vice President of the United States under President George W. Bush. ... Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) is a US politician currently serving as the 21st United States Secretary of Defense since January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. ...

However, after the events of September 11, 2001, jokes aimed at the president, or at American politics, no longer seemed funny to the group. They cancelled most of their performances for the next few weeks, but did perform an edited show at a nightclub on September 15. The show went well, and the group soon found new material that people in October of 2001 would find funny, including poking fun at how much the public's opinion of President Bush had improved, and at personalities that were now becoming more relevant to the American public, including New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and French President Jacques Chirac. Soon the extremely heightened security nationwide also became a popular subject for comedians, as well as the Steps, as media reports came in that people were being interrogated in airports for having the powder from a donut on them. By the end of 2001, the Steps were once again singing songs about nearly everything, even poking fun at Arab terrorists. The September 11, 2001 attacks (also referred to as 9/11) were a set of coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States of America carried out on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, in which a total of nineteen Arab hijackers simultaneously took control of four U.S. domestic commercial airliners. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... New York City portal The Empire State Building (right) and the Chrysler Building (left) are easily recognized symbols of New York City to the world. ... Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III KBE (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001. ... The Right Honourable Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. ... ▶ (help· info), (born November 29, 1932 in Paris) is a French politician who is currently President of the French Republic. ... A chocolate-glazed doughnut A doughnut, or donut, is a deep-fried piece of dough or batter. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa, originating in the Arabian Peninsula of southwest Asia. ...

In 2002 and 2003, their material skewered SUVs and their drivers, Hans Blix, the standoff with Saddam Hussein, Condoleezza Rice, Democratic candidates very early on in the process for the 2004 election, the capture of Saddam Hussein, same-sex weddings, the Kobe Bryant trial, and the California gubernatorial recall election, in which they quickly reused a regular parody of the Clinton years: The Wanderer redone as The Fondler but this time with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the accused. A sport utility vehicle (SUV) or off-roader is a vehicle that combines the load-hauling and passenger-carrying capacity of a large station wagon or minivan with features designed for off-road driving. ... Hans Blix in Vienna 2002. ... Wikinews has news related to this article: Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was President of Iraq from 1979 until his removal and capture after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th and current United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush. ... Kobe Bean Bryant (August 23, 1978, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 402. ... â–¶ (help· info) (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, Actor, and Republican politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of California. ...

Routines

The bulk of the Capitol Steps' material is in the form of parodies of well-known songs, usually introduced with a short skit. These songs are interspersed with other routines, including a spoonerism routine entitled "Lirty Dies" that the group generally includes near the end of each performance, running through recent scandals while making numerous innuendos. A Spoonerism is a play on words in which corresponding consonants or vowels are switched (see metathesis), named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner (1844–1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency. ... A scandal is a widely publicized incident involving allegations of wrong-doing, disgrace, or moral outrage. ... Innuendo can refer to: For Innuendo as a figure of speech please see Double entendre. ...

Interestingly, the Steps do not have to get permission or pay royalties for the parodies of copyrighted songs that they perform, due to the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1993 on the case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, which established that political parody qualifies as fair use, even if the parodies are profitable. Thus, unlike non-political parody artists such as "Weird Al" Yankovic (who submitted an amicus curiae brief opposing such a fair use concept), the Capitol Steps are under no financial pressure to reduce the percentage of copyrighted song parodies in their acts. Copyright symbol. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Campbell v. ... The fair use doctrine is an aspect of United States copyright law that provides for the licit, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another authors work under a four-factor balancing test. ... Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician best known for his parodies of contemporary radio hits. ... Definition and Explanation: Amicus curiæ (Latin for friend of the court; plural amici curiæ) briefs are legal documents filed by non-litigants in appellate court cases, which include additional information or arguments that those outside parties wish to have considered in that particular case. ...

Current status

As of 2002, the Steps consist of four troupes, with one performing full-time in Washington, DC and the others on tour. 2002 (MMII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

Recordings

Since their first album in 1984, the Steps have released a new recording of their songs/parodies/sketches at a rate of at least one per year, early in the calendar year, but have also been known to create and release a second recording as a "Holiday Release," and have done so in 1989 and 1993 (Georgie on my Mind is officially considered Songs of 1989 and 1990 and not a "Holiday Release"). There was also a "Special High School Release" in 2001, made up of songs written originally for high school groups during these groups' tours of Washington DC. Their 20th Anniversary book (see below) also included a CD retrospective of their songs/parodies/sketches. As of their early 2005 CD release (Four More Years in the Bush Leagues), this makes 25 released albums (plus the book/CD combination and "High School Release").

Discography

1. Four More Years in the Bush Leagues (Songs of 2005)
2. Papa's Got a Brand New Baghdad (Songs of 2004)
3. Between Iraq and a Hard Place (Songs of 2003)
4. When Bush Comes to Shove (Songs of 2002)
5. One Bush, Two Bush, Old Bush, New Bush (Songs of 2001)
6. I Want It Dad's Way (Special High School Release) (Songs of 2001)
7. It's Not Over 'Til The First Lady Sings (Songs of 2000)
8. First Lady And The Tramp (Songs of 1999)
9. Unzippin' My Doodah (Songs of 1998)
10. Sixteen Scandals (Songs of 1997)
11. Return To Center (Songs of 1996)
12. A Whole Newt World (Songs of 1995)
13. Lord Of The Fries (Songs of 1994)
14. All I Want For Christmas Is A Tax Increase (Songs of 1993 Holiday Release)
15. The Joy Of Sax (Songs of 1993)
16. Fools On The Hill (Songs of 1992)
17. 76 Bad Loans (Songs of 1991)
18. Sheik, Rattle and Roll (Songs of 1990)
19. Georgie On My Mind (Songs of 1989 and 1990)
20. Stand By Your Dan (Songs of 1989)
21. Shamlet (Songs of 1988)
22. Danny's First Noel (Songs of 1989 Holiday Release)
23. Workin' 9 To 10 (Songs of 1987)
24. Thank God I'm A Contra Boy (Songs of 1986)
25. We Arm The World (Songs of 1985)
26. The Capitol Steps Live (Songs of 1984)

References

Sixteen Scandals: 20 Years of Sex, Lies and Other Habits of Our Great Leaders (Book with CD) by William (Bill) Strauss and Elaina Newport, published in 2002 by Sourcebooks MediaFusion, Naperville, Illinois. ISBN 1-57071-890-3 Naperville is a city located in DuPage County, Illinois and Will County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 128,358; a special census in 2003 estimated the population at 135,858. ...

Fools on the Hill: Everything You Need to Know About Politics You Can Learn from the Capitol Steps by Strauss and Newport, published in 1992 by Longmeadow Press, Stamford, Connecticut. ISBN 0-681-41676-9 Nickname: The City that Works Motto: Official website: www. ...

External links

• Official Website
• All Music Guide entry for the Capitol Steps