who said we don't write songs we write records
Tom Lehrer
The record deal with Reprise Records for the That Was The Year That Was album also gave Reprise distribution rights for his earlier recordings , as Lehrer wanted to wind up his own record imprint . The Reprise issue of Songs by Tom Lehrer was a stereo re-recording . This version was not issued on CD , but the songs were issued on the live Tom Lehrer Revisited CD . The ( live ) recording included bonus tracks `` L-Y '' and `` Silent E '' , two of the ten songs that Lehrer wrote for the PBS children 's educational series The Electric Company . Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996 . That same year , the album That Was The Year That Was went gold . The album liner notes ( and Lehrer himself in one routine ) promote his songs with self - deprecating humor . ( `` I know it 's very bad form to quote one 's own reviews , but there is something the New York Times said about me ( in 1958 ) , that I have always treasured : ' Mr. Lehrer 's muse ( is ) not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste . '' )
The record deal with Reprise Records for the That Was The Year That Was album also gave Reprise distribution rights for his earlier recordings , as Lehrer wanted to wind up his own record imprint . The Reprise issue of Songs by Tom Lehrer was a stereo re-recording . This version was not issued on CD , but the songs were issued on the live Tom Lehrer Revisited CD . The ( live ) recording included bonus tracks `` L-Y '' and `` Silent E '' , two of the ten songs that Lehrer wrote for the PBS children 's educational series The Electric Company . Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996 . That same year , the album That Was The Year That Was went gold . The album liner notes ( and Lehrer himself in one routine ) promote his songs with self - deprecating humor . ( `` I know it 's very bad form to quote one 's own reviews , but there is something the New York Times said about me ( in 1958 ) , that I have always treasured : ' Mr. Lehrer 's muse ( is ) not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste . '' )