I have a deep respect for National Lampoon. I grew up on the National Lampoon Radio hour, a mid seventies show that had some great comedic talent. John Belushi, Christopher Guest, Chevy Chase, Brian Doyle-Murray and a host of others, were featured. I also read and have every single National Lampoon Magazine from that time period, and then some. Names like Matty Simmons, Dog Kenney and Henry Beard were like gods to me, still are. This is the entity that comprised most of the Original Not Ready for Prime time Players from the first Saturday Night Live days. THIS, my dear friends, is why SNL is as popular as it is. Think about that for a moment. SNL is what it IS because the core group that made it a household name came from the radio show. In 1972 National Lampoon released an album called Radio Dinner (I have several copies) that had a really cool ditty on it performed by Norman Rose and Melissa Manchester. It was a parody of a poem written in 1927 by the late Max Ehrmann, called Desiderata. The piece is called Deteriorata. I play it on the show as much as I can, It is iconic, superb and deserving of repeat listening. There is no live version of it, that I know of, but this is an entertaining rendition that is worthy of attention.
Deteriorata…you gotta love it!