Songwriter,
satirist, pianist,
mathematician and (so-called) singer, born
April 9,
1928. As a graduate student at
Harvard University he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, which later became the "The Physical Revue". Influenced mainly by the musical theatre, his style consisted of parodying the then current forms of popular song. For example, his desire to write list songs, (à la
Danny Kaye's "Tchaikovsky") saw him set the the
periodic table to the tune of [Gilbert and Sullivan]
?'s "Major General's Song".
Selected Reviews:
- "Plays the piano acceptably" -- Oakland Tribune
- "More desperate than amusing" - New York Herald Tribune