Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer was born into an American Jewish family in Manhattan. Little is known about his parents except for the fact that they divorced when he was 14.

He studied classical piano from a young age though later on his interest shifted to pop music and he began taking lessons from a piano teacher who specialized in pop-music. Soon he began composing funny songs and tunes.

He was a brilliant student who skipped several grades and graduated from Horace Mann School, New York at the age of 15. He enrolled in Harvard University from where he obtained AB as well as Master’s degrees in mathematics. He began writing funny songs as an undergraduate student to entertain his friends.

He joined Harvard’s doctoral program and worked as a researcher at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. He then became an educator and taught classes in many universities and colleges like MIT, Harvard, University of California, etc.

His music career began in 1953 when he self-released his first album, ‘Songs by Tom Lehrer’ under his own label Lehrer records. The graphic and comic nature of his songs ensured that he soon got a cult following.

He served a short stint in the U.S Army from 1955 to 1957 and returned to Harvard to teach and to complete his PhD. However he could not obtain his doctorate in mathematics.

Lehrer recorded a live album, ‘An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer’ in 1959 in Sanders Theater at Harvard. It included songs with shocking lyrics like ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’ and’ The Masochism Tango.’

He released another album, ‘More of Tom Lehrer’ in 1959. It had the same track listing as his previous album. He issued both the live and studio versions at the same time.

His debut album, ‘Songs by Tom Lehrer’ (1953), self-produced and self-released, managed to attract enough attention that Lehrer acquired a cult following. It featured the hit ‘Fight Fiercely, Harvard’, a satirical song that he originally wrote as a student at Harvard.

The live album ‘An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer’ was recorded by him in Sanders Theater in 1959. It included songs full of dark humour and macabre, like ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’, ‘The Elements’ and ‘Clemetine’ which shocked, as well as thrilled the listeners.

‘That Was the Year That Was’ (1965) was his only album to be accredited Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was a collection of songs that Lehrer originally wrote for the T.V program ‘That Was the Week That Was.’ The lyrics of the songs were very daring and bold.