Firesign Theatre

11-12-08 The Firesign Theatre

Los Angeles-centric radio comedy; Counter culture icons; Masters of language; Four (or five) Very Funny Guys! – The Firesign Theatre are all this…and more! Peter Bergman, Phil Proctor, David Ossman and Phil Austin. Concentrating on their Columbia Records output today:

CD WAITING FOR THE ELECTRICIAN OR SOMEONE LIKE HIM MOBILE FIDELITY MFCD 762

1968 4 TRKS

LP WAITING FOR THE ELECTRICIAN OR SOMEONE LIKE HIM COLUMBIA US CS 9518

1968 4 TRKS debut

CD HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE... MOBILE FIDELITY MFCD 834

1969 2 TRKS Cyrus Faryar

LP HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE... COLUMBIA US CS 9884

1969 2 TRKS Cyrus Faryar

CD DON'T CRUSH THAT DWARF, HAND ME THE PLIARS MOBILE FIDELITY MFCD 880

1970 2 TRKS

LP DON'T CRUSH THAT DWARF, HAND ME THE PLIARS COLUMBIA US C 30102

1970 2 TRKS poster

CD I THINK WE'RE ALL BOZOS ON THIS BUS MOBILE FIDELITY MFCD 785

1971 2 TRKS

LP I THINK WE'RE ALL BOZOS ON THIS BUS COLUMBIA US C 30737

1971 2 TRKS

LP NOT INSANE COLUMBIA US KC 31585

1972 2 TRKS "Martian Space Party"; I don’t have this on CD (it definitely exists)

LP FIRESIGN CHAT WITH PAPOON COLUMBIA US AS 41

1972 2 TRKS promo-only LP (which I think is on CD, these days)

CD DEAR FRIENDS MOBILE FIDELITY MFCD 758

1972 29 TRKS radio show material

LPx2 DEAR FRIENDS COLUMBIA US KG 31099

1972 29 TRKS radio show material

CD EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG LAUGH.COM US LGH 1077

1974 2 TRKS ('01 issue)

LP EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG COLUMBIA US KC 33141

1974 2 TRKS autographed

LP TALE OF THE GIANT RAT OF SUMATRA, THE COLUMBIA US KC 32730

1974 6 TRKS I don’t have this on CD (but I guess it exists?)

LP IN THE NEXT WORLD YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN COLUMBIA US KC 33475

1975 2 TRKS

CD IN THE NEXT WORLD YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN LAUGH.COM US LGH 1078

1975 2 TRKS ('01 issue)

LPx2 FORWARD INTO THE PAST (Collection) COLUMBIA US PG 34391

1976 18 TRK Collection, promo – primarily notable for the inclusion of “Station Break”, their non-LP 45

CDx2 SHOES FOR INDUSTRY! - BEST OF COLUMBIA US C2K 52736

1993 31 TRK Collection (60's/70's recordings)

I grew up with this stuff, so it all makes sense to me. In the new century, I am a bit miffed at how hard some of this material is to find. Even though listed in numerous places, I can’t seem to find the Proctor & Bergman “TV Or Not TV” LP on CD. I can’t seem to find a CD album called ”The Pink Hotel Burns Down”, which is supposedly out-takes from the Columbia era. Most baffling is that I think their first few LP’s were issued in England by CBS Records, in the late 60’s – I wonder what the Brits made of ‘em?