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PLEADING
THE FIRST: SONGS MY MOTHER HATES
Eric "Red" Schwartz
We've never covered a satirist before, especially a risque one, but Eric Schwartz is just too good to ignore, we are moved to pass his "message" along.
He is a very brainy, ballsy character, and funny as hell. I first ran across him at a folk festival, he was onstage doing a song called "Mattie and Hattie," about two 80 year old lesbian puffers who hung out with Gertrude Stein. When I talked to some friends about it, they all said the same thing: "Have you heard 'Who da bitch now?' " It was the song that made him famous in folk world, and I found out why by the time I got the CD home. It is one of the most ingenious three minute songs I've ever heard, about police brutality and hate crimes. It's one of the clips on our Listen page, we hope you'll check it out, and buy his CD.
Our disclaimer is that this is not for the faint-hearted. It's a live solo show in front of a college crowd (by the sounds of it), and it gets pretty loose in the "no redeeming value section" of the CD, songs 15-17 (beginning with "I Swear, She Said She Was 18."). But it's all funny.
This release celebrates his alter ego, "Red" (which was featured on the Dr.Demento and other NPR shows), because Schwartz does plenty of PC music as well. The Tufts grad composed a score for an adaptation of Beowulf in NYC, and worked with Broadway stars Andre DeShields and Billy Porter. He's worked as a touring bilingual actor, and speaks Spanish and French.
The second selection on the CD is a minute long list of people that might be offended by the material. I wasn't, and play "Who da Bitch Now?" for most everybody that comes to my house. At the artist's website you will also find an earlier release, That's How It's Gonna Be, and much more info on this charismatic anomaly. Check him out. • FG
view cover listen to clips links
