I usually perform this song on the uke, preferably with viola obbligato; but here’s the first and fifth verses, and a bit of the piano version.

I sit by the window, my room’s nice and dark.
I gaze at the sky and the clouds.
Perhaps I should go for a walk in the park
And mingle a bit with the crowds.

Tomorrow’s my birthday; I’ll go the whole hog:
I’ll lie in the tub with some cake.
I think I’ve forgotten the name of my dog,
And that’s where I made my mistake.

A sort of chorale, written while unwinding from performances in a vaudeville festival in Maine.

I wrote this for a performance in Everett, Washington, back in 2001.  It was originally meant for theater organ, but I ended up playing it on the piano.  And here’s an excerpt.

Anne Shapiro, Jennifer Duffy (now Perez) and Doug Skinner pose in NYC’s meat packing district, back when they still packed meat there.

The White Knuckle Sandwich building, drawn here for a postcard for a gig at the Fez, in NYC.  And here it is in color, for a slide show from our performance at the Kitchen, Millennial Mouthful.

Anne Shapiro, Jennifer Duffy, and I joined forces in the ’90s as White Knuckle Sandwich. We performed in many theaters and clubs in NYC, including frequent shows at the Duplex and the Fez. We wrote a jingle for MTV, and had a couple of songs in the movie Bad Bride. Our 1999 CD had 22 of our songs on it. Here’s the breakdown:

White Knuckle Sandwich (Anne)
Bugs Not Drugs (Doug)
Fleet Week (Anne)
Lookin’ For A Man (Jen)
Medulla Oblongata (Doug)
Traveling Love (Anne)
Doggie (Jen)
Wreck Of A Man (Doug)
Big Cake (Anne)
Everybody (Jen)
B.C./R.W. (Doug)
Bills (Anne)
Holiday Heart (Jen)
One Night In Bangkok (Ulvaeus, Andersson, and Rice)
Don’t Sleep In The Subway (Trent and Hatch)
(I’ve Got To Be) The Person That I Am (Doug)
The Beginning Of The Universe (Jen)
Love Is Fun (Doug)
Sprite ’94 (Anne and Jen)
I’m Canceling My Counseling (Doug)
The Spaghetti Song (Anne)
Happiness Or Unhappiness (Doug)

This song was first performed as “I’m Sorry Now I Spoiled the Santa Cake.”  At a Christmas party, cartoonist Michael Kupperman and I, under the influence of stimulants, altered a cake depicting Santa Claus in an unflattering way.  Our hostess did not approve.  The song was first performed by White Knuckle Sandwich, with Anne Shapiro and Jennifer Duffy on vocals, and with me playing the bassline on baritone horn.  I wrote different lyrics for it, and performed it with Alison Davies and me on vocals, and David Gold on viola.

The Oberlin Dance Collective performed at Sonoma State College in 1977.  I sang a couple of songs, and contributed a theater piece, “Hide Hide The Cow’s Outside.”  And it looks as if I lettered the program, too.