Waiting For the Electrician Trivia Quiz

Answer: '...or Someone Like Him'

It's sort of a take off on the play 'Waiting for Godot', which, in and of itself, was written after playwright Samuel Beckett saw a painting by Casper David Friedrich. There actually is an 'electrician' that appeared in future albums, notably 'Hemlock Stones and the Giant Rat of Sumatra'. That electrician was revealed to be a character named Frank Acne, Jr., ward and heir to the estate of Jonas Acme (yes, I know the names are spelled differently...that's another FT trademark).

Answer: The 'True White Brother'

The two believe in a message from the Great Spirit, who says the True White Brother will come from the East so they call all live together in harmony. Obviously, they are constantly being disappointed by the arrival first of the Spanish, who sing 'God Bless Vespucci-Land', then the English settlers who, at least, respect them for their ability to 'instantly adapt and survive in whatever God-forsaken place we move you to'...even to an atomic testing range. The title of the skit comes from natives Americans living in Humbolt County, California, who believe no one owns the land and the name given by the government is temporary.

Answer: Corn

The Spanish finally have something to make tortillas and tacos with, while the white settlers can now make whiskey (one settler invented the 'Tom Collins'). Additionally, the Spanish asked about the famed 'Seven Cities of Gold' (Phoenix, Tuscon, Las Vegas...), but were saddened that they did not exist as yet.

Answer: A hippy commune

'W.C. Fields Foerver' (a takeoff of the Beatles' 'Strawberry Fields Forever') looks into the daily routines around a hippie-heavy drug-infested commune called the 'Lazy O' Magic Circle Dudes Ranch and Collective Love Farm', which deals equally with yoga ('Everybody into the full-lotus position'), natural food ('Aw, grubs again, grumble grumble') and hallucinogens ('What's up?...'We ain't. Got some more loco weed?').

Incidentally, a 'hooverville' was a shanty town of refugees from the Great Depression, named for U.S. President Herbert Hoover.

Answer: Oleomargarine

'Tiny Dr. Tim' is a send-up of LSD guru Dr. Timothy Leary, who espoused the wonders of the hallicinogenic drug in San Francisco in the 1960s, with his motto of 'Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out.' He (Dr. Tim, that is) is charged with leading the 'daily miracle' of watching the sunrise. On this particular morning, it came up paisley.

Answer: Hippies

In this FT futuristic scenario, 'hello' has been replaced with 'groovy' and cops check people for things like what kind of drugs they are carrying ('Dig Larry...aspirin') and are also checked for body paint ('Hmmm...faded San Francisco art nuveau...must be an oldie').

The community of Oldies But Goldies City is run by Dr. Fenway (a take-off of Dr. Benway of 'Naked Lunch' fame) who must deal with the fact that his son, Malcolm X John Lennon, has been seen doing homework instead of relating with the rest of the kids and teachers.

Answer: Secretary of Agriculture

We get our first glimpse into the workings of the new U.S. government at a congressional hearing where the head of the Free Food and Drug Administration was accused of doting out unauthorized bread and water to a 'chick who lost her free food card'. This is followed by a jam session where the Secretary of Peace (who sounds very Kennedyesque) plays lead guitar, the Secretary of Inner Self is on drums and the Secretary of States of Consciousness plays saxophone.

Answer: Northern Nigeria

The rebel leaders gathered in northern Nigeria are eventually defeated after a bombing raid, led by Major Hitt, drops about eight million hardbound copies of William Burroughs 'Naked Lunch'. The raid comes while Hitt is relaying his 'daily up-front report' to the President.

The raid is also being monitored by the Young Peoples Soviet Socialist Republic ('they too want peace [piece] of Nigeria') and the Hippy Republic of China, who became unanimous after throwing the 'I Ching' out the window.

Answer: Yapıt

I suppose this is an in-joke for those of us who are familiar with Turkish coffee, a 'turkish delight' and a Turkish bath. 'Yapıt' is the actual Turkish word for 'music, or film, production'. Two other 'Turkish' words learned in the lesson are 'towel' and 'border', the last word leading into the beginning and end of the sketch (the end, incidentally, also welcomes the hero to Side 6).

Answer: Mumps

The main character in 'Electrician' (production notes had him listed as 'P', an homage to Franz Kafka's 'K') surviving the above listed diseases, in addition to the common cold, measles and jaundice. The plague was listed as Symptom number seven, longer than any patient had ever survived before.

The show takes place in an isolation ward, administered by the president of the Armenian Medical Association. For the record, 'the yaws' is a bacterial infection, related to syphilis and Lyme Disease, that is found mostly in tropic regions.