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Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist...

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs he recorded in the 1950s and 60s. His work often parodied popular song forms, such as in "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance. Lehrer's earlier work normally dealt with non-topical subject matter and was noted for its black humor, seen in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park." In the 1960s, he produced a number of songs dealing with social and political issues of the day, particularly when he wrote for the U.S. version of the TV show That Was The Week That Was. Born in 1928 to a Jewish-American family, Tom Lehrer began studying classical piano music at the age of 7. However, he was more interested in the popular music of the age. Eventually, his mother found him a popular-music piano teacher. At this early age, he began writing his own show tunes that would eventually help him in his future adventures as a satirical composer/writer in his