Roy Zimmerman (born October 7, 1957) is an American satirical singer-songwriter and guitarist now based in Northern California.

Biography

A native of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, Roy Zimmerman wrote a series of satirical musical reviews in the 1980s that were produced by the

San Jose Repertory Theatre The San Jose Repertory Theatre (a.k.a. San Jose Rep) was the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber. In 2008, after the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, th ...

, including ''YUP!'' (1984), ''UP the YUP'' (1985), and ''YUP It UP!'' (1986). The musicals parodied the excesses of the evolving

yuppie Yuppie, short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional", is a term coined in the early 1980s for a young professional person working in a city. The term is first attested in 1980, when it was used as a fairly neu ...

culture in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

. The songs included "Teen-age Computer Tycoon", "The Bay Area Sprawl", and "I Want to Be in a Pepsi Commercial," which many Bay Area professionals have remembered since their young adult years. Zimmerman founded the Southern California satirical folk quartet,

The Foremen The Foremen were a satirical folk music band from Los Angeles founded by Roy Zimmerman. They were known for their politically charged lyrics, which usually discussed United States politics from a left-wing point of view, such as by mocking Rush L ...

. It performed at the national conventions of both major American political parties in 1996. Continuing as a solo act, Zimmerman explained the philosophy behind writing and performing humorous songs on increasingly political subjects: "There's nothing funny about World Peace. Social Justice never killed at

The Comedy Store The Comedy Store is an American comedy club opened in April 1972. It is located in West Hollywood, California, at 8433 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip. An associated club is located in La Jolla, San Diego, California. History The Comedy S ...

. If we ever attain a worldwide consciousness of peace and justice, I'll be happily out of a job. But as long as there's poverty, war, bigotry, ignorance, greed, lust and paranoia, I've got a career". Among the counter-events to the 2004 Republican National Convention in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Zimmerman performed his song, "Chickenhawk." It indicts those who approve of militarism, as long as neither they nor anyone they know has to be directly involved. His songs have been played regularly on the ''

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

'' radio show. Zimmerman played in the ''Rock Beyond Belief'' concert on March 31, 2012, at

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

's Fort Bragg."Roy Zimmerman Is Completely on the Radio"
Atheist Radio website, accessed 20 May 2019 Roy Zimmerman lives and works in Marin County, California, with his wife and collaborator, Melanie Harby, and their sons Joe and Sam.

Discography

*''Comic Sutra'' (2004) *''Security'' (2004) *''Homeland'' (2004) *''Homeland/Security'' (combined double album, 2004) *''Peacenick'' (2005) *''Best of the Foremen'' (2006) *''Faulty Intelligence'' (2006) *''Thanks for the Support'' (2008) *''Real American'' (2010) *''You're Getting Sleepy'' (2011) *''The Faucet's on Fire!'' (2015)

References

External links

Official website
* AllMusic Foremen pagebr>
Roy Zimmerman to sing at Rock Beyond Belief (2011/03/01) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Roy American male comedians American satirists 1957 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) People from Marin County, California Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area Singer-songwriters from California Journalists from California Comedians from California Jewish American comedians Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews