Allan Sherman

Allan Sherman may well be the least musical person ever to headline at Carnegie Hall, but his unusual, sometimes over-the-top, often unconventional and discomforting style a la Ernie Kovacs, earned him an unlikely following. Drawing liberally from his Jewish upbringing, the former TV gag writer rewrote standards and classical arias with a sly contemporary wit, and sold millions of records in the early 1960s, including the enduring classic "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh."