''Fighting Clowns'' is a 1980 album by
the Firesign Theatre. It is unique among Firesign Theatre albums because it is primarily made up of
song
A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...
s rather than the group's usual
audio theater or
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
pieces. Many of the songs on this album were recorded live in front of an audience while some of the songs and much of the linking material was recorded in the studio. Cover artwork was done by
Phil Hartman.
Track listing
Side one
# "The Bozos Song"
# "The Four Gobs"
# "The 8 Shoes"
# "In The Hot Tub"
# "Hey, Reagan"
Side two
# "In The War Zone"
# "Oh, Afghanistan"
# "In The Alley"
# "Violent Juvenile Freaks"
# "In The Hot Tub Again"
# "This Bus Won't Go To War"
Bonus tracks
# "
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
"
Performers
*
Phil Austin — Vocals and Rhythm Guitar
*
Peter Bergman — Vocals
*
David Ossman — Vocals
*
Philip Proctor — Vocals
*Richard Parker — Keyboards
*
Jeff Baxter — Lead Guitar
*Tim Emmons — Bass
*Ed Roscetti — Drums
*John Mitchell — Tenor & Baritone Sax
*Dick Spencer — Alto Sax & Clarinet
*Richard Cooper — Trumpet
*
Phil Hartman — Album Cover Illustration
Release history
There have been numerous issues and re-issues of this album (and excerpts from this album) in a variety of formats including a one-sided
picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone record, gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics ...
.
*LP -
Rhino
A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
RNLP-018 - 1980
*Cassette — Rhino RNC-018 - 1980
*Picture Disc — Rhino RNPD-904 - 1980
*CD
Mobile Fidelity MFCD-748 - 1993
*CD Firesign Theatre Records (distributed through Whirlwind Media) - 2001
*CD Firesign Theatre Records
Lodestone Catalog2006
Citations
# Smith, Ronald L. ''The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide''. Iola: Krause, 1996.
# Carruthers, Sean. "Fighting Clowns > Overview." ''Allmusic''. March 4, 200
– 10:3hq7g4gttvoz.
# Firesign Theatre. ''Fighting Clowns''. Mobile Fidelity, 1993.
#
External links
The Firesign Theatre's Official WebsiteFIREZINE: Linques! (A Firesign Theatre FAQ)
{{Authority control
1980 albums
The Firesign Theatre albums
Rhino Entertainment albums
1980s comedy albums