The Foremen were a satirical
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
band from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
founded by
Roy Zimmerman. They were known for their politically charged lyrics, which usually discussed United States politics from a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
point of view, such as by mocking
Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
.
[
]
History
Zimmerman originally started the band in 1990, after seeing a Wayfarers album in the bargain bin at a record store
A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...
. He then recruited Doug Whitney and Andy Corwin—a guitarist and bassist, respectively—to join his newly formed band.Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels.
Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...
after Jim Ed Norman
Jim Ed Norman is an American musician, multi-platinum record producer, arranger and label-head. As an arranger and producer, he was one of the principal architects of the distinctive sound of West Coast 1970s pop and country rock. He was Preside ...
, then head of the Warner Bros. Nashville
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is a ...
label, heard them at a party. Norman was so impressed that he signed the Foremen to a recording contract on Reprise, one of Warner Music's subsidiaries,[ and went on to produce their debut album.][ It was on Reprise that they released both of their studio albums, ''Folk Heroes'' (1995) and ''What's Left'' (1996). They also released a single from the former album, "Ain't No Liberal", in 1995, which featured an image of Republican politician ]Phil Gramm
William Philip Gramm (born July 8, 1942) is an American economist and politician who represented Texas in both chambers of Congress. Though he began his political career as a Democrat, Gramm switched to the Republican Party in 1983. Gramm was ...
on the cover. Reprise promoted the single by sending copies of it to presidential candidates in the 1996 US Presidential election, and mocking presidential candidate Pete Wilson in the single's cover art. Reprise's then-president, Howie Klein, admitted that their motivation for doing this was to provoke a "counterattack" from one of the politicians they were mocking. In February 1996, the band performed a song mocking Oliver North, entitled "Ollie, Ollie, Off Scot Free", on North's own radio show. While the band was nervous prior to this performance, North's reaction was not as negative as they had expected. He didn't care very much what the song said, only that it was about him, according to Zimmerman. North also described the band as a "very weird group" and agreed to pose for a picture with them.
Style
Zimmerman has said that the political views expressed in his band's songs are influenced in part by the activism popular in the 1960s, and has named " Tom Lehrer and Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...
and, to a lesser degree, I guess, ..Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...
and the honest-to-God activism that was going on in music at that time .e. the 1960s as his band's influences.Steve Goodman
Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denver, ...
as one of their influences. Mark Jenkins of ''the Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' wrote that "Though the Foremen's "Folk Heroes" arrives with an endorsement from '60s musical satirist Tom Lehrer, it's not especially folkie—nor so biting as Lehrer's best."
Discography
Studio albums
*''Folk Heroes'' (Reprise, 1995)
*''What's Left?'' (Reprise, 1996)
Live albums
*''Sing it Loud!'' (Metaphor, 1994)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foremen, The
American comedy musical groups
American folk musical groups
Reprise Records artists
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Musical groups established in 1990
Political music groups
Comedians from California