"TRY TO REMEMBER..." the comedy songs of HARVEY SCHMIDT

Today's obituary is for Harvey Schmidt. Most songwriters are unknown, so the headline has to be the Broadway show, or in Schmidt's case, the ONE song EVERYONE knows:

The obit doesn't mention if Schmidt had a family. Barely mentioned a few of the other, lesser Broadway shows he and his writing partner Tom Jones wrote, and concentrated mainly on "The Fantasticks," which played thousands and thousands of performances mainly because it was in a theater with less than 150 seats, and everyone wondered what kind of show would have "Try to Remember" as the highlight.

Actually, Schmidt & Jones wrote much better songs than that one. Among them, were songs they wrote just starting out, when cabaret reviews were popular. In the days before comedy clubs and "pay-to-play" spots for singers, a lot of writers and performers tried out for sketch comedy & song shows which needed fresh material annually. Paul Lynde came out of "New Faces" and Ben Bagley's "Shoestring Revue" produced stars as well, and you might say that the Lorne Michaels of his day (late 50's early 60's) was Julius Monk. Monk produced shows at "Upstairs at the Downstairs" along with Rod Warren and then moved to the Plaza Hotel. He also ran "Le Ruban Bleu."

Monk and Warren hired new talents including Madeline Kahn, Lily Tomlin, Ronny Graham and Nancy Dussault. Bill Dana had an early sketch performed in the "Demi-Dozen" show, and also in that show, a pair of novelty songs premiered by Schmidt & Jones. "The Holy Man and the New Yorker" was a vivid satire that ended up far more poignant than the sappy "Try to Remember." "The Race of the Lexington Avenue Express" was a highlight of the evening, a comic whoop performed by Jane Connell.

Quite a few of the Monk performers chose to remain in theater, notably Mary Louise Wilson. Some moved behind the scenes a bit. Budding star Gerry Matthews voiced "Sugar Bear" in cartoons, and now runs a museum of oddities in Walla Walla, Washington. Jack Fletcher may have become best known for TV commercials. And rather than become the effete Leiber & Stoller for novelty 45's, a very iffy genre for radio disc jockeys, they moved on to write "The Fantasticks" and some Broadway shows, and leave funny songs behind.

Pat Paulsen once mentioned to me that he would've had to take a day job if he relied on the royalties for "(I Fell in a Vat of) Chocolate," a novelty song that appeared on a Smothers Brothers comedy album. He got even less money for his wonderful novelty about a mild man who turns into a vampire, "Mediocre Fred."

With few exceptions (Tom Lehrer and Allan Sherman come to mind, and "Monster Mash," "The M.T.A. Song" (the Kingston Trio hit about a guy stranded on the Boston subway) and "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini") the "comic song" has never been considered the art form that it is, and it's not been a way to make money or become famous. Or semi-famous in the case of "hey, he wrote "Try to Remember" Schmidt."

At the same time Schmidt & Jones wrote for the Monk shows, so did Michael Brown, Dion McGregor, and Ray Jessel, among many other forgotten names. Ray Jessel, well over 40 years after writing about a drug addicted rich girl being given a fix by her nanny, turned up on "America's Got Talent." He presented himself as just a whimsical old man who liked to write songs. He sat down at the piano, and to the shock of everyone, knocked off a hilarious song about dating a woman who had everything...including a penis.

As you'd expect with novelty songs, some were unamused and in the PC-age, offended. Wasn't it funny that Ray went out with a woman who did NOT bother to mention being a transvestite or pre-op transsexual? NO. Wasn't it funny that the kicker was Ray's complaint that hers was bigger than his? NO. The performance is still on YouTube but...Ray Jessel was actually banned from the show. He was not allowed to come back and sing another novelty song. Not even one that was vetted beforehand? NO.

So it is, that a lot of writers accept the fact that they will never become famous for what singers record, and few even glance at the credits (especially now that there are mp3 files that don't bother). The solace might be in the money, but there isn't much of that anymore, in this age of Piracy and Spotify. "Try to Remember" the days when you could get a smile and surprise hearing a novelty tune on your transistor radio....