The_Credibility_Gap
The Credibility Gap was a satirical comedy team comprising Harry Shearer, Richard Beebe, David L. Lander and Michael McKean. Lew Irwin, John Gilliland, Thom Beck, and Len Chandler also performed in their early days. They emerged in the late 1960s doing comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA 1110, and proceeded to develop more elaborate and ambitious satirical routines on the "underground" station KPPC-FM, Pasadena, California.
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History
Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap
KRLA 1110 news director Lew Irwin formed The Credibility Gap with his radio colleagues John Gilliland, Thom Beck, Richard Beebe, and folk singer Len Chandler. They took their name from the Vietnam-era term Credibility gap, a euphemism for political dishonesty, and broadcast their comedy along with the news on KRLA. [1] They also performed on KRLA's Pop Chronicles music documentary.[2][3]
The Credibility Gap
As radio professionals left the group, the group came to be dominated by comedians.[4] KRLA dropped the show in 1970.[5] Mark Deming writes of this transition:
[I]n late 1968, Thom Beck left the group, and Lew Irwin followed in early 1969 ... . Joining the Credibility Gap in their absence were Harry Shearer ... and David L. Lander... . By 1970, Len Chandler and John Gilliland had drifted away from the Credibility Gap, and ... Michael McKean, had joined the team, though the troupe's relationship with KRLA had soured and their show had been shrunk from 15 minutes to a mere 180 seconds. However, after Shearer landed a side gig as a disc jockey on an FM "free form" outlet, KPPC, the Credibility Gap found a new home on the station, and the group's satire gained both sharpness and depth.[1]
After The Credibility Gap
The group disbanded in 1976, but the members have had occasion to work together since -- notably the pairings of McKean and Lander as Lenny and Squiggy on the situation comedy Laverne & Shirley and Shearer and McKean as members of the mock-rock band Spinal Tap. The three surviving members (Shearer, McKean, and Lander) held a reunion at the Museum of Television and Radio in 1999.[6]
Discography
Lew Irwin and The Credibility Gap
- An Album Of Political Pornography (Blue Thumb, 1968)
The Credibility Gap
- Woodshtick and More (1971)
- A Great Gift Idea (Reprise, 1974)
- The Bronze Age of Radio (Waterhouse, 1977)
- Floats & A Great Gift Idea (Double LP) (Sierra, 1979)
References
- ^ a b Deming, Mark. "The Credibility Gap". Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- ^ Hopkins, Jerry (October 4, 1969), "'Pop Chronicles' Chronicle Pop", Rolling Stone (43): 34.
- ^ http://www.library.unt.edu/resolveuid/9a257a0034dece5971cffe527a8a057b
- ^ "An interview with Shearer, Lander and McKean". L.A. Weekly (November 12-18, 1999). Archived from the original on 2003.
- ^ Murphy, Mary B (Jun 17, 1970), "Credibility Gap Trio Dismissed by KRLA", L.A. Times: F18, http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/600846352.html?dids=600846352:600846352&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jun+17%2C+1970&author=MARY+B+MURPHY&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Credibility+Gap+Trio+Dismissed+by+KRLA&pqatl=google
- ^ LA Weekly - Film+TV - Sketch Artists - Robert Lloyd - The Essential Online Resource for Los Angeles
External links
- Credibility Gap History and Audio from the official Harry Shearer Website.
- Mark Deming, Allmusic on the Credibility Gap.
- Sketch Artists: The Credibility Gap's one-night stand By Robert Lloyd, Wednesday, November 10, 1999, L.A. Weekly
- IGN interview with Harry Shearer
- Biography and Discography
- Len Chandler Discography