Comedy/Spoken — LPs  

One of the greatest albums to come from the New York underground of the early 80s – even if it was a relatively big "hit" on a major label! Laurie Anderson is in perfect form here – drawing on a strong tradition of avant garde performance, but without any of the indulgences that would mire down performance art in years to come. Instead, she's got a clean, clear style that's simply amazing – spoken passages that are poetic and pointed, but which also have a slight undercurrent of wit – a charming quality that never takes itself too seriously, even when the sounds and styles are somewhat dark. Instrumentation includes some great rhythm passages from David Van Tieghem, plus surprising performances from Rufus Harley on bagpipes and George Lewis on trombone. Titles include "From The Air", "Big Science", "O Superman", "Born Never Asked", "Walking & Falling", "Example #22", "Let X = X", and "It Tango".

Steve Martin at the height of his mid 70s stand up popularity, long before he ever thought of making sappy movies. Includes "Ramblin Man", "Vegas", "Let's Get Small", "Smoking", "One Way To Leave Your Lover", "Mad At My Mother", "Excuse Me", "Grandmother's Song" and "Funny Comedy Gags".

Pryor's really hit his stride here, and made the transition to the mainstream, though he's still a darn funny motherf*#ker. Skits include "Shortage Of White People", "New N*ggers", "Cocaine", "Mudbone", "When Your Woman Leaves You" and "Our Text For Today". Recorded live at the Latin Casino, NJ.

With "Hillbilly", "Black & White Women", "Our Gang", "Bicentennial Prayer", "Black Hollywood", "Mudbone Goes To Hollywood", "Chinese Restaurant", "Acid" and "Bicentennial N!gger".

Pryor really busted into the mainstream with this one – as the album secured him a grammy for best comedy LP in the year it was released. Recorded live in San Francisco, at Don Cornelius' Soul Train – with tracks that include "Wino & Junkie", "Flying Saucers", "Black Man/White Woman", "I Hope I'm Funny", "Exorcist", and "Wino Dealing With Dracula".

It's 1978 so that means Richard's heavy into the basing backstage, right? We can't tell for sure, but he cuts loose with the reckless abandon that we love about his late 70s records. Loads of hilarious skits, including 'White & Black People", "Black Funerals", 'Discipline", "Dogs & Horses", "Jim Brown", "Monkeys", "heart Attacks", "Ali", "Leon Spinks", "Things In the Woods", "Deer Hunter", "Chinese Food" and more.