About The Wisdom Channel

The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel contains twelve Tom Lehrer songs that used to be super rare. They are from a 1967 recording from the NRK in Norway that was forgotten for 40 years. In April 2010 the whole performance -- and more of Lehrer's recorded TV performances -- was released on DVD, and you should buy that DVD HERE.

The original performance is stored in timeless black and white and in full broadcast quality. Truth be told, it should have been fourteen songs, but "I Hold Your Hand In Mine" (1'25) and "Be Prepared" (the infamous boy scout song, 1'31) were deemed unsuitable for the Norwegian audience. The songs were removed from the original Ampex Quadruplex master video tape prior to the airing.

Copyright

All the content on the master video tape, on The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel, on the MySpace tribute pages and on The Wisdom Channel support page is owned and copyrighted © by Tom Lehrer, with all rights reserved.

Contributions

Lehrer did not contribute to The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel or this page. All the notes and texts on the channel were written by the publisher, who is himself not in direct contact with Lehrer. Nor is the publisher able to forward messages from the public.

TV-producers and broadcasters

Even though the performance is now available on DVD, Lehrer is the contractual copyright holder and owner of the content, currently stored on the DVD's and on a Sony Digital Betacam video tape. The Sony Digital Betacam master is stored in the archives of the NRK in Norway, but any broadcaster or TV-production company wanting to license out a portion of the performance must first seek permission from Lehrer himself.

They will be guided in the right direction by sending a message to the publisher of this channel via YouTube or to this email address:

astralia@live.no

Privacy

Lehrer left the entertainment industry many years ago. He is now more than 80 years old and is quoted as saying that he has bypassed maturity.

He is a kind and polite man who wants to receive as little attention as possible. In fact, he has admitted to encourage rumours of his demise in an attempt to reduce the amount of mail. Use the text menu to the links below and read the interviews and the transcripts of the online chats with Tom Lehrer.

But when fans will write to the channel and ask if Lehrer is still alive, the answer is "yes". Lehrer is very much alive, and he appreciates people who will watch the YouTube performance and then buy his new DVD or his records. Use the link to the music page below.