Ross Shafer Goes Inside the First Family

Record review for The Stranger, 8/6/98

Ross Shafer Goes Inside the First Family (Jerden/SoundWorks): Shafer’s becoming one of those sadly “inspirational” figures who never gives up in the face of repeated failures. The original host of KING’s Almost Live (which became a local institution after he left) continues to attempt different areas of comic entertainment, hoping for that big break. Here, he attempts to clone Vaughn Meader’s classic JFK-themed comedy LP The First Family, only with the Clintons as characters–and with the meanness and luridity required for airplay on Clinton-bashing talk-radio shows. The cast (including local voice-over vet Ken Boynton as Bill C.) tries its darnedest to bring Shafer’s mediocre scripts to life (the final big gag is Teresa Ganzel’s faux-fellatio sound FX). Even sadder: It’s produced and released by Seattle recording legend Jerry Dennon, who masterminded the Sonics and Wailers and Kingsmen back in what they call “the day.”