Existential Blues

[Eric Walker]

Based on the conference title, I assume this is the right
place...

The older fans of the Dr. Demento show are most likely to be
familar with Tom T-Bone Stankus' "Existential Blues." That's the song
with Tom walking down the road trying to find the truth of life and
getting trapped in a field of Poppies! Poppies! Poppies! Poppies...

Those of you who know the older version of the song will remember
that the chorus went like this:

"I was on a quest - 'to DREAM the imPOSSIBLE DREAM!' - Walkin'
down the road one day, doo-da, doo-da..."

The newer version of the song, including the one available on the
collection "Dr. Demento's Greatest Hits of All Time" collection, has
the 'to DREAM the imPOSSIBLE DREAM!' bit taken out. This was probably
done because the line was a copyrighted line from "Man of La Mancha."

So, my question is: does anyone here have an old radio recording
of the song WITH that line before it was cut out?

If you do, please Email me at eric....@channel1.com.

Thank you very much.
---
ž OLX 2.1 TD ž Every little thing she does is magic!

[Brian Leibowitz]

In article <40.2485.15...@channel1.com> eric....@channel1.com (Eric Walker) writes:
...> The older fans of the Dr. Demento show are most likely to be

>familar with Tom T-Bone Stankus' "Existential Blues." That's the song

...

>
> The newer version of the song, including the one available on the
>collection "Dr. Demento's Greatest Hits of All Time" collection, has
>the 'to DREAM the imPOSSIBLE DREAM!' bit taken out. This was probably
>done because the line was a copyrighted line from "Man of La Mancha."
>

Yes it was a copyright problem. I'm not sure if it was illegal to use
it when it was a very short excerpt, but I doubt Tom Stankus could afford
the $100000 or so it would take to defend a lawsuit. it is legal to use
a short piece of a recording without permission (this was ruled on by the
courts when the first Buckanan and Goodman _cut in_ record was released
in the 50s. That ruling is what allows sampling to be used today.)
If a singer used the tune/lyrics, it is probably not covered under the
short excerpt ruling. If you do a cover version of a song, you do NOT
need permission (unless you change the lyrics) as long as you notify the
copyright holder and pay the mechanical royalties. By singing a line in
another song, you are changing the use of the lyrics even thought the
line is not changed. Does anyone know of a ruling on this.

The original version was on the 45 put out by Tom Stankus and sold by him;
it was never available in stores.

BML