The Best of the Firesign Theatre: Shoes for Industry!
This is an excellent addition to your collection if you’ve never experienced the Firesign Theatre before, and is also, for those of us who are familiar with the foursome’s goofy repertoire, it’s handy in that it offers up some of their best and most famous material in convenient bite-sized chunks (as opposed to many of the albums being divided up only by their original vinyl “sides”), though even with the more discrete tracks, some of the material doesn’t work without six or seven minutes to play out. If you have no idea what in the world Firesign Theatre is about, I urge you to check this album out first, and then Dear Friends. You won’t be sorry… you’ll be silly!
written by and starring Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Phil Proctor
Disc One:
- Temporarily Humbolt County (9:14)
- Beat the Reaper! (2:53)
- I Was a Cock-Teaser for Roosterama! (3:05)
- Ralph Spoilsport Motors (7:05)
- The American Pageant (9:07)
- The Chinchilla Show (2:38)
- The Further Adventures of Nick Danger (28:06)
- Stab from the Past (1:16)
- Ersatz Bros. Coffee (0:47)
- High School Madness! (6:48)
- Napalmolive (0:52)
- Shoes for Industry! (0:29)
- Great Unclaimed Melodies! (2:26)
- Station Break (2:14)
Disc Two:
- Forward Into The Past (6:03)
- The Holygram’s Song (Back from the Shadows Again) (1:49)
- The Breaking of the President (6:16)
- Deputy Dan Has No Friends (2:27)
- La Bomba Shelter (1:10)
- Young Guy, Motor Detective (8:02)
- Toad Away (3:18)
- Not Quite the Solution He Expected (8:37)
- Bear Whiz Beer (0:30)
- Happy Hour News (2:51)
- The Golden Hind (4:34)
- The Army Training Film (3:17)
- Police Street (14:53)
- Communist Love Song (4:02)
- C’mon Jesus (3:40)
- Nasi Goring (2:51)
- Give Up This Day (2:01)
In the Museum of Aural Antiquities, preparations are underway for a broadcast in tribute to the late actor Visteen Krane, who died mysteriously on the eve of announcing his candidacy for the Presidency. But things begin to go wrong almost immediately. A man is found murdered in the Museum, and the only suspects without an alibi are two intruders who identify themselves as The Doctor and Peri. The Doctor is immediately suspicious of Beth Pernell, Krane’s theatrical agent and potential running mate, who is planning to supplant her late boss as a presidential candidate and use the tribute in his honor for her own publicity. But when another death occurs, the Doctor suspects an even greater danger - a bloodthirsty life form composed of sound waves, which can replicate and transmit itself through any sound-conducting channel…such as, for example, a tribute broadcast which will be heard by millions.
The Doctor and Turlough arrive in London, 1702, amidst a rash of disappearances, murders, and robberies. Well-to-do men have been vanishing without a trace, and the only connection anyone can draw between the victims is that they were last seen playing cards with the sinister and enigmatic Sir Nicholas Valentine at the Diabola Club. Turlough himself witnesses one of the horrifying disappearances and finds himself separated from the Doctor, and joins the intrepid Jasper Jeake as he tries to uncover the whereabouts of his friends. The Doctor befriends self-proclaimed occultist Dr. Samuel Holywell, who claims to have made contact with the dead - but the Doctor believes the explanation is simultaneously simpler and more complex than that. And largely unnoticed by the time travelers is the sudden transformation of a well-known robber into a murderer. At least two of these players are not from Earth - and even if the Doctor can discover who they are, the game is almost up.