Everything's Coming Up Profits: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals

by Steve Young, Sport Murphy

From the 1950s to the 1980s, American corporations commissioned a vast array of lavish, Broadway-style musical shows that were only for the eyes and ears of employees. These improbable productions were meant to educate and motivate the sales force to sell cars, appliances, tractors, soda, and a thousand other products. Though most of these shows were lost to the universe, some were recorded and distributed to convention attendees via souvenir vinyl records. The little-known world of industrial shows is reconstructed through the record collection of author Steve Young, who has spent twenty years finding the extremely rare souvenir albums as well as tracking down and interviewing the writers and performers. Through the records themselves as well as behind-the-scenes stories, a new perspective on American history, culture, and business emerges. Eye-popping visuals, samples of confounding and hilarious lyrics, and witty commentary by Young and co-author Sport Murphy (who also contributes original artwork) bring the topic to vivid, astonishing life. A companion website will offer streaming audio of the songs which seem too crazy to be real—but not only are they real, they're often a revelation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, History, American History, Theatre

252 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 2013

Reviews

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part of this title is ripped right from the title of one of these industrial musicals. This is a genre that I am not sure that I have ever heard of before, and it is chock-full of all levels of this stuff from horrible to brilliant. Some of the songwriters became huge names--some already were. This goes for the professionals who made up the casts. Former big Broadway star Florence Henderson (from Oklahoma, for example) was called for her first one while caring for her first child Many of us first became acquainted with her as the mother on The Brady Bunch, and others who went on to star in shows such as Cheers, etc.

Here is a link to a few of the songs
https://www.industrialmusicals.com/so..., and there is one featuring Florence Henderson on vocals, but the real winner, in some ways on this page, is from an American Standard musical and is called "My Bathroom."

Some of the songs had rather racy words for the time--one cover was even soft porn. At least one actor my brother has worked with (my brother is not a household name, but has at least 50 imdb credits with some large roles, so not a flash in the pan, either) is mentioned here.

The book as text, pictures, side bars and two authors who each do different things in the book. They met when the second author in the list kept getting outbid on certain of these records in ebay. The other had a much larger budget since he worked for Dave Letterman.

Who knew?

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I’d heard—somewhere in the back of my mind—that in the mid twentieth century, various companies had actual musical plays written to be performed at their corporate meetings. What I didn’t know, until I saw a documentary about these shows, was that the shows were often written by stalwarts of the American musical theater (such as Bock and Harnick, who wrote Fiddler on the Roof) and were performed by professionals who went on to become stars (such as Florence Henderson of Brady Bunch fame.) And what blew my mind was that many of these shows were recorded and the records given as gifts to the employees who were gathered to watch them. This fascinating segment of American theater was revealed in the documentary I watched and further detailed in Steve Young’s and Sport Murphy’s book Everything’s Coming Up Profits: The Goden Age of Industrial Musicals. What a find for anyone who is a musical theater buff! Oh, how I wish I could have seen some of these shows. Filled with history and anecdotes and pictures and interviews, this book enlightens us about a sub-genre that many never knew existed. The book is big and bright and funny—and heavy. It is a relatively quick read, chock full of photos as it is, but it does take a bit of arm strength to hold it up. Best to prop it up on a table—or, as I did, a big belly.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book, a lavish, coffee table-sized monument to that most ephemeral of items, the industrial music show album. Steve Young and Sport Murphy have spent untold years combing record sales for every example of industrial musicals, shows specifically written to get salespeople fired up over a product (or, less frequently, getting potential buyers interested in a product). The movement, which existed pretty much from the mid-'50s to the mid-'80s, produced such gems as The Bathrooms Are Coming (American Standard, 1969), The Saga Of A Dingbat (New York Herald Tribune, 1965), and '79 Fever (Westinghouse ASK, 1979). Strangely enough, many of the shows sport jaunty melodies and go-get-'em lyrics that compare favorably with any Broadway production of the time. While the authors spend a good portion of the book merely quoting the godawful lyrics to these tunes, it's a true labor of love and their admiration for these goofy, forgotten opuses to shiny cars and higher sales figures comes through on every page. The writing throughout is quite funny. One thing that's sorely missing is the music, although that too can be enjoyed - the authors compiled three albums of "greatest hits" from these albums which can be heard on streaming services and at their website, IndustrialMusicals.com.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good buddy John Urban got this for me and it's seven kinds of awesome, the story of Broadway actors and authors who picked up extra cash by staging lavish musicals extolling the virtues of Ford tractors and Maytag washer/dryers. The best part is the sister web site -- industrialmusicals.com -- that allows you to listen to ditties like "He's a (JC) Penney Man." Solid gold. Only wish I could have been there in 1959 to see Florence Henderson sing about Oldsmobiles.

[Michael Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing take on what could have been an interesting topic: the staged musicals and revues that corporations sponsored for conventions and sales meetings. The authors are collectors of the albums that were produced for many of these shows, and this book, rather than digging into the history, the people, the ins and outs of producing and acting in such shows, consists of simply overly detailed summaries of the songs on the albums. The physical layout is very nice and it's fun to see pictures of some future stars (Chita Rivera, Hal Linden, David Hartman) as they appeared in these shows. But the text is tedious. This topic is still ripe for a good examination.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massively entertaining, informative and well-designed. A must for anyone with an interest in musicals, especially the weird corners of the genre.

[lara phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing. a comprehensive look at a bizarre and little-known genre of corporate musical theatre.

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard Steve Young talk about this book on a podcast and I was intrigued by the notion of these underground records of musicals that were written and staged solely for the amusement of company employees at their company retreats. It hearkens back to the days when USA was #1 and overflowing with profits and spending $1 million in 1950's money for the amusement of the employees for one weekend seemed like a good way to get rid of some of these profits to boost company morale? I'm just guessing at the motivation.

This is a wonderful book. Well researched. Well put together with graphics. Some great humour and insight. A perfect snapshot of industrial America of the 1950-70's. If this subject matter interests you or (better yet) if you are the one in a million person who ALSO collects these industrial musical records this is a must have. Obviously this is a labour of love put together by Steve Young and friends.

Why the low rating then? The first problem is reading about musicals is like talking about dancing. Hard to capture the magic of the subject matter using a secondary medium. They do include a website to go to to listen to some of the songs they talk about BUT I can't do that easily while reading the book. The second problem (for me) was that the novelty of the subject matter couldn't hook me for the entire book. I found after reading about 20 musicals the next 20 started to bore me and it became a laborious process to finish the book.

It is a wonderful book - but like the subject matter itself it was too much of a good thing. I think I would say "four stars" if you treat this as a true coffee table book - meant to be picked up and read a little bit over the course of a year.

[Joseph Petrillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew this was a thing? Elaborate musical productions commissioned and produced by large corporations to inspire their sales force and other employees. The book can't sing, so it is buttressed by a website with recordings of some of the songs. This is probably more than I need to know about this topic, so I'll stop reading here. A fascinating bit of cultural history, though.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was hilarious, charming, beautiful, and I am so incredibly jealous of the folks who were able to attend one of these musicals. It sounds so absurd and if there were ever to be a staged version of any of these or even a medley from the best/wildest ones, I would absolutely go. I think that this is a really special book.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, who knew that Broadway quality productions, with real Broadway stars, were produced and performed for corporate sales meetings! Only made it partway through the book though, I was hoping for background info on the genre since it was new to me, but this was more of an anthology of various shows, who was in the cast, how many known recordings are 'out there', etc.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

More of a reference work than something to be read end to end (as I did), it's amusing to look through and serves its purpose. Still, most people curious about the topic will be better off with the compilation albums of the same name, or with the documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quirkiest subject ever with laugh-out-loud editorial comments.

[Daniel Farabaugh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was simply a catalog of industrial musicals and not a narrative account of the niche genre. This eventually just made all of the musicals blend together.

[Alan Teasley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed for research.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The amazing - and weird - story of Industrial Musicals (now a Netflix doco too).

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything I wanted and more.

[Carol Fischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise to learn how many of these productions were staged, and how many familiar names participated.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book from the documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway (PG-13 2018 ‧ Documentary/Comedy music) on Netflix. And I have to say this is a case where the movie ( 5 stars) is much better than the book. The history of both documentary and book is fascinating. I had no idea there was a genre of industrial musicals, in which many famous actors, writers and producers got there start. The book explores the history of these corporate productions, the hit tunes and the people involved and the treasure hunt of tracking down the phonograph records. It’s layout is a bit confusing though, and the graphics and text don’t always seem to match. But all in all, an amazing piece of American business and show biz history.

[Don Logay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who has spent many an all-nighter writing these zany industrial shows – and then taking them on the road for corporate meetings of all size – I can say (with some authority) that “Everything’s Coming Up Profits” is a wonderful trip back in time to the 1960s, 70s and 80s when companies put on custom-created productions featuring singers, dancers and actors performing incredibly entertaining songs and comedy skits about stuff you would never think could be so darned lovable and/or clever.

These corporate live shows (some good, some bad, some absolutely terrific) were performed only once – or perhaps maybe a few times as “road shows” in multiple cities – and then they were forever lost to the ages. Fortunately, a small number were also thoughtfully recorded and pressed into 33-1/3 or 45 RPM records that were given to attendees as souvenirs.

Authors Steve Young and Sport Murphy have sought out an amazing number of these rare recordings – acquired one by one over a couple of decades – and put them together with interviews, insights and beautiful illustrations that skillfully and artfully re-create this little known era of industrial show-biz.

It’s all about stuff you would never think could be so darned lovable and/or clever... and they bring it all back to enjoy once again.

If you were there, you’ll love it – if you weren’t, it’ll make you wish you were.

[MH · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bizarre genre of industrial musicals - musical shows (some simple sketches and parodies, some full-length theatrical musicals with big-name Broadway involvement) performed mostly for sales conventions during the 50s through the 70s - is covered here, through the medium of souvenir records given to attendees. The album covers, gatefolds and liner notes are reproduced in this large, colorful book, as well as plot summaries and the amazing business-specific lyrics to many of the numbers, along with some snarky commentary. Once in a while there is some welcome information on a composer, but there's very little on the performers and nothing on the audiences or the executives who commissioned these oddball shows, making the book more of an eye-popping catalog than a history, a tour through an enormous, kitschy record collection that quickly gets repetitive. It's great that this archive exists, though, and it's certainly worth flipping through.

[elstaffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounds up to 5 stars. If I had a coffee table or space for such, I would absolutely want this book to be on it (rather than having to library it), and I do plan to acquire some of the music.

The only thing that kept it from 5 stars for me was that I really disliked most of the interludes/essays written by Sport Murphy. I think it's one of those things where his writing style just rubbed me the wrong way--there wasn't anything particularly terrible about the content of what he was writing about for the most part, it just didn't mesh with my sense of humor.

That said, this still gets 5 stars from me because of how comprehensive and informative it is. I had no idea that industrial musicals even existed 'til I happened across the website for this book, and now I feel a little bit like an evangelist. Bock and Harnick wrote some! How do musical theater nerds not talk about this all the time?!

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little did I know of this world that existed from the '50s through the '80s where not only Broadway-style musical shows were produced extolling the virtues of companies and their products like Trane Air Conditioners, Ford Tractors and Westclox alarm clocks, but small batches of records were released in conjunction with the shows to both commemorate and motivate their sales ground troops. The authors lift the lid on this once-hidden treasure chest to reveal stunning graphics and keen text that compound the wonder that this convergence of art and commerce actually flourished in a show-must-go-go-on incandescent America.

[M]

I borrowed a copy of this from the library as part of my "post-MLIS catchup" reading. I think I would have liked this better if they'd been a little more specific about where to find the recordings of the songs referenced in the book. I guess I expected it to come with a CD? (Silly me... still living in the 90s, I suppose.) I ended up going to Amazon to see if it was supposed to have companion audio, only to find out that there was a website I was supposed to visit for the recordings (www.industrialmusicals.com, if you're curious.) If I'd realized that right out of the gate, I would have skipped reading the book and gone straight to the web.

[Karen]

* 14 Books From 2013 Every Music Lover Should Read

Steve Young and Sport Murphy’s book is a celebration of musicals written and produced exclusively for corporations and designed to serve as internal propaganda to boost morale among employees. It’s often hilarious — a lot of these musicals are completely absurd — but also a fascinating glimpse into the bizarre excesses of American companies during prosperous times.

[Howard Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into industrial conference entertainment. I never knew these musicals ever existed. Since these industrial musicals peaked in the '50's and '60's, any fan of Mad Men would enjoy this book. Quite humorous, too. Highly recommended.