Modern Man

Filling the void between The Three Tenors and The Three Stooges...

Modern Man was a New Jersey-based folk-comedy trio composed of David Buskin, George Wurzbach and Rob Carlson, active 1998-2010 and again 2014-2015. When the group first formed in 1998, it also included screenwriter Andy Breckman, creator of Monk, who has since gone his own way.

Described as "terrific instrumentalists with gorgeous voices and hilarious wits" and "a cross between Crosby, Stills and Nash and the Marx Brothers", they eagerly launched themselves at topics no one would normally associate with folk music, such as the Three Stooges, the Taiwanese attitude toward dog meat and BDSM. Not all of their work was comedy, though -- in between the laughter could be found moments of surprising beauty like the song "A Much Better View of the Moon".

Learn more about them (and hear samples of their music) at their website.

Not to be confused with the Indie Rock act of the same name based out of Washington, DC. Or the website about men's style and fashion.

Discography:

• The Wide Album (1999), recorded live at New York's "Bottom Line"
• Modern Immaturity (2004)
• Assisted Living (2007)

Videography

• The Last Wurz (2015)

Modern Man provides examples of the following tropes:

• BDSM: "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A." -- theoretically.
• But You Screw One Goat!: "Back Into Cattle Again".
• Celebrity Resemblance: In "Moe": When he was a boy the singer's father looked just like Moe Howard of The Three Stooges, causing his son much grief at school. Sympathetic to his son's distress, dad agrees to change his hairstyle -- after which he looks like Shemp.
• Dominatrix: A rather less than adept one is the subject of "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A.".
• Expository Theme Tune: Parodied with "Theme From Abdul (The Reluctant Martyr)" which is pretty much what it sounds like -- the theme song for a non-existent Sit Com about an unwilling Islamic extremist.
• Foreign Queasine: Deliberately averted in "Dog in Taiwan", which is all about Taiwan outlawing serving dog meat.
• Fun With Acronyms: From "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A.":

I want S&M, she gives me TLC...

• Have a Gay Old Time: Lampshaded in "Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud", when one line mentions "feeling gay (the old way)".
• Important Haircut: In "Moe".
• List Song: "Side Effects".
• Metaphorgotten: Deliberately implemented in "Like A River".
• Obligatory Bondage Song: "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A." -- allegedly.
• Parody Commercial: A deliberately over-the-top ad for a prescription medication to treat belly button lint provides a lead-in to the song "Side Effects".
• Pastiche/In the Style Of:
  • "Inappropriate Singing Styles/Life Sucks" is all about this, and ends with a dead-on impersonation of Neil Young's voice and lyrical style.
  • "Channel Surfin'" uses the classic style of the Beach Boys to lament getting old.
  • "Very Little Like A Train" for Bob Dylan.
  • "Side Effects" has a "post-electric Dylan" sound to it.
  • "Like A River" echoes some of the less impressive moments of the Chad Mitchell Trio.
  • "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A." expertly evokes Leon Redbone.
• Retraux: "Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud" is very deliberately engineered with a "1920s lacquer record" sound.
• Ripped from the Headlines: "Dog in Taiwan", "Eggs Like These" and "We're Martians" are all based on actual news stories.
• Shout-Out: Under the sound effects and lyrics during the outro of "Back Into Cattle Again" you can just barely hear "Number nine, number nine, number nine..."
• Side Effects Include: "Side Effects"
• Song Parody:
  • "Eggs Like These" uses a parody of Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" to lambast a brief-lived New Jersey law outlawing the sale of runny eggs by restaurants.
  • "Back into Cattle Again" is a parody of "Back in the Saddle Again".
• The Three Stooges: "Moe".
• Toilet Humour: The inclusion of diarrhea at the end of every verse of "Side Effects".
• Transplanted Humans: The tongue-in-cheek conclusion of "We're Martians", based on an actual news story about the possibility that Earth was seeded with microbial life originally from Mars.
• "We Are" Song: "We're Martians".
• Word Salad Lyrics:
  • "Like A River", to parody meandering folksong metaphors
  • "Very Little Like A Train", to sound like Bob Dylan at his least comprehensible. Lampshaded in the song by the repeated line

Well, I don't know what I mean, babe,
But I mean it a lot.

• A Worldwide Punomenon: A frequent feature of their humorous songs:
  • The title of "Back Into Cattle Again".
  • From "Channel Surfin'":

Got a '93 Ford, that's what I drive
I haven't had a woodie since '75...

• Worst Whatever Ever: "The Worst Dominatrix in L.A."