Don't Ask (filk tape)

Filk Album
Album Title:	Don't Ask
Producer:	Off-Centaur Productions
Type:
Date:	1987
Medium:	cassette tape
Fandom:
Performer(s):	Frank Hayes
Other:
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Don't Ask is a collection of filks by Frank Hayes.

Reactions and Reviews

"For years, we fans of Frank Hayes's odd sense of humor have been wondering when he'd have a tape out of his own. Finally, we have our answer, "Don't Ask." On the whole, Don't Ask is a marvelous little tape. Frank does not have a polished singing voice, but he has a voice with character, which is what's really needed to do the kind of songs he writes. The recording quality is excellent, and, for the most part, so are the instrumental, but the arrangements, and backup vocals range from superb to only okay. One high point of the tape is a "Beach Boy's" pastiche about everyone's favorite summer sport, "Vegitate." The arrangement here is truly wonderful, and the whole thing would be perfect, but for the backup chorus who always manage to come in just a bit late. "Cosmos" seems to have the same problem, as "Never Set the Cat on Fire" does with its xylophone accompaniment, marring otherwise terrific performances. Meanwhile, "The Huckster's Song" suffered from being too well accompanied. Filked to Paul Stookey's "The Wedding Song" the incredibly beautiful flute accompaniment was few classic Hayes songs ("God Lives in Cleveland" comes to mind) not included on this tape. At the same time, there were many non-humorous songs on this tape that were disappointing. "Post Mortem", "Tinker's Daughter" and "Lola the Engineer" are good songs, but require a better singer than Frank to pull them off. But, there are many other songs he does pull off well, such as the title song, "Don't Ask', "S-100" with an accordion accompaniment reminiscent of Weird Al. "Cockroaches on Parade" also deserving of Dr, Demento air time, and "3 am" filked to Leslie Fish's "A Toast for Unsung Heroes." To mention only a few. On the whole, "Don't Ask" is a very enjoyable tape. It's just sad that with a little better song selection and performance coordination it could it have even better."