Tom Lehrer

'60s Satirist Still Strikes A Chord

In 1959 The New York Times wrote Tom Lehrer's music "is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste."

It was, however, a brilliantly inspired exercise in making hamburger out of sacred cows, by a college professor (whose name means teacher in German) and "shy but shining pop-culture figure."

Audio: Reviewer David Bianculli as introduced by Dave Davies on NPR's Fresh Air. Photo: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Hear three Tom Lehrer classics in full at NPR.