Talk:The Firesign Theatre
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[edit] Quick Comments
Brian: I've removed the RFO link as it now points to a sales page belonging to YesDirect Inc, looks to me like Peter has let the site go. --BloodyL 05:19, 6 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] More audio recordings than any other comedy act?
I'd like to know the source of the information for this quote in paragraph 3 "they have sold more audio recordings in total than any other comedy act." Is this verifiable? I would have thought it would be Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, or George Carlin -- you know, somebody whose records are actually in print more often than they're out of print and who actually have Gold Record Awards.
well they have sold like 30 albeums and they still makeing em' there last one was released like 3 weeks ago. :)
What was the album released 3 weeks ago? This is the first I've heard about any new album.
And as far as the quote from the article goes and the last response to it, just because they have 30 albums doesn't mean they've sold "more audio recordings in total than any other comedy act." It just means they have more titles. My question is whether or not that statement I quoted above from the article is verifiable or not. It doesn't seem to be.
Comedy albums generally do not sell well and most record companies don't like to talk about how well albums sell unless they're doing really well. About the only really reliable way of verifying album sales for someone other than a record company employee comes from looking at the RIAA Gold and Platinum awards records (and as much as I hate the RIAA it's hard to admit that). The RIAA doesn't award the "Gold" or "Platinum" status unless the record company that wants the award submits accounting and sales records to verify that the album really has sold enough to meet the RIAA's criteria. The Firesign Theatre has never had an album go gold or platinum. Bill cosby has had 6 records go platinum and 3 gold. That's at least 7.5 million records sold. Richard Pryor has 2 platinum and 4 gold. That's at least 4 million records sold. And all of those figures are verifiable. If The Firesign Theatre had ever sold half that many records then Columbia would have re-signed them and they wouldn't have started making records for Butterfly, Rhino, Lodestone, Whirlwind, or Artemis. And their Columbia albums would be available on CD from Columbia instead of Laugh.com.
Don't get me wrong here, I love The Firesign Theatre. I just really doubt that "they have sold more audio recordings in total than any other comedy act." It seems incredibly unlikely to me when you compare their popularity to Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy (one of the only comedians to have a record go multi-platinum), or Jeff Foxworthy. In order to beat Bill Cosby's number of 7,500,000 records sold - even with 30 titles under their belts - The Firesign Theatre would have had to have averaged 250,000 sales per album. I really doubt that this has happened. Especially considering titles such as JUST FOLKS and LAWYER'S HOSPITAL. /Will1410 22:52, 19 March 2006 (UTC)
As the person who put that sentence in, I'm now taking it out. It may have been true at one point, but even if it was, Jeff Foxworthy probably has taken over. Richard K. Carson 05:14, 26 April 2006 (UTC)
- Hang on one moment. The Goon Show, the best example of radio comedy ever produced must have surely outsold all other audio comedy of the same format. P.s. why doesn't this article mention that many of the techniques and comedy ideas used in The Goon Show were copied by The Firesign Theatre? The_Goon_Show#The_Sincerest_Form_of_Flattery --AlbertW 17:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Source of the Name
Is the source of the name based solely on astrology ("fire sign") and a take off on the name of the old radio serial?
I always thought that the name was based (at least partially) on badly designed movie theaters that have very bright fire-exit signs located too close to the movie screen, thus distracting the audience.
69.39.172.84 01:25, 29 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Retail/online availability mentions
The article makes the mention "...and most of their current and back catalog is available from Laugh.com." There are other outlets as well, and other current publishers of their work. I propose available sources, or popular sources be split to its own secion, and this reference removed. I leave it the judgement of others, as I have a professional conflict of interest in this arena.--Bubbas Brain 15:18, 20 July 2006 (UTC)
