Capitol Steps
Encyclopedia
The Capitol Steps are an American
political satire
group. It has been performing since 1981, and has released approximately thirty albums consisting primarily of song parodies
. Originally consisting exclusively of Congressional
staffers performing around Washington, D.C.
, the troupe now primarily employs professional actors and singers. The Capitol Steps have performed on PBS, public radio and in various small- and medium-sized venues around the United States.
Congressional
staffers, Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport, and Jim Aidala used their spare time while working for the Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Government Processes for the Senate Committee of Governmental Affairs to sing song parodies
about current events. They were joined by other Republican Senate staffers Nancy Baskin, Barbie Granzow, and Dave Nichols. Together they decided to put on a Christmas
show as their first performance, while continuing to work full-time as Congressional staffers. They chose the name "The Capitol Steps" for their group based on a sex scandal
earlier that year, in which then-Congressman John Jenrette
had sex with his wife, Rita
, on the steps of the Capitol building.
The first show took place on December 11, 1981, at a Christmas party for the Foreign Relations Committee. They deemed the show a success, and performed several more times that month with the same songs. In 1982, the group expanded to include several more members, including House
staffers and Democrats
. Despite being predominantly Republican, they made a concerted effort to make their shows bipartisan, trying to incorporate a roughly even mix of Democratic and Republican songs. They achieved media interest at this time, but refused all interviews on the grounds that their jobs could be endangered by press coverage of their satirical antics. They were also concerned about how their behavior might reflect on the chair of Strauss and Newport's subcommittee, Senator Charles H. Percy
.
In February 1983, the Capitol Steps began to do monthly performances at the Shoreham Hotel, opening themselves to publicity for the first time. They received a favorable review in the Washington Post, and their performances became highly successful. In November 1984, they performed at Senator Percy's election night party. During the party, they learned that the senator had lost, meaning that Strauss and Newport would lose their jobs working for him. Shortly after, they decided to make the Capitol Steps a professional group. They soon recorded their first album: Capitol Steps Live! At The Shoreham
.
Three years later, in 1987, the group members finally decided to quit their full-time jobs. At this time, the group included David Gencarelli, Richard Paul, Anne Hill
, Ann Schmitt, Brian Ash
, and Mike Loomis, all of whom (except Gencarelli) are still with the group, along with Strauss and Newport, as of 2006. In September 1988, the group performed at the White House
, in front of an audience that included President Ronald Reagan
, his wife Nancy
, and hundreds of members of Congress. Reagan, through an aide, requested that the group only perform songs poking fun at him. The group obliged, and Reagan enjoyed the show immensely.
The Capitol Steps released a total of five albums during Reagan's years in office. In 1988, they sang a song entitled "76 Unknowns" about the vast and, in their opinion, lackluster variety of candidates for the presidential election. This was accompanied by an album entitled "76 Bad Loans".
With the election of George Herbert Walker Bush in 1988, the Capitol Steps expanded their repertoire of material to include new foreign policy, such as the United States invasion of Panama
, as well as local gaffes, such as Bush's declaration of September 7 as Pearl Harbor Day. The group also achieved notoriety for their portrayal of Vice President Dan Quayle
, particularly after his famous mistake of correcting a child's spelling of "potato" by encouraging him to add an e
.
The Capitol Steps released six albums during this presidency. They also performed for Bush Sr.'s White House several times. On three occasions, he accepted the group's invitations to sing songs about his minor gaffes along with them on stage.
, the Bill Clinton
administration provided several scandals that turned into a multitude of new songs and albums, as well as a wide variety of personalities that were easy to exaggerate: the easy-going Clinton, his aggressive wife Hillary, the boring Al Gore
, and several colorful others in the administration, including Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who suggested that masturbation
could be a useful part of a comprehensive sexual education curriculum.
In 1994, the group performed at the White House in front of both Clinton and Gore. However, after the Lewinsky scandal broke, they were not invited to perform at the White House again, as their humor (like that of most American comedians of the time) focused on allegations of Clinton's womanizing and then covering it up. They did, however, perform for Kenneth Starr
's law firm.
The presidential election of 2000 provided plenty of fodder for humor, including a frustrated song just before the election, "I Want a Brand New Pair of Candidates," and several songs about the recount fiasco.
possessing an inferior intellect, based primarily on his frequent grammatical errors in speeches, allowed the Capitol Steps to reuse much of their Dan Quayle material. Additionally, they enjoyed exaggerating his right-wing tendencies, and the perceived sinisterness of much of his administration, including Dick Cheney
and Donald Rumsfeld
.
However, after the events of September 11, 2001
, jokes aimed at the president, or at American politics, no longer seemed appropriate to the general public. They cancelled most of their performances for the next few weeks, but did perform an edited show at a nightclub on September 15. The show went well, and the group soon found new material that people in October 2001 would find funny, including poking fun at how much the public's opinion of President Bush had improved, and at personalities that were now becoming more relevant to the American public, including New York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
, British
Prime Minister Tony Blair
, and French
President Jacques Chirac
. Soon the extremely heightened security nationwide also became a popular subject for comedians, as well as the Steps, as media reports came in that people were being interrogated in airports for having the powder from a donut
on them. By the end of 2001, the Steps were once again singing songs about nearly everything, even poking fun at Arab
terrorists.
In 2002 and 2003, their material skewered SUVs and their drivers, Hans Blix
, the collapse of Enron
, the standoff with Saddam Hussein
, Condoleezza Rice
, Democratic candidates very early on in the process for the 2004 election, the capture of Saddam Hussein, same-sex weddings, the Kobe Bryant
trial
, and the California
gubernatorial recall election
, in which they quickly reused a regular parody of the Clinton years: The Wanderer redone as The Fondler but this time with Arnold Schwarzenegger
as the accused.
Since 2004, the Steps have remained topical with their parodies, releasing songs about such topics as the marriage of Prince Charles
and Camilla Parker Bowles
, U.S. immigration reform law proposals, scandals involving Tom DeLay, and others.
The bulk of the Capitol Steps' material is in the form of parodies of well-known songs from the past several decades, usually introduced with a short skit. These songs are interspersed with other routines, including a spoonerism
routine entitled "Lirty Dies" that the group generally includes near the end of each performance, running through recent scandal
s while making numerous innuendo
s.
The Steps do not have to get permission or pay royalties for the parodies of copyright
ed songs that they perform, due to the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1993 on the case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
, which established that political parody qualifies as fair use
, even if the parodies are profitable. Thus, the Capitol Steps are under no financial pressure to reduce the percentage of copyrighted song parodies in their acts. In fact, the Capitol Steps submitted an amicus curiae brief
for the case, as well as a cassette tape explaining the history of political parody in America. This was mentioned in the book Sixteen Scandals.
, the Steps consist of 26 cast members and five pianists. They perform public and private shows year round all over the country. They also appear at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in Washington, DC every weekend.
On December 18, 2007, one of the Capitol Steps co-founders, Bill Strauss, died at his home in McLean, Virginia of pancreatic cancer
.
The Capitol Steps also perform holiday specials on New Year's Eve
, April Fool's Day, Independence Day
and Halloween
to live audiences, which are broadcast live on National Public Radio stations.
Additionally, the Capitol Steps released Ronald the Red-Faced Reagan in 1987 as a holiday release, and From Yankee Doodle to Pander Bear, a history of American political satire, early in Bill Clinton's first term.
The Capitol Steps have recently won:
The Capitol Steps also republish reviews from US newspapers such as the Boston Globe, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
and the Washington Post on their website.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
group. It has been performing since 1981, and has released approximately thirty albums consisting primarily of song parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
. Originally consisting exclusively of Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
staffers performing around Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, the troupe now primarily employs professional actors and singers. The Capitol Steps have performed on PBS, public radio and in various small- and medium-sized venues around the United States.
The Reagan years
In 1981, three RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
staffers, Bill Strauss, Elaina Newport, and Jim Aidala used their spare time while working for the Senate Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Government Processes for the Senate Committee of Governmental Affairs to sing song parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
about current events. They were joined by other Republican Senate staffers Nancy Baskin, Barbie Granzow, and Dave Nichols. Together they decided to put on a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
show as their first performance, while continuing to work full-time as Congressional staffers. They chose the name "The Capitol Steps" for their group based on a sex scandal
Sex scandal
A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about possibly-immoral sexual activities being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, famous athletes or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the...
earlier that year, in which then-Congressman John Jenrette
John Jenrette
John Wilson Jenrette, Jr. is a former American politician from South Carolina. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from January 1975 until December 1980. He was convicted of accepting a bribe in the FBI's Abscam operation.-Biography:Jenrette was born in Horry County,...
had sex with his wife, Rita
Rita Jenrette
Rita Jenrette, born Rita Carpenter, November 25, 1949 in San Antonio, Texas is an American celebrity, actor, television journalist, and real estate executive. She is most famous for the interview she gave about her marriage to disgraced U.S...
, on the steps of the Capitol building.
The first show took place on December 11, 1981, at a Christmas party for the Foreign Relations Committee. They deemed the show a success, and performed several more times that month with the same songs. In 1982, the group expanded to include several more members, including House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
staffers and Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. Despite being predominantly Republican, they made a concerted effort to make their shows bipartisan, trying to incorporate a roughly even mix of Democratic and Republican songs. They achieved media interest at this time, but refused all interviews on the grounds that their jobs could be endangered by press coverage of their satirical antics. They were also concerned about how their behavior might reflect on the chair of Strauss and Newport's subcommittee, Senator Charles H. Percy
Charles H. Percy
Charles Harting "Chuck" Percy was president of the Bell & Howell Corporation from 1949 to 1964. He was elected United States Senator from Illinois in 1966, re-elected through his term ending in 1985; he concentrated on business and foreign relations...
.
In February 1983, the Capitol Steps began to do monthly performances at the Shoreham Hotel, opening themselves to publicity for the first time. They received a favorable review in the Washington Post, and their performances became highly successful. In November 1984, they performed at Senator Percy's election night party. During the party, they learned that the senator had lost, meaning that Strauss and Newport would lose their jobs working for him. Shortly after, they decided to make the Capitol Steps a professional group. They soon recorded their first album: Capitol Steps Live! At The Shoreham
Capitol Steps Live! At The Shoreham
-Track listing:#Hark When Gerald Ford Was King/Chad War#Rancho del Cielo/California#Tip O#To Borrow#E-R-E-R-A#My Department Dreary#Twelve Days of Business#A Loan Again#Spelling Relief#Immense Expense#My Wonderful Hammer#Grenada...
.
Three years later, in 1987, the group members finally decided to quit their full-time jobs. At this time, the group included David Gencarelli, Richard Paul, Anne Hill
Anne Hill
Anne Hill is the most prominent hill on Radian Ridge in the Royal Society Range of Victoria Land. It rises to at the east side of Lava Tongue Pass. It was named after Anne C...
, Ann Schmitt, Brian Ash
Brian Ash
Brian Ash is an American producer and screenwriter.Brian Ash is a writer and co-executive producer of Black Dynamite: The Animated Series, a writer and producer of the third season of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks and a writer and creative consultant and on Freaknik: The Musical on Adult Swim...
, and Mike Loomis, all of whom (except Gencarelli) are still with the group, along with Strauss and Newport, as of 2006. In September 1988, the group performed at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, in front of an audience that included President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, his wife Nancy
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, and hundreds of members of Congress. Reagan, through an aide, requested that the group only perform songs poking fun at him. The group obliged, and Reagan enjoyed the show immensely.
The Capitol Steps released a total of five albums during Reagan's years in office. In 1988, they sang a song entitled "76 Unknowns" about the vast and, in their opinion, lackluster variety of candidates for the presidential election. This was accompanied by an album entitled "76 Bad Loans".
The George H. W. Bush years
United States invasion of Panama
The United States Invasion of Panama, code-named Operation Just Cause, was the invasion of Panama by the United States in December 1989. It occurred during the administration of U.S. President George H. W...
, as well as local gaffes, such as Bush's declaration of September 7 as Pearl Harbor Day. The group also achieved notoriety for their portrayal of Vice President Dan Quayle
Dan Quayle
James Danforth "Dan" Quayle served as the 44th Vice President of the United States, serving with President George H. W. Bush . He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from the state of Indiana....
, particularly after his famous mistake of correcting a child's spelling of "potato" by encouraging him to add an e
E
E is the fifth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used letter in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish languages.-History:...
.
The Capitol Steps released six albums during this presidency. They also performed for Bush Sr.'s White House several times. On three occasions, he accepted the group's invitations to sing songs about his minor gaffes along with them on stage.
The Clinton years
Prior to the Lewinsky scandalLewinsky scandal
The Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
, the Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
administration provided several scandals that turned into a multitude of new songs and albums, as well as a wide variety of personalities that were easy to exaggerate: the easy-going Clinton, his aggressive wife Hillary, the boring Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, and several colorful others in the administration, including Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, who suggested that masturbation
Masturbation
Masturbation refers to sexual stimulation of a person's own genitals, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation can be performed manually, by use of objects or tools, or by some combination of these methods. Masturbation is a common form of autoeroticism...
could be a useful part of a comprehensive sexual education curriculum.
In 1994, the group performed at the White House in front of both Clinton and Gore. However, after the Lewinsky scandal broke, they were not invited to perform at the White House again, as their humor (like that of most American comedians of the time) focused on allegations of Clinton's womanizing and then covering it up. They did, however, perform for Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Starr
Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American lawyer and educational administrator who has also been a federal judge. He is best known for his investigation of figures during the Clinton administration....
's law firm.
The presidential election of 2000 provided plenty of fodder for humor, including a frustrated song just before the election, "I Want a Brand New Pair of Candidates," and several songs about the recount fiasco.
The George W. Bush years
The popular conception of George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
possessing an inferior intellect, based primarily on his frequent grammatical errors in speeches, allowed the Capitol Steps to reuse much of their Dan Quayle material. Additionally, they enjoyed exaggerating his right-wing tendencies, and the perceived sinisterness of much of his administration, including Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
and Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
.
However, after the events of September 11, 2001
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, jokes aimed at the president, or at American politics, no longer seemed appropriate to the general public. They cancelled most of their performances for the next few weeks, but did perform an edited show at a nightclub on September 15. The show went well, and the group soon found new material that people in October 2001 would find funny, including poking fun at how much the public's opinion of President Bush had improved, and at personalities that were now becoming more relevant to the American public, including New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, and French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
. Soon the extremely heightened security nationwide also became a popular subject for comedians, as well as the Steps, as media reports came in that people were being interrogated in airports for having the powder from a donut
DONUT
DONUT was an experiment at Fermilab dedicated to the search for tau neutrino interactions. Even though the detector operated only during a few months in the summer of 1997, it was largely successful. By detecting the tau neutrino, it confirmed the existence of the last lepton predicted by the...
on them. By the end of 2001, the Steps were once again singing songs about nearly everything, even poking fun at Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
terrorists.
In 2002 and 2003, their material skewered SUVs and their drivers, Hans Blix
Hans Blix
is a Swedish diplomat and politician for the Liberal People's Party. He was Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs . Blix was also the head of the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission from March 2000 to June 2003, when he was succeeded by Dimitris Perrikos...
, the collapse of Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
, the standoff with Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
, Democratic candidates very early on in the process for the 2004 election, the capture of Saddam Hussein, same-sex weddings, the Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
trial
Kobe Bryant sexual assault case
The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began in the summer of 2003 when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado had arrested NBA superstar Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee...
, and the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
gubernatorial recall election
California recall election, 2003
The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...
, in which they quickly reused a regular parody of the Clinton years: The Wanderer redone as The Fondler but this time with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
as the accused.
Since 2004, the Steps have remained topical with their parodies, releasing songs about such topics as the marriage of Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and Camilla Parker Bowles
Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall is the second wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and is the current holder of the titles of Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay and Countess of Chester...
, U.S. immigration reform law proposals, scandals involving Tom DeLay, and others.
Routines
Spoonerism
A spoonerism is an error in speech or deliberate play on words in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched . It is named after the Reverend William Archibald Spooner , Warden of New College, Oxford, who was notoriously prone to this tendency...
routine entitled "Lirty Dies" that the group generally includes near the end of each performance, running through recent scandal
Scandal
A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...
s while making numerous innuendo
Innuendo
An innuendo is a baseless invention of thoughts or ideas. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging , that works obliquely by allusion...
s.
The Steps do not have to get permission or pay royalties for the parodies of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed songs that they perform, due to the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1993 on the case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.
Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 was a United States Supreme Court copyright law case that established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use...
, which established that political parody qualifies as fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
, even if the parodies are profitable. Thus, the Capitol Steps are under no financial pressure to reduce the percentage of copyrighted song parodies in their acts. In fact, the Capitol Steps submitted an amicus curiae brief
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
for the case, as well as a cassette tape explaining the history of political parody in America. This was mentioned in the book Sixteen Scandals.
Current status
On December 18, 2007, one of the Capitol Steps co-founders, Bill Strauss, died at his home in McLean, Virginia of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
.
Recordings
Since their first album in 1984, the Steps have released a new recording of their songs/parodies/sketches at a rate of at least one per year, usually in the late spring, but have also been known to create and release a second recording as a "Holiday Release," and have done so in 1989, 1993 and 2006. (Georgie on my Mind is officially considered Songs of 1989 and 1990 and not a "Holiday Release"). There was also a "Special High School Release" in 2001, revised and re-released in 2005, made up of songs written originally for high school groups during these groups' tours of Washington DC. Their 20th Anniversary book (see below) also included a CD retrospective of their songs/parodies/sketches. As of their 2008 release (Campaign and Suffering), this makes 30 released albums (plus the book/CD combination and both versions of the "High School Release"). The latter is geared as an album for participants of the National Young Leaders Conference, held in Washington, D.C. and for which the Steps have been known to perform.The Capitol Steps also perform holiday specials on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
, April Fool's Day, Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
and Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
to live audiences, which are broadcast live on National Public Radio stations.
Discography
- Desperate House Members (Songs of 2011)
- Liberal Shop of Horrors (Songs of 2010)
- Barackin' Around the Christmas Tree (Songs of 2009 Holiday Release)
- Obama Mia! (Songs of 2009)
- Campaign and Suffering (Songs of 2008)
- Springtime for LiberalsSpringtime for LiberalsSpringtime for Liberals is the 2007 Capitol Steps album. It is the last with founding member Bill Strauss, who died shortly after its release.-Track listing:# Springtime for Liberals# Everything's Run By Pelosi# Polonium 209...
(Songs of 2007) - O Christmas BushO Christmas BushO Christmas Bush is a 2006 holiday-themed album by the Capitol Steps. It was released in November 2006, after the mid-term Congressional elections, thus several of the jokes on the album were already dated due to the impending control of Congress by the US Democratic Party. Unlike many of the...
(Songs of 2006 Holiday Release) - I'm So IndictedI'm So Indicted-Track listing:#Here's to You, Reverend Robertson#George Bush speaks#I'm So Indicted#What a Difference Delay Makes#Three Little Kurds from School#Government Lessons for Little Children: Chicken Little#Can't Get to a Church#GOP-BS#Sam Alito#In the Metro...
(Songs of 2006) - Four More Years in the Bush LeaguesFour More Years in the Bush Leagues-Track listing:#Embraceable Jew#Wouldn't It Be Hillary?#The Sunni Side of Tikrit#Someone Dumber Might#I Like Big Cuts and I Cannot Lie#There is Nothing Like Ukraine#Fakey Purple Hearts#I've Taken Stands on Both Sides Now#The Candidates' Debate#Der Nadermouth...
(Songs of 2005) - Papa's Got a Brand New BaghdadPapa's Got a Brand New Baghdad-Track listing:#Green Green Grass at Home#Help Rwanda#Ain't No Surplus, Now It's Gone#Democratic Hit Parade#I Wish I Was on Oxycontin#Hillary's Way#Cameroon#Papa's Got a Brand New Baghdad#Spider Hole#I Want a Guy Just Like the Guy Who Married Dear Old Dad...
(Songs of 2004) - Between Iraq and a Hard PlaceBetween Iraq and a Hard PlaceBetween Iraq and a Hard Place is a 2003 album by the Capitol Steps.-Track listing:#"God Bless My SUV"#"Hans Blix and the Inspectors"#"401K"#"Korea"#"Clinton Thinks the French Have a Lot of Gaul"#"Talk 'bout Saddam"...
(Songs of 2003) - When Bush Comes to ShoveWhen Bush Comes to Shove-Track listing:#Shoe-Bomb#Don't Go Faking You're Smart#Enron-Ron-Ron#Tom Ridge Bedtime Story #1#Taliban#Pack the Knife#Mr. Greenspan#Dr. Tommy Tuck#Everybody Must Get Cloned#Tony With the Light Brown Hair#Who'll Drop a Bomb During Ram-A-Dan-A-Dan?...
(Songs of 2002) - One Bush, Two Bush, Old Bush, New Bush (Songs of 2001)
- I Want It Dad's Way (Special High School Release) (Songs of 2001, revised and re-released in 2005)
- It's Not Over 'Til The First Lady Sings (Songs of 2000)
- First Lady And The Tramp (Songs of 1999)
- Unzippin' My Doo-dah (Songs of 1998)
- Sixteen Scandals (Songs of 1997)
- Return To Center (Songs of 1996)
- A Whole Newt World (Songs of 1995)
- Lord Of The Fries (Songs of 1994)
- All I Want For Christmas Is A Tax Increase (Songs of 1993 Holiday Release)
- The Joy Of Sax (Songs of 1993)
- Fools On The Hill (Songs of 1992)
- 76 Bad Loans (Songs of 1991)
- Sheik, Rattle and Roll (Songs of 1990)
- Georgie On My Mind (Songs of 1989 and 1990)
- Stand By Your Dan (Songs of 1989)
- Shamlet (Songs of 1988)
- Danny's First Noel (Songs of 1989 Holiday Release)
- Workin' 9 To 10Workin' 9 To 10-Track listing:#Workin' 9 to 10#Yokohama#Lovin' Hugh#The Supremes#Fatal Distractions#Hart Attack#Trading Game#Bomb Tehran Tehran#76 Unknowns#A Few Good Men#Mighty Casey#Connivin' Ivan#Escort Service#Car Wars#Biden Time#Heavenly Connections...
(Songs of 1987) - Thank God I'm A Contra Boy (Songs of 1986)
- We Arm The World (Songs of 1985)
- Capitol Steps Live! At The ShorehamCapitol Steps Live! At The Shoreham-Track listing:#Hark When Gerald Ford Was King/Chad War#Rancho del Cielo/California#Tip O#To Borrow#E-R-E-R-A#My Department Dreary#Twelve Days of Business#A Loan Again#Spelling Relief#Immense Expense#My Wonderful Hammer#Grenada...
(Songs of 1984)
Additionally, the Capitol Steps released Ronald the Red-Faced Reagan in 1987 as a holiday release, and From Yankee Doodle to Pander Bear, a history of American political satire, early in Bill Clinton's first term.
Reviews and awards
- 2009 WAMA2009 Washington Area Music AwardsThe 2009 Washington Area Music Awards was the 23rd annual Wammies ceremony. The awards won are as follows:Artist of the Year: ChopteethMusician of the Year: Jon CarrollWAMA/SAW Songwriter of the Year: Jon CarrollAlbum of the Year: Dose, Billy Coulter...
Cabaret/Musical Theater Artist Award - 2006 WUSA A-List for Best Comedy Club 2006.
- Washington Post Best Bets Readers' Choice Award for Best Live Theater 2005.
The Capitol Steps also republish reviews from US newspapers such as the Boston Globe, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and the Washington Post on their website.
External links
- Official Website
- [ Allmusic entry for the Capitol Steps]