Annie's Christmas

Sorry to get this out so late. I figure that some people may still do part of their Christmas celebrating this weekend, so I'll slide this holiday album out to you. This features the same cast as "Keeping Fit with Annie", but also includes the character of Miss Hannigan. (She was never in the comic strip, was she?) A couple of crooks plan on stealing money from the orphanage, but Annie, Sandy, and the gang all come to the rescue.

I've actually got a couple more Christmas albums coming my way. Depending on how late I get them, I'll either get them up here as soon as I can put them together or I'll wait until next year to get them up here. I hope everybody had (or will continue to have) a wonderful Christmas!

Click here or here to download!

Merry Christmas from Me and Bob Hope!

Hey, here's the last cut from "Hope for the Holidays" celebrating Christmas. And look, I put it in on exactly December 25th (at least, that's what future generations will think! SHHHHH!!!)


Click here or here to download!

The Small One: A Christmas Musical for Young Voices

Here's another Christmas album for you. This is a musical version of the story "The Small One", as sung by the Jay Stream Singers of Carol Stream, Illinois. The basic story is that a little boy is forced to sell his troublesome donkey (who is also his friend). He has no luck until he finally gets to sell it to Mary and Joseph. The donkey carries Mary who is great with child, as they say. And of course, this is the same Mary who gives birth to Baby Jesus. (Oops, should I have thrown a Spoiler Alert in here??)

Anyway, as pleasant as this album was, it was all about the pictures for me. First of all, somebody wrote "Discard" in big letters using black marker on the front cover and there was a big sticker in the top right corner that I couldn't get off. This was my first experience using Microsoft Paint to get rid of the incriminating evidence. I think I did OK for a rookie, don't you?

Secondly, take a look at the back cover here:



See this young guy in the ruffledy shirt?



I saw that and joked to myself, "Hey, it looks like they got 'Dukes of Hazzard' star John Schneider to perform on their album!"

Then I glanced down at the credits:



Yep, that's really him! I think he performed the voice of David's father and later sang the Auctioneer's Song. (In fact, I seem to think for some reason I might have heard him sing that song somewhere else. At a telethon perhaps?) This album was copyrighted 1977 and "Dukes of Hazzard" started on TV in January 1979, so this may have been one of the last performances Schneider did before he started working on the show.

OK, enough talk. Enjoy the album! (By the way, the story and songs were intermixed so the track breaks are somewhat arbitrary.)

Here's the track list:

1. Introduction
2. Destiny
3. That's the Way It Is with Friends
4. I'll Whistle
5. The Auctioneer's Song
6. Would You Like to Buy a Donkey?
7. That's the Way It Is with Friends (Reprise)
8. Miracles

Click here or here to download!

The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood

This is kind of an odd one. It was the soundtrack to a television Christmas special shown on ABC on Nov. 28, 1965. It takes the classic Little Red Riding Hood story and puts a Yuletide slant on it. And check out this cast list: British actor Cyril Ritchard (at that time known as the definitive Captain Hook from the musical "Peter Pan") as Lone T. Wolf; Liza Minnelli as Red Riding Hood; Sinatra-esque singer Vic Damone as the Woodsman; and the Animals (yes, as in "Eric Burdon and the") as the Wolf Pack. If you like Liza and Cyril, they have most of the songs here and, as would be expected, do a nice job on them. Unfortunately the Animals only have one song here, but it's a fun one nevertheless. I don't know how much the special focused on the Christmas connection, but only three of the songs here reference it. So while I'd call this one only tangentially related to Christmas, I'm counting it anyway!

Hey, I just found out that this special was recently released to DVD, and you can get a copy of it here!

Here is the track list:

1. Overture - Orchestra
2. We Wish the World a Happy Yule - Cyril Ritchard and the Creatures of the Forest
3. My Red Riding Hood - Liza Minnelli
4. Snubbed - Cyril Ritchard
5. Woodman's Serenade/Granny's Gulch/Along the Way - Vic Damone and Liza Minnelli
6. I'm Naive - Liza Minnelli
7. Red Riding Hood Improvisation (Ballet) - Orchestra
8. I'm Naive (Reprise) - Cyril Ritchard
9. We're Gonna Howl Tonight - The Animals
10. Ding-a-Ling Ding-a-Ling - Liza Minnelli and Cyril Ritchard
11. Poor Mouse (Ballet) - Orchestra
12. Granny/Along the Way (Reprise) - Liza Minnelli, Cyril Ritchard, and Vic Damone
13. We Wish the World a Happy Yule - Cast

Click here or here to download!

The Little Drummer Boy - The Ambassador Chorale and Players

Hi! Here's a Christmas album for you. Hopefully nobody has put this one up yet. Except for the title track, all the rest of the songs here are original. This one's a mixture of some silly songs and some rather serious ones as well. Anyway, here it is and I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Little Drummer Boy
2. The Twenty-Fifth of December
3. Christmas on the Farm
4. A Little Girl's Flute Song
   
5. Grandfather Clock
6. The Chimney and the Fireplace
7. Christmas Lullaby
8. The Jolly Gent Who Jingles
9. A Doodle-Oodle Christmas Song
10. A Shepherd Boy's Carol
11. The Angels Merry Christmas
12. Christmas Rush

Click here or here to download!

(NOTE: Links have been fixed. The original link wasn't playing "Little Drummer Boy" as the first track.)

Feeling Good with Annie

I'm getting behind on posting albums again, and I apologize for that. Work and school are still keeping me pretty busy.

Here's a crazy one that came out not long after the movie "Annie". In it Annie and the gang learn about exercising from door-to-door exercise guru Professor Fitness. Things get strange though when they try to invite him to a special charity ball in the city, and he says he can't go because the police want to arrest him! Anyway, things get straightened out (Did you have any doubt?) and the Professor (and the No Flab Revue) leads everybody in learning a new dance called"The Annie" (which is basically move your feet however you want to and say "I'm special". Not very helpful, is it?). The album includes disco instrumental versions of "Easy Street", "Maybe", and "Tomorrow" played during the story. This one's pretty crazy, but that's what you get for taking exercise tips from a kid with no eyeballs!

Click here or here to download!

Happy Thanksgiving from me and Bob Hope!

Another cut from "Hope for the Holidays", this one in honor of Thanksgiving. Hear Bob Hope make jokes about Pilgrims, Indians, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Liberace, newspaper columnist Drew Pearson, and Republicans!

Happy Turkey Day everybody! (And don't worry. I've got another album to share coming up soon!)


Click here or here to download!

Happy Halloween from Me and Bob Hope!

Well, I haven't had a cut to upload from "Hope for the Holidays" since July 4th, but here's the next one for Halloween. Sorry I didn't have more fun scary stuff, but like I said before, it seems like all the good stuff has already been uploaded. (At least, all the good stuff I already have!)

Anyway, Hope you enjoy this!

Click here to download!

How Much Is That Doggie in the Window

I think we've got another hybrid children's album here. A number of these songs sound much older to me (like "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Peter Rabbit"). It's the newer sounding songs that sound kind of crazy. It's almost like some of them were written for (thankfully) aborted Saturday morning cartoons.

Check out this lyric from "Tippy the Tiger":

"Baby tiger, too cute to spank! Baby tiger, too cute for a tank(?)"

or this one from "Lenny the Leopard":
"Lenny the Leopard was a drop-out! Lenny the Leopard was a pop out!"

(I can almost hear Daws Butler doing his dumb wolf/Huckleberry Hound voice, or maybe even Stan Freberg's Pete Puma voice for this one.)

Know what makes the Grumpy Old Crocodile so grumpy? Well, according to his song: "His old rheumatism has been acting up today!"

There's some neat stuff here (and some odd stuff here too). Hope you enjoy it!


Here's the track list:

1. How Much Is That Doggie in the Window


2. Frisky Little Puppy


3. The Cat Came Back


4. Mary Had a Little Lamb


5. The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat


6. Tippy the Tiger


7. Lenny the Leopard


8. Peter Rabbit


9. The Grumpy Old Crocodile


10. Chip the Chimpanzee


11. I Love Little Pussy


12. O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone


13. Hark Hark the Dogs Do Bark

Click here or here to download!

Classical Country - Snuff Garrett's Texas Opera Company

Well, it looks like Snuff Garrett is at it again! Not content to simply combine pop and barbershop, here's a record where he does a mash-up of sorts with country and classical music. This one doesn't work quite as well for me because I'm not as familiar with the subject matter (plus I wish they would have used vocals), but you might like it just fine. It's certainly unusual, though. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Today I Started Loving You Again/Polonaise
   
   
2. San Antonio Rose/Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)
   
   
3. A Legend in My Time/Liebestraum
   
   
4. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry/Second Concerto Op. 18
   
   
5. For the Good Times/Musetta's Waltz
   
   
6. Make the World Go Away/Clair De Lune
   
   
7. Rose Garden/Minuet
   
   
8. Still/The Swan
   
   
9. Wildwood Flower/Joy
   
   
10. Release Me/Moonlight Sonata
    

Click here or here to download!

Songs, Games & Fun for Growing Boys and Girls

This is another one of those kid's records that I think was compiled from other previous records. Why else would they use a generic picture of kids at a party and not mention that this album features performances by Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket), joined by Nipper the dog (who also happened to be the mascot of RCA Records)? There's a lot of neat stuff here by him, as well as Dorothy Olsen and Glenn Riggs, so I think you guys are really going to enjoy this one. Right, Nipper?

"RRRRRIGHT!!!"


Here's the track list:

1. Fun with Mother Goose - Cliff Edwards
2. The Animal Fair - Dorothy Olsen
3. Mother Goose Birthday Party - Glenn Riggs
4. 1-2-3 Fun - Cliff Edwards
5. Fun on Old MacDonald's Farm - Cliff Edwards
6. I Know an Old Lady - Dorothy Olsen
7. A-B-C Fun - Cliff Edwards
8. Mother Goose Play Songs - Glenn Riggs

Click here or here to download!

Popeye the Sailor Man and His Friends

You guys probably think I'm a ginormous Popeye fan. I'm not really. I've just found a lot of interesting Popeye stuff lately. Like "Popeye's Zoo", this album features original songs and stories with Jack Mercer, the famous voice of Popeye himself. This one also includes Mae Questel as Olive Oyl and Swee'Pea. Wimpy's on it too, but I'm not sure who did his voice. Was that Mercer as well? Anyway, I believe adding the other characters does add more balance to the stories. Listening to a whole album of just Popeye's voice does get a bit grating on the ears. (Of course, Olive's voice can get a bit annoying as well, but it's a different kind of annoying!) There's some fun stuff here, including the sped-up sounding Popeye theme song that we've encountered around here before, a story and song where Popeye and Olive shoot a scene from the movie "Popeye the Sailor in Havana" where Questel shows off a very nice singing voice, and a story and song about the traditions in Japan (sung to the tune of "Titwillow") that actually makes it through without a single stereotypical Japanese vocalization! Anyway, there's a lot of neat stuff here, and I hope you enjoy it!

(NOTE: The song "Every State Is a Great State" had some bad skips in the middle of it, so I edited through the best I could. All you missed was Wimpy saying he wanted to visit Texas because (since everything's bigger in Texas) the hamburgers must be gigantic, and something about Popeye wanting to visit Tennessee because he thought it was near the sea. The next track had some skips as well, but except for a couple of spots I think I edited it pretty tight.)

Here's the track list:

1. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man (Theme Song)


2. Popeye in Cartoon-Land


3. Strolling Through the Park


4. Help, Help! and I Had a Hamburger Dream


5. Home on the Range


6. Television Night


7. Never Pick a Fight


8. Every State Is a Great State


9. Take Me Out to the Ball Game


10. The Emperor of Japan


11. A Game for a Rainy Day


12. Why Do You Answer a Question with a Question

Click here or here or here to download!

Stories and Songs for Children with Jimmie Ruth and Rusty

Here's another one of those Christian ventriloquism albums that seemed to be all the rage there for a while. This one features a woman named Jimmie Ruth and her sidekick "Rusty". It's sort of odd to market it this way because Rusty is only on the three story cuts (along with what sounds like some laughing kids put in as a sort of laugh track). The rest are Jimmie Ruth singing, except for the song "We've Got a Great Big Wonderful God" which is performed by three year old Melody Mathews. It's cute in that "little kid sings almost all the notes right but has to stretch on a few" way. Anyhow, I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. David and Goliath (story)
2. Only a Boy Named David
   
3. If the Lord Makes You a Plumber
4. Gideon (story)
5. We've Got a Great Big Wonderful God
6. Jesus Loves Me
7. When He Cometh
8. Adam and Eve (story)
9. Into My Heart

Click here or here to download!

Modern Barbershop Quartet

Here's an unusual album from 1974. You know, sometimes there's a gray area between a novelty album and a good album with an odd concept. I'll let you guys decide where that area hits on this one. This album features hits from the time done in barbershop style. This was definitely done as a joke though, from the cartoony front cover to the wacky liner notes by Gary Owens on the back cover. But then there's the good singers involved in this (including our favorite bass Thurl Ravenscroft) and the pedigree of famed record producer Snuff Garrett helming this, and it just makes this album a bit more special. And the ultimate irony is that it's not that unusual to hear acappella groups legitimately doing songs like this now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!

(NOTE: You may not recognize the last song on the list. It was actually adapted from a commercial jingle from Jack in the Box sung by the adorable moppet of the moment Rodney Allen Rippy.)

Here's the track list:

1. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree


2. The Twelfth of Never


3. Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?


4. If


5. Delta Dawn


6. Me and Bobby McGee


7. We've Only Just Begun


8. Behind Closed Doors


9. What the World Needs Now Is Love


10. Take Life a Little Easier

Click here or here to download!

More Sing-a-Long with the Grasshoppers

Hello again! You guys probably thought I fell off the face of the earth, but I've just been really busy with work and school and stuff.

Here's an album from a group that's thought of as one of the better Chipmunks knockoffs, and it is pretty good. Some generic stuff here, and some different choices like "76 Trombones" and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" for your listening pleasure. Hope you like it!

(NOTE: I had to cut the last verse of Bicycle Built for Two due to excessive skipping, but it was just the guy singing it anyway. Also, I have the first volume of this as well, but it's in pretty bad shape so I figured I'd get this one on here now and work with Volume 1 some more when I get it sounding better.)


Here's the track list:

1. 76 Trombones
2. Happy Birthday
3. A Hunting We Will Go
4. A Boy in Buckskin
5. Swanee River
6. Anchors Aweigh
7. Doggie in the Window
8. Dixie
9. Aloha
10. On a Bicycle Built for Two
11. Red River Valley
12. Brush Up Your Shakespeare

Click here or here to download!

KIDS Radio Birthday Party: A Ronald McDonald Discovery Record

And here's Ronald McDonald again to DJ your birthday party! This sounds like the same Ronald from the other record I posted (meaning it doesn't sound like any Ronald McDonald I remember). On this album he has all his friends (most of whom you've never heard of before) doing their best to host your birthday party.

You know, it feels strange to me to think that this was put out by the same Casablanca Records that put out KISS's albums. Hey, I guess they just like recording scary guys in whiteface that wear funny clothes!

Click here or here to download!

TV Jamboree: 16 Great Songs from Ten Top Children's Favorite Shows

Here's a neat album with song's from children's favorite TV shows, or at least their favorite shows when this record came out! Yes, I believe this is the same slightly sped-up sounding version of "Popeye the Sailor Man" here, but we also have songs from Wyatt Earp, Lassie, Annie Oakley, and more! As you could see this is when westerns were big.

Another great bonus is that I believe this is the same version of the Mighty Mouse Theme that the late Andy Kaufman used in his act.

Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. Lassie Theme
2. Lassie, My Four-Footed Friend
3. The Legend of Wyatt Earp
4. What's Up Doc
5. I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat
6. Annie Oakley
7. Ten Gallon Hat
8. Mighty Mouse Theme
9. I Wish I Had a Dog Like Rin Tin Tin
10. Rinny, Rusty, and Rip
11. A Dog's Best Friend
12. I'm Popeye the Sailorman
13. Tales of Wells Fargo Theme
14. How Do You Go to School - Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob Smith
15. Cowabunga! - Howdy Doody and Buffalo Bob Smith
16. Wagon Train Theme

Click here or here to download!

Popeye's Zoo

This is sort of an odd album that's put out by a record company I've never heard of (Noble Records). On it, Popeye tells stories and sings fun songs about the animals in the zoo. We do have Jack Mercer doing the Popeye voice here, which is nice. However, even though the album cover shows many of the other characters, it's all Jack here. According to the back cover, this album was released to coincide with the "brand-new series of 208 cartoon films produced especially for television by King Features Syndicate". That's also reinforced by the main bad guy being referred to as Brutus instead of Bluto. These songs were all written especially for this album, and we even have a new recording of "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" with some added lyrics about the zoo. I especially liked the song "Don't Pet the Alligator" that's sung in Popeye's smoother "mumbly" sort of voice. I thought this album was pretty neat, and I think you will too!

Here's the track list:

1. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man



2. Tiger Tiger



3. The Camel Ride



4. The Hippo Song



5. The Tricky Monkey



6. Funny Giraffe



7. The Elephant's Nose



8. Don't Pet the Alligator



9. The Bouncy Kangaroo



10. It's Time to Feed the Seals



11. The Penguin Song



12. Grumpy Grizzly Bear

Click here or here to download!

Star Trek: Original Stories for Children Inspired by Star Trek

This is an album version of stories that were originally in book-and-record sets. Two of the stories were written by Alan Dean Foster ("The Logistics of Stampede" and "Mirror for Futility"). This must have come out around the time of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", but the stories don't have Decker or Ilia in them. Needless to say, these aren't the original voices on this one either, but I think there was one guy in there that liked doing accents. One story has a Swedish guy in it, and another one has a guy that sounds Transylvanian or something on it. He's probably the one who did Scotty's voice too. (You know Scotty's Scottish because the first thing he says is "Och!!"). Anyway, hope you like this!

Here's the track list:

1. Robot Masters
2. The Logistics of Stampede
3. The Human Factor
4. The Man Who Trained Meteors
5. Mirror for Futility
6. Crier in Emptiness

Click here or here to download!

"Tomorrow on the Children's Corner" with Fred Rogers and Josie Carey (COVER UPDATE)

Here's a great rare album shared by Kip, one of my faithful readers. This is from the show "The Children's Corner", a show that Fred Rogers worked on in Pittsburgh before he made it big with "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". You'll notice a number of Rogers' familiar characters here. I'll let Kip tell you more about the record:

It's a complete adventure, with a song from Henrietta Pussycat that's
90% "meow," upbeat numbers, a sweet lullaby in English and French, an
affirmative song from X the Owl, "You're Special," which is later echoed
off-key by Lady Elaine Fairchild as "I'm Special" (with the memorable
line "I'm a broken tooth, darling"), and many more. Most of the
characters on his long-running PBS show are there. We never hear "Mr.
Rogers" himself, but Fred Rogers does all the voices except for Josie
Carey's as the real-life visitor to the land of Make-Believe.

I couldn't find a picture of the cover (see UPDATE), but I did find this photo of Rogers, Carey, and a few puppets you might recognize. Another thing I noticed on listening to this is that the tune to the song "It's Morning" was later used for one of his closing songs "Tomorrow". The sound isn't quite as good as I usually have (this is a mp3 recording from a cassette copy of the original record that Kip doesn't own), but I think the rarity of this more than makes up for it. Thanks again, Kip!

(and thanks to Bill V for the correction!)

Here's the track list:

1. It's Morning


2. I Like You


3. What Would You Like


4. There's a Smile


5. I'm Busy Being Busy


6. Where Did You Go, Tomorrow?


7. I'm Looking for a Friend


8. It Makes Handsome


9. Find a Star


10. Fine Feathered Friend


11. Smile


12. Meow Mr. Rogers


13. You're Special


14. Where Did You Go?


15. I'm Special


16. Nocturne Duet


17. At Friday's Palace


18. Finale: Tomorrow

Click here or here to download!

UPDATE: As you can see, I've now got pictures of the front and back covers of this album. These aren't part of the original zip file, so if you want them you'll have to save the images from this post. These pictures are courtesy of Molly, who happens to be selling this very album on eBay and allowed me to use the pics in exchange for including some information from this post in her listing.

The Big Top Singers: Let's All Go to the Circus

I don't really know much about this album. The company that put it out was Peter Rabbit Records in Toronto, so this is another album that may hold fonder memories for those of you north of the border. To the rest of us, there's still some fun circus-related songs here (including the classic "The Man on the Flying Trapeze"). I hope you guys enjoy this one!

Here's the track list:

1. The Biggest Show on Earth


2. Annette the Little Majorette


3. I've Got Two Passes for the Circus


4. I Got The Brass Ring on the Merry-Go-Round


5. I Love a Clown


6. If It Was Up to Me


7. Here Comes the Circus


8. That's What I Dreamed Last Night


9. I Want to Be a Lion Tamer


10. The Man on the Flying Trapeze


11. The Giant and the Midget


12. It's a Great Day at the Circus

Click here or here or here to download!

Be a Ventriloquist with Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody

I believe this album came with the Howdy Doody ventriloquist doll (pictured here with Buffalo Bob Smith). It's a bit deceptive in that you think you'll get lessons in ventriloquism with Buffalo Bob and Howdy. However, they're only heard in some old bits from their show. The bulk of the album is done by a man named Larry Marks, whose voice sounds familiar to me but I don't know where from. That being said, there actually is some very good information about learning ventriloquism here, all the way from doing different voices to learning how to get past some of the tougher consonants without moving your lips. So, as the cover says, "Hear it. Try it. And discover how easy ventriloquism can be."

NOTE: It was pointed out to me that Side 1 and Side 2 were exactly the same. I fixed that now.

Click here to download! (More links coming!)

Archie Presents Petite in "Doggie in the Window"

Here's an album with Archie Wood, Petite, and his other puppet friends. I'm not familiar with Archie and company myself. The record itself looks to be from Canada. So if you're Canadian, this record may provide many fond memories (or nightmares as the case may be)!

Here's the track list:

1. Doggie in the Window
2. Pop Goes the Weasel
3. Blue Tail Fly
   
4. Do-Re-Me
5. Zippety Doo Dah
6. Home on the Range
7. Mocking Bird Hill
8. Old Macdonald Had a Farm
9. Farmer in the Dell
10. Mary Had a Little Lamb
11. Ba Ba Black Sheep
12. Nick Nack Paddy Wack
13. I Think I'll Eat a Tadpole
14. Closing

Click here or here to download!

The Man - Lorne Greene

Whether you remember him as Pa Cartwright on "Bonanza", Commander Adama from the original "Battlestar Galactica", or shilling Alpo Dog Food, there's no mistaking the booming bass voice of Lorne Greene. I picked up this record when I went out of town and, after seeing that it hadn't been re-released, I thought I'd share it with you. Greene does little introductions to each of the songs as well, which I think adds a little fun to it.

I realize this is a bit different from the usual fare you find around here, but I think you'll enjoy it just the same! (Besides, I couldn't find any Halloween records I have that aren't being shared everywhere else!)

Here' s the track list:

1. Pop Goes the Hammer
2. End of Track
3. Nine Pound Hammer
   
4. Bring on the Dancin' Girls
   
5. Oh! What a Town
6. Fourteen Men
7. Destiny
8. Sixteen Tons
9. Trouble Row
10. Chickasaw Mountain
11. Darling, My Darling
12. The Man

UPDATE: This is now available to buy on Amazon! Here's the link to it: The Man

The Stars of "Gentle Ben": The Bear Facts

This is an odd little album from 1969. You remember the show "Gentle Ben" about a boy and his bear and the adventures they had? (Yeah, I know there's more to it than that, but that's about all I remember about it!) Well, apparently in one episode the boy (Clint Howard) had to sing a song. Everybody thought this was fun so somebody in the cast (Dennis Weaver is given the credit or blame as the case may be) thought it would be neat for the entire cast to do a record, and here it is! Featured on the album is Dennis Weaver, Beth Brickell, Clint Howard, Rance Howard, and Candy Candido (the guy who's the "voice" of Gentle Ben), as well as the Good Time People singing songs especially written for the record. Now it says "The Good Time People" over the cast's picture on the back cover, but the GTP's sound like studio singers to me. Anyway, this is a fun little record and I hope you enjoy it!

Here's the track list:

1. Good Time Comin - Good Time People


2. Cobwebs of Your Mind - Dennis Weaver


3. Whatchamacallit - Rance Howard and Clint Howard


4. Love Is a Circus - Beth Brickell


5. I Love to Eat - Candy Candido


6. Feels So Good (To Be Together) - Beth Brickell


7. Days Like These - Dennis Weaver


8. Two By Two - Candy Candido


9. Don't Cry Little Gator - Rance Howard


10. I Am the Way I Am - Clint Howard

Click here or here to download!

Why Mommy...?

I think this was actually two records put together, since the first side is performed by Mr. I. Magination (Paul Tripp) and the second side is done by Tom Glazer. The unifying theme here is songs that answer those questions we had as kids. There's some pretty catchy stuff here, so I think you'll like it!

Here's the track list:

1. We Know the World Is Round
2. What's Inside Our Earth?
3. How Many Colors Are in the Rainbow?
4. Do Animals Talk to One Another?
5. Where Does the Sun Go at Night?
6. How Does a Cow Make Milk?
7. Why Is the Sky Blue?
8. Why Are Stars of Different Colors?
9. Why Do Leaves Change Their Colors?
10. What Makes the Weather?
11. Why Does a Bee Bzzz?
12. Why Do Stars Twinkle?
13. Why Can't I See in the Dark?
14. Why Are Bananas Picked Green?
15. How Do Seeds of Plants Travel?
16. What Foods Should We Eat Every Day?

Click here or here to download!

Kiddie Hit Parade

This album is billed as an "Approved Playcraft Record". Somehow it's affiliated with the Childcraft series of books, which some of you may remember as a sort of children's encyclopedia grouped by subject. I seemed to recall having a set of these at our house when I was a kid. Hey, we didn't have the Internet back then, so we had to do the best we could with what we had! Anyway, here's some fun kid's songs and stories, and I hope you like this!

Here's the track list:

1. Little White Duck
2. In the Land of Hatchy Milatchy
3. On the Good Ship Lollipop
4. Tootles the Tug
5. The Little Shoemaker
6. I'm a Little Teapot
7. Bimbo
8. Happy Birthday
9. The Ballad of Davy Crockett
10. Mule, You Lazy Mule
11. The Arkansas Traveler
12. Turkey in the Straw
13. Mexican Hat Dance
14. Three Blind Mice

Click here or here or here or here to download!

More Transformers Commercials from Mat!!

Look, here's more cool Transformers commercials from Mat, including a local TV station promo for Optimus Prime Week and an ad about an appearance by the Transformers at the Louisville Zoo! Thanks again, Mat!

Lots more miscellaneous Transformers stuff!

Some more great Transformers and other commercials from Mat!

Here's what you'll find in this file:

Transformers Classic Pretenders commercial (.ram file)
Ninja Turtles Talking Toys commercial (.wmv file)
Pac-Man Pasta commercial (.wmv file)
Transformers Action Masters commercial (.ram file)
Transformer comic book (Power Masters) commercial (.ram file)

Blogger in Draft is now offering Video Upload, so I'll try to upload a couple of these to show a sample of what you'll get at the bottom of this file:

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Even more cool Transformers stuff!

Here's more from faithful contributor Mat, including a Transformers record!

This file contains:

Transformers record "Autobots Fight Back"
and some great Transformer commercials.

Video Upload is something new that Blogger is offering, so it may or may not work. If it works, you'll find the commercials below.

Click here to download! (More links coming)

Lots of miscellaneous Transformers stuff!

Here's some fun Transformers comic books and other comic ads contributed by Mat!

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Happy Independence Day from Me and Bob Hope

Yes, it's yet another cut from the CD "Hope for the Holidays". In this one, Bob Hope tells jokes with an Independence theme. Well, sort of. He gets off on a tangent about his brother and school and swimming, but it goes back to being July 4th related at the end. Enjoy!

Click here to download!

A Day in the Life of a Dinosaur

This is a fun little musical story about a child that travels back in time and makes friends with a dinosaur named Bronty. You may notice the credit on the cover that says "Starring Phil Foster as Bronty". I'm thinking this may be the same Phil Foster that played Laverne's father on the show "Laverne and Shirley", but it's hard to tell because his voice is sped up. What do you think?

NOTE: This album is now available to purchase as an mp3 from Amazon! You can get it here.

Broadway: The Children's Delight - The Happy Time Chorus and Orchestra

I was actually hoping that "The Happy Time Chorus" was going to be kids, but these songs are mostly sung by adults, except for kid bits in "Do-Re-Mi" and "Getting to Know You". To be honest, the best thing about this one is the covers. I mean, take a look at these and try to figure out what happened to the little sailor boy between the front cover and the back cover here:


Anyway, hope you like this!

Here's the track list:

1. My Favorite Things (Sound of Music)
2. Do-Re-Mi (Sound of Music)
3. Dites Moi (South Pacific)
4. Getting to Know You (King and I)
5. March of the Siamese Children (King and I)
6. Oklahoma
7. Oh What a Beautiful Morning (Oklahoma)
8. Rain in Spain (My Fair Lady)
9. I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady)
10. Be Kind to Your Parents (Fanny)

Click here to download!

Animal House Sings & Plays Hits from the Muppet Movie and Sesame Street

What we have here are songs from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show performed by some pretty bad Muppet impersonators. That just makes it more fun, I think! Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. The Muppet Show Theme
2. Baby Face
3. Movin' Right Along
4. The Pig Calypso
5. Mahna Mahna
6. Everyone Makes Mistakes
7. The Grouch Song
8. The Rainbow Connection
9. I Love Trash

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Big Daddy: Meanwhile...Back in the States

And here's the second album from Big Daddy, the band that performed 50's versions of 80's hits! There's actually a third album called "Cutting Their Own Groove", and it's available to download here. If you've enjoyed these other Big Daddy albums, I highly recommend you get this one as well!

Here's the track list:

1. I Want to Know What Love Is
2. Always on My Mind
3. Sussudio
4. Dancing in the Dark
5. I Just Called to Say I Love You
6. Billie Jean
7. Flashdance
8. Jump
9. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
10. Safety Dance
11. Do You Really Want to Hurt Me
12. Every Breath You Take
13. Purple Rain
14. All Night Long

Click here or here or here to download!

Big Daddy (What Really Happened to the Band of '59?)

I've had a number of requests for the other Big Daddy albums, so here's the first one. I've included both front and back covers in the download. There's a lot of fine print on the back cover that I hope comes out legible.

Anyway, enjoy this great album from Big Daddy!

Here's the track list:

1. I Write the Songs
2. Bette Davis Eyes
3. Super Freak
4. Star Wars
5. Whip It
6. Ebony and Ivory
7. You Don't Bring Me Flowers
8. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
9. The Rose
10. Just What I Needed
11. Hotel California
12. Eye of the Tiger

Click here or here or here to download!

"Boxed In" Featuring Punchy and You (INFORMATION UPDATE 6/22/07)

Here's a fun contribution from faithful reader Doug G. I'll let him tell you all about it:

This was a premium offered to drinkers of Hawaiian Punch in the early 90's. I don't recall how many cans of Hawaiian Punch I had to drink to get this, but it seemed like a heck of a lot (mostly because I HATE Hawaiian Punch, but I'm also a cheapskate so if I bought the darn punch I was sure gonna drink it). What we have here is a cassette tape hailed as a "Sonic Adventure" in "3-D sound" starring Punchy, that ultra-violent Hawaiian Punch mascot. The story takes place in a sort of first person with Punchy talking to the listener throughout. Through some fluke, you and Punchy get sucked into your TV set and are being pursued by two guys who border on copyright infringement in their all-too-close resemblance to the Mario Brothers. They (I think they're called the Fellini Brothers or something like that) chase you and Punchy through several TV channels with many a pop reference to early 90's television. Well, in the end those Fallini's get theirs when Punchy asks them "How about a nice..." nah, I won't spoil the ending for you.

I couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks again Doug G.!

UPDATE: As I've mentioned before I love getting comments and emails from you all regarding the blog, but this email was an especially pleasant surprise:

Hi, Tony... my name is David Dean. I've just discovered your blog through TV Squad, and it must have been fate for me to find it when the current page was up... because I wrote and directed that Hawaiian Punch cassette extravaganza, "Boxed In."

This was indeed a premium that you could get through Hawaiian Punch, produced by a small company I worked for called Teeman-Sleppin Enterprises. I edited a few music videos they produced (actually, they were commercials masquerading as music videos -- one was for Cap'n Crunch cereal and featured none other than Rick Derringer, another was for a strange fuzzy toy called Furrever Friends, and one was for a Skittles-like candy called Rascals, where they cast a three-man boy band, called them The Rascalords, and wondered why they couldn't get the thing on MTV), and they asked me if I could produce this twenty-minute or so audio tape that would attempt to -- I'm not kidding here -- make Punchy "hip." The idea was also to try and make the tape itself as much of a 360-degree sonic experience as possible, so if you were to wear headphones it was supposed to feel like you were right in the scene. This is why there are a lot of swirling sound effects, and radical left-right-and-center placement of sounds, and why I wrote it to be a "you are there" kind of format.

We had a cast of only about three or four actors doing all the parts; Punchy was voiced by a guy named Chris Phillips, who was (and still may be) Denis Leary's writing partner (if you look at Leary's old one-man shows, Chris is playing guitar behind him) and was the original signature voice on Cartoon Network. We had a great time working together, and, all in all, I'm pretty pleased with the writing and execution. We may not have made Punchy "hip," but I don't think the tape is dumb, either. (And yes, The Fabulous Fellini Brothers were a direct steal... note the fake Nino Rota music as accompaniment to their videogame...)

Anyway, thanks for the blast from the past. It does look like you have a great site, and I'm looking forward to exploring it now that I'm over the shock of seeing my work on its front page.

P.S. I'm currently the editor of the Travel Channel series "Samantha Brown: Passport to Latin America," airing Wednesday nights at 8:00 eastern and pacific. Last night our previous series, "Passport to Europe," won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Lifestyle Show, for an episode I cut. I'd love to make some kind of connection between Punchy and Samantha, but alas, I cannot.

Thanks David for the inside information on this fun album (and thanks for letting me quote you here)! Since you were nice enough to do that I even threw in your plug for free! :-D


Click here or here or here or here to download!

Ronald McDonald Visits America

This album from 1980 has a pithy little poem for each of the fifty states, brought to you by Ronald McDonald himself! Actually, I don't think this is any of the Ronalds I remember hearing. You'd think they would be able to get the actual one, and that he'd be happy to do the part without having to worry about the costume and makeup, but maybe I'm wrong. I don't believe this was any sort of premium through McDonald's. It was put out by Casablanca Records, the same company that put out KISS albums. I guess they just like doing records with oddly dressed guys in kabuki makeup!

Click here or here or here to download!

Happy Father's Day from Me and Bob Hope!

Here's yet another cut from the CD "Hope for the Holidays", this one features Bob Hope doing a monologue with a Father's Day theme. He talks about Father's Day with his wife and kids, Father's Day when he was growing up, and even has a few cracks about Bing Crosby and his kids!

Happy Father's Day, all you dads out there!

Click here to download!

Raggedy Ann and Andy Pop Concert

Here's a story about Raggedy Ann, Raggedy Andy and their friends having a secret pop concert after the little girl who owns them moves a piano in the room (and the piano starts talking to them). The songs included on the album are Rock Around the Clock, Hound Dog, Splish Splash, Shake Rattle and Roll, Sha Boom (sp), and My Girl Lollipop. I'm not quite sure who's supposed to be singing on these songs because the voice doesn't sound like any of them! Anyway, hope you like this!

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Rocky & His Friends

Here's one more reason that my blog readers are the best. Not too long ago I shared this album and mentioned that I knew somebody with the Rocky and Bullwinkle album and would share it as soon as he was able to find it again. A couple of days later I received this file in my email from an anonymous contributor! He told me it was OK to share, so here it is!

You've heard some of it on the TV Cartoons album, but this also includes two Mr. Peabody adventures, another song from Boris Badenov, and songs from Mr. Peabody, Sherman, and the Moon Men (Gidney and Cloyd)! Thanks again to our anonymous donor!


Here's the track list:

1. I Was Born to Be Airborne - Rocky



2. I'm Rocky's Pal - Bullwinkle



3. Bullwinkle's Corner: Tom Tom the Piper's Son and Pied Piper



4. Peabody Here



5. Peabody's Adventure: Ponce de Leon



6. The No-Goodnik's Song - Boris and Natasha



7. I Wanna Go Back - Sherman



8. Peabody's Improbable History - Stanley and Livingstone



9. Moon Men - Cloyd and Gidney



10. You Gotta Have a Crook!



11. Fractured Fairy Tale: Riding Hoods Anonymous



12. Reprise and Farewell: Rocky's Song

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Big Daddy: Sgt. Peppers

It was forty years (and 9 days ago) today that the Beatles came out with the album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and a number of bloggers are finding contributions to coincide with the event. I figured I'd put this one up by the group Big Daddy. If you'd like to know more about them, you can read my post here. This album takes all the songs from Sgt. Pepper's and does them in a different 50's-early 60's style. A couple of songs are included on the "Best of Big Daddy" album referred to earlier. I hope you guys like this one too!

Here's the track list:

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band


2. With a Little Help from My Friends


3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds


4. Getting Better


5. Fixing a Hole


6. She's Leaving Home


7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite


8. Within You Without You


9. When I'm Sixty-Four


10. Lovely Rita


11. Good Morning Good Morning


12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)


13. A Day in the Life

Click here or here or here to download!

Music and Stories from Original Hit TV and Movie Cartoons

When I first got this, I was intrigued by all the different company's characters on the cover. I figured this would be really good or really bad, and I was right on both counts. The "Merrie Melodies" cut has somebody doing some pretty lousy imitations of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and the Looney Tunes gang. Then we move to cut 2, "Rocky and Bullwinkle", and it's the real deal here, people! Paul Frees, Bill Scott, and June Foray doing some fun bits and songs with their characters. First Rocky sings "I Was Born to Be Airborne", and then Bullwinkle ("Greetings, record players!") chimes in with the song "I'm Rocky's Pal". Then Boris and Natasha get their own song as well. After that we move to the Fractured Fairy Tale "Little Red Riding Hood". I know I usually complain about a record that just uses the audio from a cartoon, but when the original material is as fun as this, I don't have a problem with it! The Flintstones cut features the original cast singing the show's theme song, with another verse thrown in for the Rubbles. I'm not sure if the Woody Woodpecker song here is the original voice or not, but it's a good effort regardless. I think Popeye's is right too, but it sounds a bit sped up to me. Then we get to the other HB cuts and we're back to poor imitations of the characters.

I'm willing to bet that this is a sampler of sorts for a number of different records. A friend of mine has the Rocky and Bullwinkle record packed away somewhere, and if he ever finds it, I'll borrow it to share here. Anyway, there's some great stuff on this one. I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Merrie Melodies


2. Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle


3. Boris Badenov and Natasha


4. Fractured Fairy Tales - Little Red Riding Hood


5. Meet the Flintstones


6. Woody Woodpecker


7. Popeye the Sailor Man


8. Yogi Bear and Boo Boo


9. Snagglepuss


10. Blabber Mouse


11. Huckleberry Hound

Click here or here or here or here to download!

The World of Strawberry Shortcake

Now here's a little something for the ladies...

(All right, that's a stereotypical comment. It just seemed to make this fit better with my previous post.)

This is the soundtrack to the TV special "The World of Strawberry Shortcake". It has songs and dialogue on it. I don't own this, so as far as I know this might be the entire thing in audio form. It has the rather original plot of Strawberry Shortcake's friends planning a surprise party for her and her feeling like she's being dissed by her friends because they don't want to do anything with her. Apparently the world of Strawberry Shortcake is filled with lies and deceit (but berry special surprises as well)! Anyway, hope you like it!

Click here or here or here or here to download!

Stan the Man's Hit Record (To Help You Be a Big League Batter)

This was a record from 1963 that you could get from your local Phillips 66 gas station, from a time when gas stations wanted your business so bad that they would give you free gifts if you patronized them! Learn through Stan "The Man" Musial (and co-host Joe Garagiola) techniques on how to improve your batting skills. This record also came with a booklet that further illustrated these techniques, and I have included that in a separate download if you're interested in it. It hasn't improved my batting in Wii Sports Baseball, but maybe it'll work for you in a more practical setting! Hope you like it!

Click here or here or here or here to download the record! (last link on list fixed!)

Click here or here or here or here for the booklet!

Bozo and the Big Top Circus Parade

Here's a record starring Bozo the Clown, as voiced by TV Bozo Larry Harmon. The record is dated 1973 but I'm thinking it's a reprint of an earlier edition (I'm sure one of you nice people reading this can confirm that). The highlight is Bozo's stirring Shatner-esque rendition of "The Marines' Hymn". Also included in the zip file is the back cover which has cut-out figures so you can make your own circus parade! The songs and story intertwine so the track divisions are somewhat arbitrary here. Hope you like it!

Songs featured: I Love a Parade, Washington Post March, The Marines' Hymn, Caissons Go Rolling Along, El Capitan, Merry Go Round Song, Anchors Aweigh, Dixie, Stars and Stripes Forever, I Love a Parade (Finale)

Click here or here to download!

Bob Hope Doesn't Celebrate Mother's Day...

...but he did celebrate Easter when I wasn't looking! Sorry I missed getting this on here in a more timely manner. Hear jokes (some tangentially related to Easter) about women's dresses and Jack Benny (not necessarily in that order)!

Click here or here or here to download!

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

I did some reading up on this one. It's actually not the cast album to the musical. It was a concept album from 1966 simply featuring songs based on the Peanuts characters. The composer, Clark Gesner (who also sings for Linus on this record), was convinced to later make it into a full-fledged musical. The part of Charlie Brown was performed here by Orson Bean, a guy you might recognize from different things depending on how old you are. I remember him as an occasional game show panelist, especially from "Match Game". Others might know his voice as Bilbo Baggins in the animated TV version of "The Hobbit". Some of you might even have a recollection of him as Loren Bray on the show "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman". However you know him, he does a fine job in this. However, he didn't end up taking the role in the eventual Off-Broadway musical. That role went to Gary Burghoff, probably best known as Radar O'Reilly on "M*A*S*H" (and a frequent panelist on "Match Game" himself). That recording has been released on CD, but this one never has. Here's your chance to listen to it and see what you think!

Here's the track list:

1. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
2. Doctor Lucy
3. My Blanket and Me
4. Snoopy
5. The Kite
6. The Baseball Game
7. Little Known Facts
8. Schroeder
9. Suppertime
10. Happiness

Click here or here or here to download!