Happy 80th B-day, Frank Jacobs! ("Sing Along With MAD," 1970)
leno...@yahoo.com
http://www.themadstore.com/franklymad.htm
(long 2006 interview, with portraits of Jacobs)
Excerpt:
SG: Had there never been a MAD Magazine or any humor magazines for
that matter, what career path might you have chosen instead?
FJ: Good question. Before I started contributing to MAD, I was in a
public relations company that bored the hell out of me because there
wasn’t enough to do. I just sat around most of the time. About that
time I’d collaborated on a musical revue for a summer stock company,
and I might have tried to be a Broadway lyricist. But a week after the
PR firm folded, I picked up a copy of MAD, said, “I can do this
stuff,” and discovered that I could. But when you ask me this
question, it’s quite difficult. I don’t know what I would have done if
there hadn’t been a MAD. I have no idea.
http://www.madmumblings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2831
("Ask Frank Jacobs")
http://snichael.com/2009/02/05/longtime-mad-writer-frank-jacobs-belts-it-out-on-pbs/
(blog about Jacobs' appearance in the PBS documentary: “Make’em
Laugh,” with photo)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Jacobs
Excerpt:
"Frank Jacobs is an American satire writer, known primarily for his
work in Mad, to which he has contributed since 1957. Jacobs has
written articles of all kinds, but is best known as a versifier who
contributes parodies of famous song lyrics and poems. Jacobs appeared
in the sixth chapter of PBS' comedy documentary, Make 'Em Laugh: The
Funny Business of America singing 'Blue Cross,' his own 1961 parody of
Irving Berlin's 'Blue Skies.' "
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=frank+jacobs&pics=on&tn=mad&x=0&y=0
(covers - one book is clearly written by Al Jaffee, NOT by Jacobs)
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
(With Sy Reit) Canvas Confidential, Dial, 1963.
(With Alfred Gescheidt) 30 Ways to Stop Smoking, Pocket Books, 1964.
The Highly Unlikely Celebrity Cookbook, New American Library, 1964.
Alvin Steadfast on Vernacular Island, Dial, 1965.
Mad for Better or Verse, New American Library, 1968, new edition (with
Paul Coker), Warner Books, 1975.
Sing Along with Mad, New American Library, 1970.
(With Jack Rickard) Mad about Sports, Warner Books, 1972.
The Mad World of William M. Gaines, Lyle Stuart, 1972.
Mad's Talking Stamps, Warner Books, 1974.
(With Bob Clarke) Mad Jumble Book, Warner Books, 1975.
(With Clarke) More Mad about Sports, Warner Books, 1977.
Mad around the World, Warner Books, 1979.
Mad Goes Wild, Warner Books, 1981.
Mad Zaps the Human Race and Other Horrors through the Twisted Mind of
Frank Jacobs, E.C. Publications, 1984.
Pitiless Parodies and Other Outrageous Verse, Dover, 1994.
(Verses) Fun with Hand Shadows, Dover, 1996.
(Running Commentary) Mad: Cover to Cover: 48 Years, 6 Months & 3 Days
of Mad Magazine Covers, Watson-Guptill, 2000.
"Also contributor of verse to an Almanac of Words at Play. Contributor
of articles to Mad, Oui, Playboy, Punch, Town and Country, New York,
and Signature."
Lenona.