A Christmas Album for the Whole Family - Music & Lyrics by Frank di Silvestro

Hi! Sorry about the delay in getting something new on here. (Again.) I'm afraid I don't have enough Christmas albums to get me through the month, even starting now. So I'll sprinkle a few Christmasy things along with some other stuff.

This is sort of an unusual album. I bought it (still sealed) at Goodwill for a quarter. That cover is just all over the map, isn't it? The songs on this album are all composed by Frank Di Silvestro, and sung by two young ladies and a girl who solo on the different songs. The music itself sounds all synthesized. And the songs...well, the songs just don't sound quite right to me. It's not the performances; they're all fine. I think it's Frank's writing. Sometimes there's a wonky attempt at a rhyme. Often a line will have three or four extra syllables so it doesn't quite scan right. Give it a listen and see what you think.

All three singers list a number of generic credits (performing in commercials and/or soaps), but Meg Bussert actually has a pretty decent resume. She's performed on Broadway in "Camelot" with Richard Harris, among other things. And she's now a full-time Professor at NYU, teaching Acting and Theatre Studies. I would certainly call her the best one on this album, even managing to pull off different sounding vocals on "I'm Little Miss Christmas". Meanwhile, the most interesting thing I've found that Frank Di Silvestro has done is write a book called "Boy Jesus and His Dog".

Anywho, I've got a few more Christmas albums coming soon in the mix, so enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. When Mrs. Claus Plays Piano - Denyse St. George
2. Silver Bell, the Heavenly Reindeer - Meg Bussert
3. Toy Heaven - Kristy Graves
4. The Rockefeller Center Tree - Meg Bussert
5. I'm Little Miss Christmas - Meg Bussert
6. I Love Christmas in New York - Meg Bussert
7. Ice Dancing - Meg Bussert
8. Christmas Carousel - Meg Bussert
9. Mrs. Claus Is Special Too - Meg Bussert
10. On Christmas I'll See Lots of Snow - Meg Bussert
11. Blitzen & the Caribou Fell in Love - Denyse St. George
12. The Christmas Rose - Kristy Graves
13. We Are Children Who Love to Sing - Kristy Graves
14. Sam the Snowman & Flo the Snowwoman - Meg Bussert
15. I Dreamed I was in Christmasland - Denyse St. George

Click here or here to download!

BONUS: Here's a clip of Meg Bussert as Queen Guinevere in a revival of Camelot:

Be a Train - Selma Rich Brody

Selma Rich Brody strikes again! Here's a fun album that's all about pretending you're a train, and the different adventures you can have. On the back of the album cover (and included with this download) is a train hat you can cut out and wear, if you need a bit more motivation (or loco-motivation if you will). Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. Rollo the Railroad Train
2. Train School
3. Mountain Train
4. I'm a Train
5. Chugga Chugga Choo Choo
6. Little Train That Caught a Cold
7. Mail Train
8. Happy Train Song
9. I Got a Train for My Birthday
10. Rollo the Railroad Train

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for December

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Here's your Prof. Otis G. Firefly wisdom for December, right on time (because I'm putting it in in August)! Enjoy!!

This concludes the monthly words of wisdom from "Prof. Otis G. Firefly's Phantasmagoric Almanac". I hope you all enjoyed it! I'll try to think of something else for a running gag for next year.

By Henry Gibson

This is another case of a comedian making an album that gets re-released after they get popular years later. Gibson, in case you don't recall, hit it big on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", best known for the funny poems he would recite. He does a lot of that here too, but I think here he seems more like a charming (if slightly odd) young country boy. It's still a pretty interesting album to listen to though. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. How to Write a Poem
2. The Alligator
3. Why I Like Soap
4. The Newspaper
5. How to Skin a Polecat
6. How Now, Calpurnia
7. The Feather
8. Here Today--Gone Tomorrow
9. A Little Bit About Myself
10. How to Take Care of the Plum Tree
11. Happiness Can Be Yours for Little or No Money
12. Reflections of New York: Broadway/I Fell Down the Subway
13. The Coyote
14. Two Functional Poems: A Birthday/The Wedding
15. Education Is Important
16. What Freedom Means to Me in 25 Words or Less
17. Why I Like Poetry

Click here or here or here to download!

Popeye Song Folio - Captain Paul and the Seafaring Band

I like this one a lot, even though it's a Popeye album without Popeye on it! This album from 1959 apparently features songs from old Popeye cartoons, as performed by Captain Paul and the Seafaring Band. Was Captain Paul a children's host that showed Popeye cartoons on his show? I don't know myself, but one of you guys might be able to answer that. I kind of wish they would have sprung for the expense of an actual cover, instead of simply reprinting what I assume is a Popeye Sunday strip from the year before. I think (like "Yours Truly" says on the back cover) that one of my favorites is the song "I Wanna Be a Life Guard", but there's a lot of fun stuff on here (even if Popeye isn't singing it).

Here's the track list:

1. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man


2. The Looney Goon


3. Olive Oyl's Family Reunion


4. I Wants What I Wants When I Wants It


5. The Land of Popeye


6. I'm Sindbad the Sailor


7. Sing a Song of Popeye


8. I Wanna Be a Life Guard


9. Hamburger Mine


10. Popeye on Parade


11. Strike Me Pink Do I See Red


12. I'll Be Seein' Ya in the Movies

Click here or here or here to download!

BONUS: And now, straight from the Internet Archive, here's the Popeye cartoon that features the song "I Wanna Be A Life Guard" called, oddly enough, "I Wanna Be a Life Guard"

"You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and Happiness Songs

This is a fun album of happy-type songs. (And why not, it's from Happy Time Records.) The thing I found so unusual about this album is that the front cover is exactly like you see above, just a cute picture of this little boy with nothing to identify what the record inside was and what songs were on it. In fact, the title "'You're a Good Man Charlie Brown' and Happiness Songs" was the only identification of the contents on the record label itself. (The individual songs weren't listed.) I went online to see if I could get more information about the actual album. Imagine my surprise when I saw a picture of this record that's somebody's selling on Amazon.com:



This album lists most (but not all) of the songs on mine. And take a look in the bottom left corner. That's right, it's that same little boy. And you can tell it's from the same picture as mine because if you look at the right on my cover, you can see part of the little girl's hair next to him. Why was the cover redone? I have no idea, except for the fact that that picture of the boy makes me laugh for some reason. (Maybe because it looks like he's in the middle of yelling, "Play ball!!")

As for the songs themselves, this sounds like another patchwork job of songs from numerous sources. I like this version of "Sidewalks of New York" sung by kids that are really belting it out. I also have this exact same version of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" on another album (that just has songs from that show) that I'll probably dig up eventually. Anyway, take a listen. I think you'll enjoy this one!

Here's the track list:

1. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
2. Happy to Be Me
3. Hail Hail the Gang's All Here
4. Wishing Pond
5. The Candyland Merry Go Round
6. Big Rock Candy Mountain
7. The Sidewalks of New York
8. London Bridge
9. All Around the Mulberry Bush
10. One Two Buckle My Shoe
11. Nick Nack Paddy Whack
12. Pat-a-Cake
13. The Happy Polka

Click here or here to download!

Heeere's Amy! - Alison Arngrim as Amy Carter

This being Election Day in the US I had to throw one more political oriented album on here. This is Alison Arngrim (probably best known for playing Nellie Oleson on "Little House on the Prairie") portraying then First Daughter Amy Carter. It's pretty crazy, and I hope you like it, and don't forget to vote!!

Heeere's the track list:

1. Amy's Answering Service
2. Roots
3. Y'all C'mon 'a My White House
4. Amy Carter Superstar!
5. Medi-Kids
6. High Finance
7. Pickin' an' Strummin'
8. 18 1/2
9. Mammy Knows Best
10. Y'all C'mon 'a My White House II
11. Dear Diary
12. Cookies
13. Birds & Bees
14. Amy's Prayer

Click heeere or heeere to download!

OGF Wisdom for November

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Here's your Prof. Otis G. Firefly wisdom for November, right on time (because I'm putting it in in August)! Enjoy!!

At the Organ Grinder Vol. 2

Hey Gang! Sorry for taking a while to get something new on here, but school and work have been playing havoc with what little free time I have. Here's something odd to throw in here though. I don't know if Organ Grinder Pizza was a chain or not, but one of their primary features was their huge pipe organ. This album features some of the music played on that instrument. It's a pretty eclectic mix here (YMCA??), and I hope you like it!

Organ Grinder Pizza closed in 1996, but this site has some great pictures of the restaurant and their organ.

Here's the track list:

1. Chattanooga Choo Choo - Jonas Nordwall
2. Makin' Whoopee - Jonas Nordwall
3. The Hustle - Jonas Nordwall
4. May - Don Simmons
5. Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Don Simmons
6. You/Who? (Medley of 20's Hits) - Paul Quarino
7. Hands of Time - Paul Quarino
8. After the Lovin' - Paul Quarino
9. YMCA - Paul Quarino
10. Baby, Oh Where Can You Be? - Don Coxon
11. La Paloma Blanca - Russ Chilson

Click here or here to download!

BONUS: Here's a commercial for Organ Grinder Pizza!

OGF Zodiac for Oct. 17 - Dec. 31: Pistachio the Nut

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Here's where I fall in the Prof. Otis G. Firefly zodiac: under the dubious symbol of Pistachio the Nut! That seems strangely appropriate somehow...!

That concludes the zodiac portion of "Prof. Otis G. Firefly's Phantasmagoric Almanac". I hope you all enjoyed it!

OGF Zodiac for Oct. 16: Oleo the Butterfat-Fly

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Remember how I promised all of you born on October 16th a special surprise yesterday? Well, here it is. You've got your own zodiac symbol to yourself just like the October 15th kids! Isn't that lovely?

OGF Zodiac for Oct. 15: Polici the Insurance Salesman

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This sign of the Otis G. Firefly Zodiac is only for those born on October 15th. Is there anybody here born on that day? (If you were actually born on tomorrow's date, there's a special surprise for you. What is it? Well, you'll find out on your birthday!)

OGF Wisdom for October

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Here's your Prof. Otis G. Firefly wisdom for October, right on time (because I'm putting it in in August)! Enjoy!!

OGF Zodiac for Sept. 30 - Oct. 14: Proboscis the Anteater

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If you were born between Sept. 30th and Oct. 14th, you fall under the sign of Proboscis the Anteater (at least, according to Prof. Otis G. Firefly you do)! Hey, at least he's kind of cute (in an anteatery sort of way...)

The Serendipity Singers Sing of Love, Lies, and Flying Festoons,...

The Serendipity Singers were a popular folk group at the time. This album features songs written by Shel Silverstein, probably most famous for his children's poetry books like "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (although he did much more than that). It's actually a very interesting variety of songs here. My favorite off of the album is the song "Plastic", which talks about the pervasiveness of plastic in our society. It would still be current, except you'd have to change the "record" reference to "CD". Anyhow, there's lots of fun stuff here, and I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Little Sally Saucer
2. When Peaches Grow on Lilac Trees
3. The Monkey and the Elephant
4. Modern Talk
5. Everytime
6. The Clam
7. The Beanstalk
8. The Slitheree-Dee
9. Some Days
10. Muddy Old River
11. Willowy Billowy Land
12. Plastic
13. If You Come Back in Summer
14. The Flying Festoon
15. Boa Constrictor
16. The Lion

Click here or here to download!

Erick - Pastor Pickin'

And taking the Creepy Christian Puppets to its logical conclusion, here's Erick, performing with his manipulator Beverly Massegee. (I would guess "manipulator" is the technical term for somebody who operates a ventriloquist dummy, but it still sounds a little unsettling.) This is another case of something that probably works a lot better in person. (The audience seems to like it well enough.) But robbed of the visuals and not knowing who the people are that are being joked about, it loses something in the translation. But it's a fun little novelty, and I hope you like it.

And look on the bright side. You don't have that huge face staring at you from the album cover when you're listening to this like I did!

Click here or here to download!

Oops! There Comes a Smile - Jim & Tammy & Their Friends

Continuing our theme of "Creepy Puppets", here's one with a decidedly Christian bent. It's Tammy Faye Bakker singing songs in her puppety voices (with a little help from her husband Jim on the stories). I think I've got another album of these that I'll look for if you guys are interested. And did you ever notice that Susie Moppet (that's the girl puppet on the left) looks like Porky Pig in drag?

Oops! There comes the track list:

1. The Joy of the Lord
2. What a Wonderful Day That Will Be
3. Oops! There Comes a Smile
4. Happiness Is the Lord
5. God Is Watching You
6. Do Lord
7. I Wonder
8. Heaven Is a Wonderful Place
9. Praise the Lord
10. God's Not Dead
11. Story (The Pearl of Great Price)
12. Story (Noah's Ark)

Click here or here to download!

Punch and Judy - Doug Anderson the "Magic Clown"

Look, I know that Punch and Judy have been a puppet tradition for decades, but when you put it on a record without the benefit of watching it, it's just a story about a guy who repeatedly hits his wife and baby with a stick. He also almost hangs, but tricks the policeman into getting his own foot caught in the noose. By the time it's all over Punch has gone to Hell (I guess that's what the picture is showing) and (SPOILER ALERT) kills the Devil! And it's all narrated by Doug Anderson the "Magic Clown" who does his best to remind us that it's all pretend. Enjoy!

Click here or here to download!

Raggedy Ann & Andy's Alphabet & Numbers

Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy get taken to school by the little girl that owns them (I forgot her name!) and when they get back, they teach the other toys about the alphabet and numbers. This one has that odd Jon Lovitz sounding guy doing narration again. I expect someone to stop him and compliment him on how convincing he is, so he can yell, "ACTING!!!"

I've got quite a few things saved here, but I just started school again myself, so I haven't had time to write descriptions for them yet. I'll try to get a few of them in the pipeline pretty soon if I can.

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for September

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Here's your Prof. Otis G. Firefly wisdom for September, right on time (because I'm putting it in in August)! Enjoy!!