Beaker FTW!

That Beaker guy really deserves to win a little something once in a while. And only you (yes you, the funny lookin' guy) can help him win the elusive Webby Award! Today (Thursday) is the last day to vote! Beaker is even going to give you a present for voting: A brand new reedit of his "Ode to Joy" video:

Do your civic duty and vote by clicking here. And for those of you with short memories, you can view the original nominated video here.

Click here to talk about Beaker's Webby'ed feet on the ToughPigs forum!

joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

Vote for Beaker!

Here's some reasonably exciting news: The original Muppet YouTube video "Ode to Joy" has been nominated for a Webby Award! The Webbys, naturally, are awards given for stuff made for the web, and Beaker has been nominated in the Best Music Video category. In case you need to be reminded how award-worthy the video is, take a look:





You can show your support for Beaker and classical music by going to the Webby People's Voice voting site and placing your vote. You do have to register before you can vote, but don't let that stop you. I'm 85% sure they won't use your information to steal your identity.

You may remember that back in 2007, the web series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony won a Webby Award. Except you probably don't remember, because most Muppet fans completely lost interest in that silliness when the producers replaced Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz as the title characters. But the point is, Muppets won before, and Muppets can win again! And this time, the thing that got nominated is actually good!

So vote for "Ode to Joy!" If for no other reason than so we can hear Beaker give an acceptance speech.

Click here to lay odds on Beaker's Webby chances on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Le Nouvel Album de Sesame Street!

Not content to keep to one country, Sesame Street has cloned, doppleganged, and otherwise duplidupliduplicated itself into over 30 co-productions all over the world. Each one has its own set of characters, but the jury is still out on how many provinces and commonwealths exist within Elmo’s World.

To celebrate the international aspect of all things Sesame, Putamayo Kids has released “Sesame Street Playground,” a CD chock full of songs from Streets around the world. Also included with the CD is an extensive booklet with liner notes and a bonus DVD.

The CD contains music from Sesamstraat (The Netherlands), Takalani Sesame (South Africa), Zhima Jie (China), 5 rue Sesame (France), Ulitsa Sezam (Russia), Plaza Sesamo (Mexico), Galli Galli Sim Sim (India), Shara’a Simsim (Palestine), Rechov Sumsum (Israel), Kilimani Sesame (Tanzania), Vila Sesamo (Brazil), and of course, good old USA, home of the Whopper.
The music itself is pretty great. I only wish I spoke all of these different languages so I could get that much more out of it. The theme songs to Sesamstraat and Galli Galli Sim Sim are both included, which sound remarkably familiar. We also get the Chinese version of "Rubber Duckie" and the Brazilian version of "One Small Voice." The rest of the songs are catchy, but not as familiar to American audiences.

Something I don’t always take special notice of is the liner notes. In this case, a full booklet is included, featuring a brief synopsis of each song (which is important if you don’t know what “Ohgneyat Al Lo’ba Al Sha’beyya” means) and translations into Spanish, French, and German. The notes are cute and informative, and now I’ve figured out how to say “Mr. Noodle” in four languages!

The cover, in my opinion, could use a little improvement. As you can see, it looks like a watercolor painting done by the artiest 10-year-old in the class. It doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the Sesame Street library, but after looking at some of Putamayo Kids’ other releases, it definitely fits in well with those. I’d assume that this album would have a better release with other international titles rather than Sesame albums, but it might have been nice to have something eye-catching to both demographics. Still, I’m perplexed by Cookie Monster’s hovering cookie basket, Zoe’s claw feet, and why half of the characters included on the cover don’t appear in the album at all.
By far, my favorite song on the album is Takalani Sesame’s “Pollution Song,” which is one of the songs included on the bonus DVD. Part of the song is in English (one of 11 languages spoken on the show), which makes it a little easier to follow. I like the design of Moshe, the walkaround character, and the low, gravelly voice of Zikwe (the blue monster) fills out the song nicely in a way we don’t often hear on our Street. The song also includes everyone’s favorite Muppet to help create false rumors, Kami, in the only clip I’ve seen of her that didn’t involve a lesson about being HIV positive.

Also notable is Rechov Sumsum’s “En Den Dino,” which features Ronnie Rock, an Israeli children’s performer who doesn’t look anything like his name should be “Ronnie Rock.” The chorus has mostly nonsense words, which makes it easy to enjoy, although if you’re listening to a song to which you don’t recognize the language, it’ll all be nonsense to you anyway. Still, the inclusion of this song saddens me, if only for the fact that we didn’t get an appearance by Moishe Oofnik.

Two songs from Sesame Street USA made it onto the album: “Elmo’s Song” and “Sing.” I suppose the former was included to forgive the fact that Elmo is on the cover (as is with most Sesame releases these days), though I would have preferred one extra international song. I did enjoy the inclusion of “Sing,” which is sung in both English and Spanish, making for a proper fit in this compilation. Wiki fact: Did you know that Emilio Delgado wrote the Spanish translation for “Sing”? Es verdad!

The only dud of the 5 DVD tracks is “The Song of Caretakers” from Ulitsa Sezam. The video features Na-Na, which, as far as I can tell, is the Russian equivalent of The Wiggles. The song is pretty much a music video for these guys, and Muppets don’t even show up until we’re two minutes into the three minute song. On top of it all, it’s the third song out of the five to feature a regional celebrity, rather than spotlighting the best of the puppet characters.

In all, I found the CD and DVD to be most fun. Since I don’t have the biggest interest in foreign language music, I doubt it’ll jump off my shelf too often, but that doesn’t mean it’s not well-done or entertaining. The one reason I would bring it out again and again would be for the DVD portion. If Putamayo Kids or Sesame Workshop decide to release another volume, I would hope that they’d make it a DVD with a bonus CD, rather than the other way around. I haven’t seen much of the international characters, and they’ve teased me enough to make me want more.

All said and done, I would recommend the album, but only if your heart yearns for world music. If not, then a second listen may not be in your future.

Sesame Street Playground will be available in stores on September 30.
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joe.toughpigs@gmail.com

Hidden Gems of Sesame Street Music: Part 5

Welcome back! This is part five of a five-part series of articles on lesser-known but wonderful Sesame Street songs. Before you read this, you really oughtta read part one, part two, part three, and part four. In today's installment, my fellow Tough Pig Anthony and I have a fascinating and insightful conversation about the subject at hand.

Ryan: So, fellow Tough Pig Anthony, there certainly are a lot of great Sesame Street songs, aren't there?

Anthony: There are, which isn't at all surprising. The show's been on the air for almost forty years - Forty! - and so many great songwriters have worked on it.

Ryan: Great songwriters? Yeah, I guess. If you consider people like Joe Raposo, Jeff Moss, and Christopher Cerf to be great. And you know what? I do.

Anthony: Well sure, so do I. Not to mention often-ignored talents like Sam Pottle, David Axelrod and Tony Geiss. Look 'em up on Muppet Wiki, folks - you'll be surprised how many great songs those gentlemen wrote for Sesame Street.

Ryan: That's true. And with 40 years of songs, this 5-part series of Tough Pigs articles could have easily been a 50-part article. Or 500! Or 5,000!

Anthony: Easily! I don't think that's an exaggeration. We've just begun to scratch the surface.

Ryan: Yeah, I have a whole list of songs I thought about writing about... "Pigeons, and Cookies and Trash" features Bert, Cookie Monster, and Oscar singing about their respective favorite things. "Google Bugle" is a song that only Cookie Monster could sing, because nobody else has googly eyes. "I Get a Nice Feeling," sung by Bob (presumably to Linda?) is one of the loveliest love songs I've ever loved.

Anthony: I have a similar list of omissions - "Don't Go Away Without Me", an Ernie & Bert anthem about not wanting to be apart from your best friend for even a minute. "Breakfast Time", where Cookie Monster tells Ernie about his daily breakfast of cookie juice and hard-boiled cookies.

Ryan: Oh, I like that one.

Anthony: "A Postcard from Amy", in which Grover's message from his friend gets mangled as it passes from one character to another... We could go on all day. But the point is that great Sesame Street songs are all over the place, and all you need to do is look for them.

Ryan: It's also amazing to me that both of us, as lifelong Muppet fans, are still discovering material from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and beyond, that we've never heard before. I'm not sure I've ever even heard that Bert & Ernie song you just mentioned.

Anthony: That song, like "Too Busy", which I featured yesterday, is on the album Fair is Fair. But yeah, it really is amazing how never-ending the well seems to be.

Ryan: Oh. Then I guess I have heard that song. But I forgot it...which just proves how freakin' many Sesame Street songs there are!

Anthony: Listen to it again!

Ryan: Okay! Maybe I will!

Anthony: But yeah, like you said - you forgot the song. There's so much Sesame Street music out there that your brain can't hold it all.

Ryan: Of course, they're still writing new good stuff on Sesame Street. Did you see the musical number with Neil Patrick Harris this season?

Anthony: I did. It's terrific.

Ryan: Music has always been such an essential ingredient in the Muppet recipe, and it's great to see that tradition continuing.

Anthony: I agree. And as you say, it's an essential ingredient in the Muppet recipe, not just the Sesame Street one. The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Bear in the Big Blue House - all of them were marked by wonderful music.

Ryan: Yep. Birds fly, fish swim, camels spit, and Muppets sing. It's just what they do. For the Muppet Show characters, it's a little harder to pull that off in today's post-variety show world, but for some reason it's still expected in kids' entertainment, and thank goodness for it.

Anthony: Yeah, say what you will about the recent Studio DC: Almost Live! special (I already did), but it featured Muppets singing, as do the videos made especially for YouTube. That's a good sign for the future, as far as I'm concerned.

Ryan: Yes. The day when Muppets stop singing altogether would be a sad day indeed. I don't think I'd even be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Anthony: Oh, but you will, because you'll still have decades of great music. Much of which, once again, you haven't even heard yet.

Ryan: I will? You're right, I will! That's amazing! We sure are lucky to have so much great Muppet music, Sesame and otherwise. It's like we won some kind of good music lottery.

Anthony: Yes, sir. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon listening to my homemade Muppets at Walt Disney World soundtrack.

Click here to rave about Muppet songs on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Hidden Gems of Sesame Street Music: Part 4

Over the past few days, Ryan Roe and I have been sharing some of our favorite obscure Sesame Street songs.

Today, let’s talk about Sesame Street albums. Back in the 70s and into the 80s, the fine people at Children’s Television Workshop released records with alarming frequency. While many of the songs came straight from the TV show, a very large number of them were recorded especially for the audio releases. Many of these albums (you can find a full list at Muppet Wiki) have been out of print for years, so they’re a perfect place to look for obscure songs. I’ll begin today with a few of my favorites:

I'm Square – 1983 (The Gang’s All Here!)

If you’re reading Tough Pigs, chances are high that you’re a big geek, or a big nerd, or even kind of square. Here, Bert celebrates his status as One of Us. He waxes sentimental for his love his boring things, getting more and more excited as the song goes on. Any adult Sesame Street fan can relate to Bert’s frustration at being ridiculed for having unusual interests. The only difference is that in Bert’s case his interests include Kleenex and “pigeons in the news”.

The song is packed with amusing lines, as Bert reels off one nerdy obsession after another. Frank Oz’s performance is typically excellent, of course. When Bert sings about cold mashed potatoes towards the beginning, you can feel the affection in his voice. But by the time he gets to argyle socks at the end, he almost sounds like he needs a cold shower. Again, all geeks probably sound like that sometimes, which only makes it funnier.

Come Along (1978 – On the Street Where We Live: Block Party!)

Yesterday Ryan highlighted “Soul Food”, a Gordon-sung tune from this same record, my no-doubt-about-pick for the best Sesame Street album of all-time. Every song on it is a gem, with great numbers for most of the human cast members, as well as both of Caroll Spinney’s Muppets. It starts out with this track, where Big Bird is impatiently waiting for the party to start. When no one wants to play with him, he does what comes naturally – starts singing about how beautiful a day it is.

In the song, he urges everyone to join him and “Sing a happy song”. They do, conveniently as soon as he gets to the line “Oh, what a lovely sound when we sing this song.” And it’s a lovely sound indeed. This is straight-forward, snark-free happy Big Bird at his finest. I can’t help but feel happier and more energetic just for having heard it. While re-listening to it for this article, in fact, I started pumping my fists in the air and then jogging laps around my apartment. I swear to you that’s the truth.

It also features a reference to John-John. How can you say no to that?

Upside Down, Inside Out (1978 – On the Street Where We Live: Block Party!)

As I mentioned, this album is full of great songs for the human cast members – Gordon, Maria, Susan, Olivia, and David all get memorable numbers. Best of all is this one, sung by Bob and The Kids. The beginning is as understated as can be, with Bob idly playing piano. One of The Kids asks him to play a song, and he does.

It’s a typically upbeat Bob song, and it’s all about how great You are. Yes, You. “You can turn my seams around, put my toes back on the ground, with just the love in your eyes” he says. And don’t think he doesn’t mean it. Would Bob lie to you? No, of course he wouldn’t. If you don’t believe me, listen to the song. Just once. You won’t doubt that you’re more important to Bob than anything else in the entire world.

Too Busy (1978 - Fair is Fair)

Here’s an example of how prevalent Sesame Street albums were in the 1970s – the very same year as Block Party!, CTW put out the also-terrific Fair is Fair. It has a lot of great Muppet songs on it, but its most memorable moment comes from, surprisingly, The Kids. Just one Kid takes the lead here – a boy named Jamie Aff – and he’s pretty far away from the likes of “Sing” or the theme song.

Instead, he’s talking about being ignored by his parents. He painted a picture at school today, it seems. But when he excitedly brought it home, his unspecified didn’t have time for him. It’s slightly unsettling to hear a Sesame Street song address parental neglect so head-on, but this was the 1970s, the era of the latchkey generation. In any case, the song is terrific. Young Mr. Aff really invests in the emotion of his character’s dilemma, and the refrain is relentlessly catchy. As for how the parent-child conflict is resolved – well, I’m not going to spoil it.

Cripple Creek – 1970s Sesame Street

This was never featured on an album, but I couldn’t leave it out of this list. Sung by Buffy (the human cast member who has sadly become mostly forgotten) and Fred the Wonder Horse, it’s an old-fashioned folk song about “going up to Cripple Creek to see my girl”. Buffy doesn’t change the gender-specific lines in the song, by the way. She mentions that she’ll “kiss her on the mouth” and that the girl will “wrap herself around me like a sweet-potato vine”. It’s slightly shocking to the modern listener.

That example of less-restrictive curriculum standards aside, the song is simply amazing. While singing, Buffy also plays a mouth-bow. This lends the song a unique, off-the-cuff vibe like nothing else ever heard on Sesame Street. Meanwhile, Buffy’s and Jerry Nelson’s voices blend together so perfectly that you’ll bemoan the fact that they never recorded a full album together. Say, that would have made an excellent addition to CTW’s release slate.

Well, that’s it for our twenty picks, but that isn’t all we have to say about obscure Sesame Street music. Click here for part five, where you’ll see Ryan and me together! At the same time!

Click here to kiss Tough Pigs Forum on the mouth.

Hidden Gems of Sesame Street Music: Part 3

This is the third installment in a five-part article about really great Sesame Street songs that are not as well-known as they should be. Part one is here, and part two (by Anthony Strand) is here. And now, more words about songs.

Soul Food
On the Street Where We Live: Block Party!, 1978

I've always loved the humans of Sesame Street nearly as much as the Muppets. I never owned a Bob doll or a Maria PEZ dispenser, but they've taught and entertained me for years, so the 1978 Block Party record is right up my alley: Big Bird and Oscar are present, but the spotlight is really on the less fuzzy residents on the street.

Of course, there's no Sesame Street character less fuzzy than Gordon, who offers this groovy, timbale-infused musical invitation to check out his food booth at the titular block party. When I hear the song, I can practically smell Gordon's dishes, including shrimp & rice, po' boys, birdseed ice cream, and enchiladas -- with meat AND cheese! "Everybody's got soul food/Would you like to buy some?" he asks, then warns "Don't say no till you try some!" Which, now that I think about it, kind of sounds like he's selling drugs, but I'm pretty sure he's not.

I would certainly get in line for some of Gordon's soul food... although I'm not sure I have any cash. Are there any ATMs on Sesame Street?

Count von Count's Continuous Country Cooking Downhome Diner
Sesame Country, 1981

As it turns out, Gordon's not the only skilled chef on Sesame Street. If, as this song says, you like home cooking, "try it Transylvanian style!" Everyone is welcome to "come inside and open wide" at the Count's restaurant, which is presumably the world's only Transylvanian-Southern fusion eatery.

The title of this track alone is fun to say, and the song is all banjos and fiddles. The Count's friends place their orders (by number, of course), although none of them sound especially "country"... Cookie Monster orders a cookie sandwich, while Ernie ultimately decides on cereal, but I'll assume those are authentic Nashville corn flakes. (Or perhaps authentic Romanian Rice Chex). Grover, meanwhile, orders "a number 5: the business monster's lunch," which is fairly adorable.

As far as I know, this is the only time the Count has ever done a country song, so that's pretty cool. I think this is also the only time we ever heard about the Count owning a restaurant, which makes sense... He probably got so caught up counting every single plate, glass, and utensil in the kitchen that he forgot to serve the food.

A Very Unhappy Birthday to You
For the First Time, 1982

This song should not be confused with Disney's "Very Merry Unbirthday" song from Alice in Wonderland, which does not mention chocolate pickle juice.

Oscar is at his best when he's at his worst. That contradiction defines the entire grouch culture that exists in Sesame Street's world: To a grouch, anything awful is wonderful. This song explains the goings-on at a grouch birthday party, and Oscar is beautifully nasty, wishing horrible things on the birthday boy or girl.

It's really rude to hope your friend gets a tummy ache from eating his cake, but for a grouch, anything nicer would be much more offensive. (Do you suppose grouches ever suffer from cognitive dissonance, what with all that "feeling good makes me feel bad, which makes me feel good" stuff?)

I didn't know about this song until recently, but I sure hope somebody sings it to me on my next birthday.

Get Along
late 80s/early 90s Sesame Street

Remember when I said I was impressed that Sesame Street composers can work in any style? Well, you might wonder, can they do a capella? And can they come up with an a capella song including parts for Twiddlebugs, Martians, and cows?

The answer, of course, is yes. Kermit takes the lead vocal on this toe-tappin', finger-snappin', yup-yup-yuppin' doo-woppy number, which carries the message that we can all get along if we just get together and sing. You know, they make it look so easy on Sesame Street, but when I try to start a sing-along on the subway or in Burger King nobody ever jumps in. Maybe I just need to move to a city with more Martians...

Best Friend Blues
late 80s Sesame Street

There are so many great Sesame Street characters that it's impossible for all of them to interact with each other. Which is why it's pretty exciting to see this Snuffy/Ernie team-up. Those guys are usually seen in the company of Big Bird and Bert, respectively, which just happens to be what the song is about.

As the song begins, Bert has just abandoned a kite-flying session and gone home after suddenly falling ill. (At least that's what he told Ernie. It's altogether possible he's faking it so he can watch his oatmeal soap operas or whatever without being disturbed.) Meanwhile, Big Bird has up and gone to Granny Bird's without notifying his big brown friend, leaving both Ernie and the snuffleupagus with an acute case of the titular blues.

Hoots the Owl contributes some fine sax-blowing as Ernie makes a medical breakthrough: the cure for the best friend blues! He reminds Snuffy "we're buddies too!", which doesn't quite seem accurate, as I've never seen them talk to each other before or since, but whatever. He then suggests that the two of them can play together -- they can play in his room, he says, though that sounds problematic given Snuffy's girth. I do like the idea of Bert in bed trying to sleep off his 24-hour flu, when suddenly Snuffy stomps in and knocks over all the furniture. That'll teach him to be sick!

This song makes me wish for more rare character pairings. What about a Mumford/Rosita song? Or a Grover/Stinky the Stinkweed duet? The possibilities are so many they could even keep the Count busy for a few days.

So there you go -- five more delightful but lesser-known Sesame Street songs. And believe it or not, there are still more, five of which Anthony will tell you about in part four, which you can find right here. Oh, boy! You can hardly wait!

Click here to talk about groovy Sesame tunes on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Hidden Gems of Sesame Street Music: Part 2

Yesterday, our own Ryan offered a look at five obscure Sesame Street songs. Now it’s my turn. But today, I won’t just list any five songs – I’ve got a theme!

You see, one of the things I love most about Sesame Street is the way the universe it takes place in is so fully realized – it’s a world where two people can have an entire conversation about sharing or healthy food or the number six, and the audience not only doesn’t question it, they revel in it. How much more exciting is it, then, when the characters are singing instead of talking? Today’s five songs are all examples of the popular music you can only find on the Street.

With Every Beat of my Heart – 1970s Sesame Street

Little Jerry and the Monotones are probably best known for their string of hits about emotions, including “Mad,” “Sad,” and “Proud. But they were a staple of Sesame Street Top 40 for years, reaching their creative peak here, with a doo-wop song that somehow manages to be both a heartfelt love letter to a girl and an educational lesson on the circulatory system.

The tone is set right away, when Little Jerry proclaims “You know your heart beats pumping blood to all the parts of your body. I know that my heart beats too, and that my heart is beating FOR YOU!” The Monotones join in, harmonizing on “Boom-thump/Feel my heart ju-u-ump!” The next two minutes are sheer exhilaration. If your heart doesn’t jump just a little bit, it’s possible that you don’t have one.

A final note: “With Every Beat of my Heart” might sound familiar – writer Jeff Moss reused much of it when he wrote “Gonna Always Love You” for The Muppets Take Manhattan a few years later.

Rock and Roll Readers – 1990s Sesame Street

Little Jerry’s primary competition, Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats, shoot back with a song all about the rock star lifestyle on Sesame Street – rather than sex and drugs, it’s full of books. “Sure it’s lots of fun to be a rock and roll star, but being a rock and roll reader is better by far,” screams Little Chrissy. It says a lot about how things work on Sesame Street – education is all around, and everyone spends all of their time learning, even popular musicians. Looking beyond what it means, though, it’s just a catchy, Jerry Lee Lewis-style tune that you can dance to. And that’s what really matters.

Bert’s Blanket – 1980s Sesame Street

With Ernie staying over at the Count’s, Bert looks forward to a good night’s sleep. He lives on Sesame Street, though, so he doesn’t get to sleep at all – he both gives and gets an education. He and a herd of sheep (led by Jerry Nelson) explain how blankets are made, and they do it in a Shangri-Las-esque fashion. The sheep sing about being sheared, and Bert takes over to explain how wool is spun into thread and finally woven into a blanket. The reason the song works, though, is that the beautiful, almost haunting melody is accompanied by terrific harmonization – some sections have several sheep all taking different parts. It’s staggeringly lovely. Yes, I just called a song about how blankets are made “staggeringly lovely.” I won’t take it back.

In the Doghouse – 1970s Sesame Street

Roosevelt Franklin is apparently a child himself, but he was the teacher at Roosevelt Franklin Elementary back in the 1970s. Here, he gives his students a lesson in respecting the property of others through a parable about two small dogs taking a bone that belongs to a much larger dog. The style of the song is remarkably loose and experimental – it really sounds like a classroom full of students just singing.

What it doesn’t sound like, however, is anything else ever heard on Sesame Street. Without paying attention to the lyrics, it’d be easy to mistake it for an underground soul recording – the students clap, chant, and lay down beats like there’s no tomorrow. When you realize it’s a song about not taking things that aren’t yours, it will blow your mind. On Sesame Street, it’s possible for learning to sound like anything at all, not just mainstream pop music.

Rain Falls – 1970s Sesame Street

Finally, this could have been an adult contemporary hit, if it weren’t about two fellows explaining why they love rain. The first is Oscar the Grouch, and the second is Bob. Oscar, of course, loves to see “trucks roll by splashing mud on everyone”, while Bob praises it for “helping flowers start to grow,” to cite two examples. It’s a great character study – a person who has never encountered either character will know exactly who they are by the end of the song – but it’s also a solid lesson in what rain does.

I went out of my way to bring up the educational content of all these songs, obviously, but that’s because it’s easy to miss if you happen to be an adult. Like so many of the great Sesame Street songs, they play just like any other well-crafted piece of music. In the end, I think that’s the most impressive thing about these songs – adults can not only appreciate them, but actively enjoy them.

If you thought this was a bunch of hogwash, click here for part three and five more choices from Ryan. I’ll be back on Thursday with five more. See you then.

Click here to share your love of Roosevelt Franklin on the Tough Pigs Forum.

Hidden Gems of Sesame Street Music: Part 1

You know what I love? Sesame Street music. In the show's four decades of existence it's covered pretty much every genre -- pop, rap, opera. Heck, Menudo even made an appearance sometime during the Reagan years. I don't know the exact figure, but what with over four thousand episodes plus two movies, numerous specials and countless albums, I'd estimate the total number of original Sesame Street songs at about fifty million.

Songs like "C Is for Cookie," "Rubber Duckie" and "Sing" are American classics -- and we're sick of them. Which is why my pal and fellow Muppet fan, Tough Pigs' own Anthony, and I are going to write this week about our favorite lesser-known Sesame Street songs. It seems like every time I hear an old Sesame LP or watch a special I've never seen before, I discover at least one amazing song that I never knew existed.

So I'm going to tell you about a few today, then Anthony will tell you about a few tomorrow, I'll be back on Wednesday, Anthony will be back on Thursday, and the two of us will wrap it up on Friday. Got that? Here we go.

Oh-- one more thing. You may notice that while we're telling you how great these songs are, we're not actually presenting the tracks themselves here for your listening enjoyment. That's because they're all owned by the Sesame people, and we ain't the Sesame people. However, I may or may not have heard rumors that it may or may not be possible for you to hear and see these songs by doing some searching around the internet. And that's all I'll say about that.

Write It Down
1980s Sesame Street

As far as I know, this is the only time Sesame Street has covered the topic of "You should write things down if you want to remember them later," which makes sense, as I can't imagine it's a major issue for preschoolers. But the highlight of this number isn't the rarity of the subject matter, it's the style: "Write It Down" is a rap.

Maria, the illest rhyme-buster on the street, sets things up for us, then we learn more about writing things down from Luis (who writes plays and stories) and David (who documents his grocery orders "from all over town" -- apparently Hooper's clientele reaches far beyond Sesame Street). But Forgetful Jones steals the show, despite having no idea where he is. "Write It Down" is an incredibly catchy old-school rap, and proves that Sesame Street is just as dope as it is educational.

Comb Your Face
1980s Sesame Street

I guess this first appeared on Sesame Street in the 80s, but I just discovered it a few years ago on Play With Me Sesame. It's sung by Furline Huskie, a monster performed by Richard Hunt, a Muppeteer with more energy than a 6-year-old after three bowls of Count Chocula. The monster's about to go out (perhaps on a hot monster date), and before leaving the house he shows us his grooming routine and invites us to join in.

It's only a minute and 20 seconds long, but it really does make fur management seem like the most fun you can have. I can only imagine how many children watching at home ended up bruised and mangled as a result of following Furline's instructions and vigorously combing their own faces, waists, and tummies.

Sing in the Shower
1980s Sesame Street

Speaking of good hygiene, here's a song about proper bathing habits -- a worthwhile topic considering the fact that 78% of children smell funny.

Hey, remember Olivia? That lady sure had a set of pipes, and she's in better voice than ever as she sings in the shower about singing in the shower. How meta!

But she's not the only one who la-las as she lathers: Verse 2 finds Big Bird singing in the birdbath. Whereas Olivia was tastefully filmed from the shoulders up as she showered, Big Bird is seen fully nude. Meanwhile, Ernie sings in his bathtub and Oscar sings in his mudbath. Which explains why Oscar has such great skin.

This song, much like "Comb Your Face" and "Write It Down," makes a mundane task seem fun and does it with gusto. I sing this song at the top of my lungs every time I shower.

Counting the Days
Merry Christmas From Sesame Street, 1975

There's one thing Big Bird doesn't like about Christmas, and it's not the crass, exploitative commercialism. Rather, as he explains on this track from Merry Christmas From Sesame Street, it's the mere act of waiting for December 25 to arrive! Big Bird's frustration makes for an amazing 1950s-style rock 'n' roll number, complete with falsetto singing that makes my voice crack when I try to sing along.

Once again I'm amazed at the apparent ease with which the Sesame Street songwriters compose a song that sounds like it could have been a hit single... and if Ernie's verse about helping Rubber Duckie write a letter to Santa doesn't cause your spine to melt from cuteness, you are a heartless beast and I want nothing to do with you.

Shapes in My Room
1990s Sesame Street

Telly is by far the most underrated Sesame Street Muppet. I mean, the dude can't catch a break. He's been a major Sesame regular for decades now, but he always gets ignored when it comes to merchandise, and no kid ever names him as his or her favorite character. Telly is the middle child of the Sesame Street Muppets.

But with "Shapes in My Room," Telly proves his worth, buoyantly taking us through his daily routine of scrutinizing every object in his bedroom and identifying what shape it is. I guess this song came before the writers gave Telly his bizarre triangle obsession, but still, this fella really loves his shapes. His energy is infectious, as is his scatting prowess. ("Dooby dooby doo-WAH, ba-doo-WAH, ba-doo-wah!")

I really don't know how I'd classify the song itself... it has some jazzy horns, but it's not really jazz; it has some wicked electric guitar, but it's not quite rock. I've never seen another Telly solo this impressive, but that's okay... the shape of this song is AWESOME.

And those are five of the best lesser-known Sesame Street songs. Click here for part two, in which Anthony will tell you about five more!

Click here to talk about excellent songs on the Tough Pigs forum!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Keepin' It Weak

Matt Vogel is a Sesame Street puppeteer best known to Muppet geeks as being the "understudy" for Big Bird. But he's also a rocker, and his band is called The Mighty Weaklings. The band (including Michael Ray Escamilla on rhythm guitar, Bob D’Haene on lead guitar, BJ Hemann on drums, Tim McCracken on keyboards, and Vogel on bass guitar and lead vocals) has a new album out now -- a "rock album for kids" called You Can't Rock Sittin' Down. Today I'm going to talk about the album... then come back here on Friday for an interview with Matt Vogel himself.

I don't have any offspring, so I don't really know what the current state of kids' music is like, but the iTunes store tells me that their best-selling children's album is Kidz Bop 14, which features children singing pop songs like "Teardrops on My Guitar," "Feels Like Tonight," and "Bleeding Love." That's pretty unfortunate... which is why it's a good thing there are artists like the Mighty Weaklings. I'm pretty sure I would have loved You Can't Rock Sittin' Down if I'd had it when I was seven years old.

Things kick off with "Keep It Weak," a song that introduces the band ("Some call us mighty/Others call us weak/We call us Mighty Weaklings"), encourages the listeners to play along with their air guitars, and presents the concept of "keeping it weak." I can't exactly explain what that means, but it seems to involve jamming out. Thus the Mighty Weaklings ensure that a generation of children will be totally confused as to the meaning of the word "weak," but who cares about kids anyway, right?

I'm always a sucker for audience participation, so when the band requests that I help them by shouting the word "WEAK!", I have no choice but to oblige. It causes some embarrassment on the bus, let me tell ya. I bet that old lady sitting next to me jumped three whole feet in the air...

Right away it's obvious that you're not listening to the Wiggles. Not that I have anything against the Wiggles -- I think Captain Feathersword is a true hero -- but the Mighty Weaklings are a rock band. They just happen to be a rock band that does songs about sharing, learning to ride a bike, and flying in a real rocket ship.

My favorite song on the album is "Grumpy Song." It's no secret that children, in addition to being very poor drivers, often get cranky. Rather than telling kids to cheer up and stop being grumpy, the Weaklings encourage them to let themselves be grumpy for a while if that's how they really feel... and maybe they'll feel better tomorrow. Expressing emotions is a theme that has been covered many times on Sesame Street, and there are several other instances on this album where the band imparts wisdom that will be familiar to Sesame fans.

Sesame Street is full of friendly monsters -- this CD has a happy, peppy song called "The Monster Under My Bed." Sesame Street pummels kids with the message that sharing can be fun -- the CD includes a track called "It's Sunny When You Share" (Get it? It's a pun on a popular singing duo kids have never heard of!), which was co-written by Matt Vogel's Sesame colleague Joey Mazzarino.

Oh, and that "Grumpy Song" I mentioned? It features Mr. Jerry Nelson doing some spoken interludes, and the the result is that it sounds like Grover's Fat Blue customer is on the album. "Usually I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky fellow," he says, "but when I get grumpy, it's a whole different enchilada!"

So basically, I'm going to go ahead and say that most people who like both Sesame Street and rock 'n' roll will like this album. There are two songs in a row that are more subdued, "Bug Town" and "Super Hero," which could potentially cause some young attention spans to drift. On the other hand, those songs are about insects and having super powers, and as far as I know, today's little tykes and toddlers and tiddlywinks still like those things.

I wouldn't hesitate to give You Can't Rock Sittin' Down to a kid, as long as the kid wasn't a big jerk. And I hope the Mighty Weaklings keep making new music... after all, somebody has to undo the damage done by Kidz Bop.

That CD I was just talking about can be purchased on CDBaby.com, or in digital form at the iTunes Store.

Click here to comment on this article on the Tough Pigs forum! And don't forget to come back on Friday for an interview with Mighty Weakling and Sesame Street performer Matt Vogel!

ToughPigsRyan@yahoo.com

Green and Red and Yule All Over

Guess who's nominated for a Grammy? If you guessed "the Muppets," you're correct! (If you guessed "Amy Winehouse," you're also correct, but that's not who I'm going to write about, at least not today.) Last year's album A Green and Red Christmas was nominated for Best Musical Album for Children. Now, this CD came out way back in October of 2006... so what better time to review it than December 2007? So join me, won't you, as I make some hot chocolate and listen to this year's only Grammy nominee that features a song by a prawn.

First of all, I just want to say I like the album art. It's simple -- just a few photos of a few Muppets on plain white or green backgrounds -- but they look to be new pictures, which is nice. Kermit doesn't appear flat-faced, and Miss Piggy's lookin' pretty hot. So that tells you that somebody, somewhere at Muppet Studios cared about this project. According to the CD insert, the Muppet performers here are Bill Barretta, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, Eric Jacobson, Jerry Nelson, Karen Prell, Mike Quinn, David Rudman, and Steve Whitmire. Can that possibly be true? I know Jerry still shows up when he can, but doesn't Louise Gold live in England? So I'm just going to ignore that, and assume it's an error on the part of Sid, the harried Disney intern.

But there's no time to dwell on that, because here comes track one: "'Zat You, Santa Claus?" They don't waste any time here -- there's no introduction, no opening skit with Kermit and the gang... They jump right in with this song, which, to my surprise, has a lead vocal by Bobo!

Wait...no. It's not Bobo. According to the track listing, it's "Electric Mayhem Band" (I thought they were "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem," but whatever.) Well, this is a cool, jazzy little number. I like the fact that it features saxophone, which means Zoot is in there somewhere. I can just picture him playing... but I can't picture Dr. Teeth singing this, because Bill Baretta's Dr. Teeth voice really does sound just like a slightly hipper Bobo. I guess this is the most we've heard from Teeth in the post-Jim Henson era, and I just can't get into it.

Maybe if this were a musical number on a TV special it would work; if we could see Teeth singing the song it would be more convincing. The song's kinda weird too. Dr. Teeth is all freaked out because he hears noises and suspects that someone's trying to get into his house. For your sake, Doc, I hope zat's Santa Claus, 'cause if it's not, I don't think those long, saggy arms of yours are going to do much good for fighting off a prowler.

The next track is called "A Red and Green Christmas". Now that's just confusing, because the name of the album is A Green and Red Christmas. I mean, come on -- when Prince released the song "Diamonds and Pearls," did he call the album "Pearls and Diamonds?" No, sir, he did not, and nobody got confused, which just proves that the Muppets should always seek to emulate Prince in all matters.

Anyway, the song starts off with Piggy asserting that red is the color of Christmas. Eric Jacobson's Piggy is fantastic, by the way. I don't know if there are still any Muppet fans who haven't accepted Eric as "the" Piggy performer, but his falsetto on this track is as beautiful as anything that ever emanated from Frank Oz's bald head. So Kermit insists that green is the color of Christmas, because of trees and wreaths and candied pears... candied pears? I never got one of those in my stocking, but they sound kinda gross. Anyway, this is a pretty song. It isn't particularly funny, but hey, that's okay. Sometimes the Muppets can be sincere. Kermit and Piggy continue to debate which color is the color of Christmas, until it's finally resolved when they -- WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT AM I DOING? I CAN'T SPOIL THE ENDING!

What's next? "I love to play those old-time Christmas songs at The Christmas Party Sing-Along!" It's a song about hangin' out singin' Christmas songs, and if you're a Christmas carol geek you'll love the references. Is is just me, or have the Muppets, over the years, done a lot of songs about singing songs? It certainly seems to be one of their favorite subjects, kinda like how Mariah Carey's favorite subject is the word "Baby."

Remember how I said Bill Barretta's Dr. Teeth sounded like Bobo? Bill Barretta's Rowlf sounds even more like him. In fact, they could have almost given this song to the bear, except that the jokey nature of it is more befitting to Rowlf. ("We want our wassail and our figgy pudding/If we ever find out what they are") This is a fun, swingy track, and so far it's the second out of three that were composed especially for this CD. "You know," says Rowlf, "I've heard of sing-alongs, but I've never sung with ding-a-lings!" Not bad.

The next track begins: "Here's a Christmas song for Jew girls, okay?" Well, Pepe, it's awfully nice of you to consider the Jewish Muppet fans when you're doing a Christmas album, so as not to -- oh. He said "you girls," with the Spanish accent and everything. Nevermind. So yeah, "Merry Christmas Baby" is a Pepe spotlight. Man, Bill's all over this CD like fuzz on a frog.

I can't really understand all of Pepe's lyrics, but the song is snazzy... He seems to be singing about how cool he is, and how he's totally gonna score with a bunch of chicks. Oh, and it's Christmas time. It's credited to M. Love & B. Wilson... Does that mean this is a Beach Boys song? That's weird. "Santa came down the chimney, half past three, with lots of little presents for my baaabies and me!" Dude, Pepe's singing his little crustacean heart out here. This is full of energy, and it's my favorite track so far. Incidentally, it's also the first track sung by a character with his original performer. Whoa, check out that high note at the end!

"This goes out to Kris Kringle! He's one jolly dude!" Next we have Floyd, Animal and Zoot doing "The Man with the Bag," yet another song I've never heard before. This is the first song by Floyd since "Wild Thing" on Kermit Unpigged in 1993, and according to Muppet Wiki, he's performed here by John Kennedy. It's a decent Floyd -- he gets the "hah-hah-hah" laugh just about right -- but it's still tough to get used to. Zoot, Floyd, and Dr. Teeth all get solos to play here, and when Animal goes nuts during his, Zoot says, "Animal, take your tablets." Nice. (Zoot, by the way, is still Dave Goelz.)

Hey, you know what would be cool? If we could actually see them playing their instruments. I mean, you know, not actually playing their instruments, but playing them the way Muppets do. As fun as it is to hear Animal grunting and growling, it would be fun to see the flailing that goes along with it. But I should say: they chose some really catchy songs, and good on them for resisting the temptation to go with a bunch of Christmas standards everyone's heard a million times before (and which the Muppets themselves have done thirty thousand times before).

"Okay, Miss Fatback's on!" says Floyd, which is a very in-character introduction to Miss Piggy's rendition of "Santa Baby." Piggy's done this song before, in It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, but Eric's performance here tops his earlier attempt. It doesn't change the fact that this is a pretty weird song, though. Also, Piggy asks Santa for a sable, by which I'm sure she means a sable-fur coat... but the way things go in the Muppet world, I have a feeling she's more likely to receive a live Muppet sable who does card tricks and plays the accordian.

Ah, Christmas... "It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year." That's Gonzo's position, anyway... but Rizzo's not convinced, so it's up to Gonzo to persuade him in this free-wheeling track featuring the ol' Dave Goelz/Steve Whitmire magic. This one zips by in no time, and rivals "Merry Christmas Baby" as my favorite. By the end, I'm utterly convinced that it is the most wonderful time of the year... way better than the vernal equinox. Vernal equinox sucks.

Hey, what's up with that line about "scary ghost stories"? Does anyone tell scary ghost stories on Christmas? Is that maybe a reference to A Christmas Carol? I have no idea, but there's no time to dwell on it because a wacky fanfare and a intro from Kermit signals that the time has come for...

"North Pole Comedy Club," starring Fozzie Bear. He sings, he tells bad jokes, then he sings some more and tells worse jokes. This is another original composition (unsurprisingly), with some authentic Fozzie-style jokes ("Do you know where Santa stays when he's on the road? At a ho-ho-hotel!"), and a cameo by Statler and Waldorf (played by Steve and Dave, naturally). We can hear the the audience reacting, which is fun... I'm wondering if they let some of the recording studio crew provide the groans of the crowd.

Whoever was the big cheese in charge of this album obviously cared quite a bit about letting the main characters just be themselves. Still, this is another track that would have fit nicely into some kind of continuity to make the album a cohesive whole instead of a collection of individual songs. Like maybe, this is the part where everyone gathers round to see Fozzie do the act he's been working on since last Boxing Day.

"Run, Run Rudolph" begins with a funky synth organ riff played by Dr. Teeth (or is it Bobo again?) that makes me want to get up and dance, even though I never, ever, ever dance. The arrangements and backing tracks on this album are top-notch, which is a good sign. At least it indicates Disney was willing to spend enough money on this project so it wouldn't just be twelve tracks of Kermit and Piggy singing "Christmas Is Coming, the Goose Is Getting Fat" to the accompaniment of kazoos and armpit noises.

This Rudolph song always makes me think of that frantic running-to-the-airport scene in Home Alone. Hey, I have a great idea! Let's cast Home Alone with Muppets! Okay... Robin would be Macaulay Culkin, and of course Fozzie would have to be Daniel Stern...

Which classic Christmas song is next? Oh, of course, it's that timeless favorite "Christmas Smorgasbord." Who's playing the Swedish Chef on this track? I was going to guess Steve Whitmire, but Muppet Wiki reports that it's Bill Barretta, so I'm really not sure. Pretty much everyone has taken a turn with the Chef since 1990... he's like the town bicycle! OHHH, SNAP!

Of course it would be insane* to give the Swedish Chef an entire song to sing, so here we have a chorus of square-sounding singers, playing it straight as they describe the Chef's plans for Christmas dinner. It's funny, and the Chef is in fine form with his "voonder shmirnees" and such but it goes on too long. As far as I can tell, they're just repeating the same verses and choruses... a little Chef goes a long way, I suppose. A little Chef? Say, why didn't Muppet Babies ever feature a Baby Chef?

Next, "The Christmas Queen." More square singers, but now they're backing up Miss Piggy. She's the Christmas queen at the Christmas show, you see. "She may be off-key but she's sturdily built!" they boast. This is a good concept. I like when Piggy is regarded as the star of the show... and yet, they keep pointing out her flaws, until she gets mad enough to threaten their lives. You know what would have been funnier? If the entire song had been about how graceful and beautiful she is, while she's tripping over her dress, and her angel wings are catching fire and things like that. But to quote Kermit on the original Muppet Show album, "somehow that just doesn't make it on a record."

There's only one more track left, and boy, I can't say anything bad about a simple but sincere rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" sung by Kermit. A lot of singers cover this song, and I don't always believe that they want me, personally, to have myself a merry little Christmas, but with Kermit I don't doubt it for a second.

"Through the years we all will be together, if the fates allow," he sings. We've been celebrating Christmas with the Muppets through a lot of years, haven't we? He ends with a "Merry Christmas, everyone," which is very nice of him, but what else would you expect from Kermit? And so the CD comes to a close. It would have been nice to end with a group song by all the Muppets together, but I'll take what I can get.

Actually -- and I hate to repeat myself, but I will anyway -- this whole thing really would have been more fun if there had been something tying it all together... some of the tracks end with segues into the next tracks, but for the most part it's just a bunch of songs, and I'm guessing they never had more than three Muppet performers in the studio at the same time.

They could have turned it into a "Christmas at the Muppet Theater," with some kind of backstage banter and maybe even a simple storyline to make the whole thing more cohesive. Like maybe the Muppets are doing a special Christmas show, and their guest star hasn't shown up yet, so they have to entertain the crowd until he shows up, and it turns out that the reason he hadn't shown up yet is that he's really Santa. That wouldn't have been hard to do. I think it also would have increased this album's appeal to children, whom the Grammys consider to be the target audience. Because I'm not sure children really know who all these Muppets are.

Even better than that? If this CD were actually a soundtrack to a brand-new Muppet TV special I just described. I think that would have helped with the fact that this is our first extended exposure to the new Dr. Teeth and the new Floyd... If we could hear the voices coming out of the puppets' mouths, then we could say, "Oh, it's Floyd!" instead of, "Oh, it's a voice on a CD which they're telling us is Floyd." As it is, it feels very close to being the Muppets, but it's not 100% the Muppets.

It's a good effort. The music is good, the performers are great. They just need some good old-fashioned Muppet material to work with. But as stocking stuffers go, this CD is about 500 times better than a candy cane or an apple, and so much better than underwear that it's off the charts. And you can get it for about 10 bucks, so there's no reason not to buy it, really.

Enjoy your Christmas smorgasbord, everyone!

Click here to discuss this article and share some holiday cheer on the Tough Pigs forum!

*or possibly brilliant?

Feliz Navi-Bob

Over the past year, Sesame Workshop has been very kind to us, providing us with oodles of classic Sesame Street DVDs which remind us of simpler times before Oscar was green, before Cookie Monster had a neck, and when Bob wore shirts that could now be used as road flares.

It's almost amazing that the now 74-year-old Bob is still hanging out with the monsters and kids and monster-kids on that inner city street. You'll be happy to hear that not only is he sticking around, he's not planning on slowing down any time soon.

Bob has recorded at least 10 albums over the past 37 years, and his newest album #11 is Christmas Sing Along, filled with, you guessed it, Christmas songs. Now, as an uneducated Jewish boy, I was admittedly a little hesitant in buying this album. I can count the number of Christmas-related albums I've bought on one finger (that'd be Muppet Christmas Carol, for those of you keeping score). Growing up, we felt like we heard the same three Christmas songs over and over, and somehow we still never learned the words to them (seriously, a verse about figgy pudding? You're making that up...) And while Bob's new CD might not have much of a re-listenability factor for year-round enjoyment, he did make one heck of an album.

The very first thing I noticed about the album is that Bob has a wonderful wonderful voice. It's smooth and light, confident and positive, yet devoid of arrogance. And considering Bob is pushing 3/4 of a century, he still sounds just as he did back in the 70s. If I didn't know better, I'd assume that this was a reissued album, found in a time capsule left to us by the ToughPigs of yesteryear.

Likewise, his backup band is terrific. The only name I recognize in the liner notes is Blue Lou Marini, from the Saturday Night Live Band and the Blues Brothers Band, but they all do a terrific job when you stop to listen. There's no MIDI files here, folks. I can definitely hear some jazz influence in the background of about half of the songs, giving parents a little something to appreciate in case your kids insist on listening to this album over and over and over. Which they might.

While many of the songs are pretty straight-forward Christmas carols, my favorite by far is the novelty song, "What a Great Christmas It Was," which tells the story about Santa accidentally switching presents. So Grandma gets a yo-yo, the dog gets underwear, and Dad becomes a cross dresser. Um, you just have to hear the song. It's greatness songified.

Also included on this album is the Sesame Street classic, "Keep Christmas With You." And while it's not the same without Linda signing the lyrics, it's still nice to hear a new version.

Back on December 7, I was lucky enough to see Bob perform at a Barnes and Noble in promotion of the new CD. Being the technologically devoid person I am, I bought a disposable camera (which still has like 20 pictures left on it.. sorry, you won't be seeing those for a while) and I took some video footage with my cell phone. It's only 14 seconds, and there's a kid screaming behind me, and the quality is like I'm shooting in an underwater smoking lounge... y'know what, I just suck as a cameraman. Enjoy the video of Bob singing "Keep Christmas With You," and if you like Christmas, go buy this CD. You won't regret it.

Click here to discuss Seven Swans A-Swimming on the ToughPigs forum!