Music News

Harry Shearer takes on the Bush Administration with ‘Songs of the Bushmen’

By Patrick Luce Jul 25, 2008, 14:15 GMT

“Songs of the Bushmen” tracks, with lyrics and music all written and composed by Harry Shearer, include “Smooth Moves” (Colin Powell), “Gym Buds” (Condoleezza Rice), “Stuff Happens” (Donald Rumsfeld), “Wolf on the Run” (Paul Wolfowitz), “Turd Blossom Special” (Karl Rove), “Carrot Soup” (John Bolton), “No Cooler for the Scooter” (Scooter Libby), “Karen” (Karen Hughes) and “935 Lies” (The Bush Administration).

“Songs of the Bushmen,” Harry Shearer’s savage and poignant musical satire of the Bush administration’s leading figures, has arrived on digital markets from Courgette Records.

From a press release:

An award-winning actor, comedian, author, musician, playwright, radio host and journalist, Harry Shearer presents some of the most biting satire since Mort Sahl, with comedic tunes paying “homage” to cabinet members and advisors including Scooter Libby, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove, among others.

On the eve of the November Presidential elections, each of Harry’s “Songs of the Bushmen” tracks “pay tribute” to the foibles of Bush Cabinet members, serving as a poignant “refresher” to what America will be losing upon their exit from Washington. A follow-up to last year’s “Songs Pointed and Pointless,” Harry’s Grammy-nominated (Best Comedy Album) musical take on a world gone madder than ever, “Songs of the Bushman” is solely dedicated to the cast of Bush Administration political characters. With their impending ‘08 exit from the White House, personalities such as Condi, Rummy, Scooter and Rove, will be sorely missed by comedy writers everywhere.

“Songs of the Bushmen” tracks, with lyrics and music all written and composed by Harry Shearer, include “Smooth Moves” (Colin Powell), “Gym Buds” (Condoleezza Rice), “Stuff Happens” (Donald Rumsfeld), “Wolf on the Run” (Paul Wolfowitz), “Turd Blossom Special” (Karl Rove), “Carrot Soup” (John Bolton), “No Cooler for the Scooter” (Scooter Libby), “Karen” (Karen Hughes) and “935 Lies” (The Bush Administration).

Harry Shearer continues his multiple roles for a 19th season on the smash hit, pop culture series, The Simpsons, which he also reprised for The Simpsons Movie. Among the many Simpsons characters Harry ‘voices’ include the deliciously evil Mr. Burns, uber-annoying neighbor Ned Flanders, Smithers, Rev. Lovejoy and Scratchy. His weekly radio series Le Show continues its 24 year run in over 90 markets, and his comic novel Not Enough Indians was a national bestseller. In addition, Shearer is a regular contributor toThe Huffington Post.
 
In July, 2007, Shearer plunged into the on-line video universe when the Harry Shearer Channel became a cornerstone of My Damn Channel, an entertainment studio and new media platform specifically created to empower artists to co-produce, distribute and monetize original, episodic video content. Each week a new political or pop culture satire written by and featuring Shearer is unveiled.

Theatrically, Shearer has collaborated with writer Tom Leopold and composer Peter Matz to create the book and lyrics for an original musical about J. Edgar Hoover simply called “J. Edgar!: The MUSICAL.” The play premiered to sold out houses and critical raves at The Aspen Comedy Festival and is currently being developed for Broadway.

As a child of Hollywood, Harry Shearer portrayed the original Eddie Haskell on Leave It To Beaver, appeared in Abbott & Costello Go To Mars, and made appearances on such A-List TV shows as The Jack Benny Show, General Electric Theatre and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

After a break to collect a political science degree from UCLA and a stint at Harvard, Harry was back on stage, radio and television. Highlights of his two seasons on Saturday Night Live include his legendary synchronized swimming sketch with Martin Short.

Harry’s film credits include Real Life, The Right Stuff, Portrait of a White Marriage, The Fisher King, Godzilla, The Truman Show, Small Soldiers, Dick and A Mighty Wind. In 2002 he wrote and directed his first feature film, Teddy Bears’ Picnic. He has won two Cable Ace Awards.