Panic: The Son of Shock

This odd record from 1959 was a sequel to the album "Shock". I don't have that one, but I was going to find somebody that did and link to it here. Unfortunately the couple of places that showed having it are no longer available. If anybody has a working link for it, please let me know and I'll add that link here.

**UPDATE! You can download "Shock" at misterlesterkeen's blog. Right here to be exact. Thanks, misterlesterkeen!**

Anyway, this album from the Creed Taylor Orchestra features strange instrumental bits (some with a little talking as well) of some unusual and scary situations. The back cover has a story for each song, so I've included a copy of the back cover above (as well as on the uploaded zip file) to give you a bit of an idea on what's going on here. I apologize that the back cover didn't really print well here. If you click on the picture it gets bigger, and (with Firefox at least) a magnifying glass comes up that blows it up even bigger. I really don't know what else to tell you here, other than to download it and enjoy, remembering that the name of this blog is "Way Out Stuff" and I think this fits the bill!

Here's the track list:

1. You're Driving Me Crazy
2. The Prison Break
3. The Operation
4. Wreck of Old '97
5. Out of This World
6. Lion Act
7. Heartaches
8. Rain
9. Alpine Honeymoon
10. A Shot in the Dark
11. The Fastest Gun
12. No Smoking

Click here or here or here to download!

The Smurfs All Star Show

I wasn't sure I had this other Smurf album from 1981, but it turns out that I do! I think I bought it at a later date, because I didn't remember listening to this one. I don't like this one quite as much as "Smurfing Sing Song" because they use more traditional songs here. It's still pretty neat if you want to get your Smurf on though! Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Smurfs All Star Show
2. Welcome to Smurfland
3. Catch Me
4. Old Papa Smurf
5. Silly Shy Smurf
6. Smurfing Land Express
7. Smurf a Happy Tune
8. The Clapping and Jumping Song
9. Yankee Doodle
10. London Bridge Is Falling Down
11. Smurfing Days
12. Space Smurfs
13. Rock-A-Bye Baby

Click here or here or here to download!

Flipper's New Adventure

This record was released shortly after the movie came out in 1964 and is a sort of retelling of the movie itself. It stars Luke Halpin as Sandy, who also played the part in the movie and the subsequent series that came out that fall. However, none of the other roles are played by the original cast. Most of the roles are played by the Speed Racer voice artists, as well as Jackson Beck and Dick Van Patten. As far as Flipper himself, I don't think he bothered to come to the studio because they use variations of the same two second clip of him chattering all through the record!

One neat thing is that this is part of the Stereo Motion series of children's stories, which means that according to the back album cover, "you can hear Flipper splash and chatter as he swims from wave to wave. You can also hear airplanes pass overhead, and motor boats roar from left to right." It ain't as cool as Dolby Surround, but hey, it's not bad for 1964! Enjoy!

Click here or here to download!

Fun for Everyday with Little Johnny Everything and His Sister Judy

Here's an odd little album from 1958 that I picked up at the Library's book sale. You know, your kid's destined to be spoiled if you call him Little Johnny Everything. Although apparently his sister is named Judy Everything. What nationality would the surname "Everything" be?

Anyway, here's some cute kids songs that I don't think I've heard anywhere else (except for the song "My How You've Grown" that I'm pretty sure I saw puppets performing to on "Captain Kangaroo"). There's even a couple of Christmas songs that you can hold off listening to for a couple months if you feel like it. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. What Am I Doing?
2. Rosie, the Little Red Car
3. The Teddy Bear Song
4. I Wish I Had a
5. Window Wishing
6. How Does Your Garden Grow
7. The Little Red Schoolhouse
8. Felix the Cat
9. Dressing Up
10. The Bicycle Tricycle Song
11. What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up
12. The Holiday Train
13. The Horse in Striped Pajamas
14. Blinkey the Traffic Light
15. Mr. McGee
16. The Little Train
17. My How You've Grown
18. The Little Brown Bunny
19. Music Lesson
20. Willy, the Billy Goat
21. It's Fun to Swim
22. Back to School
23. I Want to Meet Santa Claus
24. The Story of Christmas

Click here to download!

Smurfing Sing Song

This actually came out in 1980 before the cartoon in the U.S. Of course the Smurfs were popular long before that due to the comic strip drawn by Pierre "Peyo" Culliford in Belgium in 1958. And whether you love the Smurfs or hate them, these songs are undeniably catchy.

Some bits of trivia:

• In college I took a course in Beginning Tap Dancing. For one of my class routines I used the song "Smurf Baby".
• My wife came into the room, heard this album playing and started dancing to it. She asked me what it was, and I told her it was the Smurfs. She said "Oh.", stopped dancing, and walked out of the room!
• Stay tuned for the Youtube link at the end!
  

Here's the track list:

1. Smurfing Land
2. Smurf Hop
3. When the Smurfs
4. Little Smurf Boat
5. Come to the Party
6. Smurf Baby
7. You're a Pink Toothbrush
8. Smurfin' Cowboy
9. Merry Go Round
10. Silly Little Song
11. Summertime
12. Smurf Lullaby

Click here or here to download!



This is an authorized (but somewhat disturbing) commercial for UNICEF featuring the Smurfs. The deal at the end reads, "War. Don't let it devastate the world of children."

The ABC Children's Chorus: Songs for Children...By Children

Here's an odd little record featuring songs for children by children like "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window", "Little White Duck", and "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'". HUH?? This whole album seems to come from two different directions. On the back of the album they mention that these twelve kids ranging in age from 9 to 14 sing just like they would if "they joined voices with the kids around the block". Then it mentions how the individual youngsters have appeared on Broadway, television, and TV commercials! Regardless, this is a fun album that I hope you'll enjoy. (And where else will you hear twelve kids singing to the wordless Herb Alpert song "Tijuana Taxi"?)

Here's the track list:

1. Dominique
2. Happiness Is
3. How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?
4. I Whistle a Happy Tune
5. Tijuana Taxi
6. Chim Chim Cheree
7. Batman Theme
8. Little White Duck
9. It's Superman
10. Tears and Roses
11. These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
12. On Top of Spaghetti

Click here to download!

Space Songs (with Bonus Cut!)

Here's a number of cute songs regarding space, physics, and astronomy sung by Tom Glazer (of "On Top of Spaghetti" fame) and Dottie Evans. I'd actually heard one of these songs before, "Why Does the Sun Shine" because it was redone by the group They Might Be Giants. I've included their rendition of the song as a bonus cut here. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Zoom a Little Zoom
2. What Is the Milky Way
3. Constellation Jig
4. Beep Beep (Here Comes the Satellite)
5. Why Does the Sun Shine
6. What Is a Shooting Star
7. Longitude and Latitude
8. It's a Scientific Fact
9. Ballad of Sir Isaac Newton
10. Friction
11. Why Are Stars of Different Colors
12. Why Do Stars Twinkle
13. What Is Gravity
14. Planet Minuet
15. Why Go Up There
16. Why Does the Sun Shine - They Might Be Giants

Click here or here to download!

Dr. Seuss Presents...Fox in Socks & Green Eggs and Ham

I think this album has been redone with celebrities reading the stories, but this is the one I grew up with. The stories here are read by Marvin Miller, and while you may not recognize the name I think the voice will sound familiar to you. He did narration for a number of movies and cartoons, as well as being the voice of Robby the Robot in the movie "Forbidden Planet". Miller does a super job of "Fox in Socks", first doing a regular version of the story, then a fast version. Boy howdy, does he tear through it! (And the album makes sure to mention that "there were no recording tricks or gimmicks used in this recording.") He does good with the classic "Green Eggs and Ham" too. I'm not sure which Dr. Seuss book has the story "The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga", but Miller does great on that one as well.

I was reading the back cover to find interesting facts to include here, and found this interesting tidbit about this recording of "Green Eggs and Ham": "The story of 'Sam' is accompanied by two American jazzmen of international fame -- drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Chuck Berghofer -- who improvised the interesting musical line children and adults will find hypnotizing." I have to admit it was pretty cool!

Hope you enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. Fox in Socks
2. Fox in Socks (fast version)
3. Green Eggs and Ham
4. The Rabbit, the Bear, and the Zinniga-Zanniga

Click here or here to download!

Mickey Mouse and His Friends

I'm going to be backing off a bit from the Halloween stuff for a while, because I don't have too many left right now, and if I keep putting them on, I won't even make it to the beginning of October let alone the end of it. I'm in the process of looking for more Halloween type stuff that isn't already available elsewhere, and will try to add some in when I've got more to offer.

Meanwhile, here's a neat little album from 1968. I know that some of these songs came out earlier, because I had some of these on a 45 when I was a kid. I was sad to find that they left one out from that old record I had. It had Donald Duck trying to sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" while Chip and Dale were giving him grief. It was especially fun because it had four or five instances of Donald making that quacking noise he does when he gets mad. I'll look around to see if I can find that record, and if I do (and I can clean it up enough), I'll add it to this blog entry.

There are two small skips on Track 7 (Laugh Laugh Laugh/Goofy's Jokes and Riddles) but the cut's 10 minutes long already and the jokes really aren't that good. This was the best joke on there:

Goofy: This liniment makes my arm smart.
Some Kid: Why don't you put some on your head?
Kids laugh and Goofy goes "A-hyuh hyuh hyuh hyuh!"

I'd also like to point out that despite what you see on the cover, Winnie the Pooh is nowhere to be found on this record. I guess this is when Winnie was Disney's version of Elmo: Put him on all our merchandise and it'll sell better!

Anyway, there's some fun stuff on here and I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Happy Mouse
2. Donald Duck Song
3. Quack! Quack! Quack! Donald Duck
4. Chip 'N Dale Sing: Chip 'N Dale, Polly Wolly Doodle, Daisy Mae
5. Mickey's Big Show: Donald Duck Recites Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Boy Blue, Clara Cluck Sings Opera
6. Mousekedance
7. Laugh, Laugh, Laugh; Goofy's Jokes and Riddles
8. Pussy Cat Polka
9. Mickey Mouse Mambo
10. Mickey Mouse March

Click here or here to download!

Mister Ed the Talking Horse - Straight from the Horse's Mouth

Well, Golden Records kind of tricked me on this one. Looking at the cover, you would think this record would be hosted by Alan Young as Wilbur Post and Allan "Rocky" Lane as Mister Ed. But it turns out there's no Wilbur Post in it at all, and it sounds to me like Mister Ed is being voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft here. If it's not Thurl, it sounds like the same guy that I thought was Thurl on "Songs to Tickle Your Funny Bone" that I posted earlier. Thurl or No Thurl: YOU decide!

Anyway, this is a collection of songs and facts by this fake Mister Ed. It's still cute though, and I hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Mister Ed Theme
2. Straight From the Horse's Mouth
3. Birds of a Feather
4. "How" Song
5. There's a Million Kinds of Animals
6. There's a Hat for Every Occasion
7. The Historic Force, the Horse
8. It Takes Five Senses
9. Sounds Like a Sound
10. Why?
11. The Sea
12. The Weather Song
13. Out in Outer Space

Click here or here to download!

Telezonia (My first embedded video!)

If you've got a half-hour to spare, take a look at this. I don't think I can come up with anything scarier than this little film from 1974. Enjoy! (If you have problems with it stopping and starting, hit the pause button (the button on the lower left) and give it a couple of minutes to cache part of it. Hit it again and let it play!

Disco Duck Dance Party

Hey Gang! It's Irwin the Disco Duck and the Wibble Wabble Singers and Orchestra bringing you those great disco tunes you know and love! Actually, I was disappointed to find that Irwin only sings on the first song. However, he does introduce all the other songs in that wonderful fake Donald Duck voice of his. If you didn't know what the songs were, you'd be hard pressed to figure out what the heck he was saying. To me, "Silly Love Songs" sounds like "Suey Buzzsaw", and "Kung Fu Fighting" sounds like "You're Too Fatty"! What song titles can YOU come up with??

Here's the track list:

1. Disco Duck
2. A Fifth of Beethoven
3. Love Will Keep Us Together
4. Silly Love Songs
5. That's the Way I Like It
6. Fly Robin Fly
7. December 1963 (Oh What a Night)
8. Shame Shame Shame
9. Kung Fu Fighting
10. The Hustle

Click here or here to download!

The Sesame Street Monsters!

O.K., here's a couple of things I need to tell you guys. First, I won't have enough scary stuff to last through to Halloween, especially starting this early, so I'm going to be sprinkling Halloweeny junk amongst the other kinds of albums I put on here. Second, as you can see from this offering (and could surmise from the other stuff I tend to put on here), even my scary stuff won't be THAT scary!

Now on to today's offering. Sesame Street is known for its wide variety of monsters, and we have a pretty fair offering of them here, with the majority being carried off by Grover, Cookie Monster, and Herry Monster. And for you old-schoolers like me, you'll be glad to know: No Elmo!!

Here's a couple of trivia tidbits for you regarding this album. The orangy-reddish monster on the cover with his tongue sticking out is Frazzle. He just makes odd growling and snarling noises, but he still gets his own song here (along with his back-up group, the Frazzletones). Also the song "I Want a Monster to Be My Friend" ended up being a bit controversial. Parents were apparently uncomfortable with the stanza:

If I make friends with a friendly monster
I'd let him bounce me on his knee.
I'd let him do whatever he wants to
Especially if he's bigger than me.

I guess they thought it was saying it was OK for people bigger than you to do whatever they want to you. Regardless, the skit with this song hasn't been played in years, and the song (if I'm not mistaken) has not been used in any other compilations. Sounds kind of goofy to me, especially in the context of the song.

Anyhoo, here it is. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Lovable Monsters of Sesame Street
2. I, Grover
3. Five Monsters in My Family
4. I Can't Help It
5. I Want a Monster to Be My Friend
6. Frazzle
7. The End of Side 1
8. We'll Do It Together
9. Fur
10. Cookie's Rhyming Song
11. Monster Lullaby
12. Games Monsters Play
13. Be Kind to Your Neighborhood Monsters

Click here or here to download!

Zombies from the Beyond

I wanted my first official Halloween themed album here to be something special...unusual...one might even say...way out! I think I've accomplished it with this little beauty. I've actually done a number of plays and musicals through my local community theatre, and I have to say that I'd have a blast (so to speak) trying to do this show. The basic plot involves the invasion of Earth (starting with a Milwaukee Army base) in the 1950's by that "zaftig vixen", Queen Zombina and her Zombettes. Their aim is to conquer and enslave all men in order to repopulate their planet by using Zombina's secret weapon, her hypnotic singing voice. Throw in a brave scientist, an Army general and his lovely daughter, a Russian spy, and a tap-dancing delivery boy and you've got this really funny show that was performed Off-Broadway in 1996. And you gotta love a show that's scored for piano keyboard, percussion, and accordion!

Finally (with the closest I plan to come to making a political statement here), imagine the song "The American Way" as if it's being sung by George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleeza Rice. It kind of puts a whole other spin on it, doesn't it??

Zombina Naraba Blimpo!

Here's the track list:

1. Prologue/The Sky's The Limit
2. A Flying Saucer
3. The Rocket-Roll
4. Second Planet On The Right
5. Blast-Off Baby
6. Atomic Feet
7. The Saucer Descends
8. Big Wig
9. Rocket-Roll (Reprise)
10. In The Stars
11. Beauty Shop Opening
12. Secret Weapon
13. Zombies From The Beyond
14. Dateline: Milwaukee
15. Second Planet (Reprise)
16. The American Way
17. I Am A Zombie
18. Zombina's Broad-cast
19. The Last Man On Earth
20. Zombina Destroys Milwaukee
21. Breaking The Sound Barrier
22. Keep Watching The Skies

Click here or here to download!

The Official Adventures of the Phantom & Mandrake the Magician

I'm trying to get caught up from my one week hiatus, so here's another record for you! This one comes from 1967, and I guess I can claim a bit of a Halloween connection here since the Phantom is referred to as "The Ghost Who Walks" and Mandrake (like Trumpy) can do magic things.

My first impression was that these were originally radio shows, but the occasional guitar licks thrown in are definitely 60s flavored. Another interesting thing is two comic strips are reproduced on the back cover, and the Mandrake one shows a date of 2-20. So these stories may have been adapted from stories in the actual comic strips. If any of you are Phantom or Mandrake experts, maybe you can confirm that. Now I hate to disappoint you guys, but the Phantom and Mandrake don't appear together anywhere in these stories, despite what the cover might imply. Each character had his own story to play with here. The common thread here is that both characters were created by Lee Falk.

The narrator on this album is Jackson Beck, and if you don't know the name, you'll definitely know his voice. He did everything from narrating Superman cartoons to voicing Bluto in the Popeye cartoons to being the announcer on the Little Caesar's Pizza commercials!

Enjoy the stories, and if anybody ever pulls a gun on you, do what Mandrake does and tell him, "That's not a gun, it's a can of worms."

Here's the track list (such as it is):

1. The Phantom in "The Astronaut and the Pirates"


2. Mandrake the Magician in "The Return of the Cobra"

Click here or here to download!

Songs That Tickle Your Funny Bone

I'll admit that I've cheated a bit on some of these kid's records. Most of these I never had growing up. (I still think they're pretty neat though.) However, this is one that I did have and I remember it pretty well. I was eager to put this on, but my record had a big crack in it. Fortunately I found another copy recently at Goodwill, so here it is!

This is probably the only kids record that sings about beer and cigarettes: a girl drinks a glass of beer (among other things) in "I Had But Fifty Cents", and the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain" mentions "The buzzin' of the bees and the cigarette trees". I assume that's the original words to the song, but they'd certainly change it now. (I don't indulge in beer or cigarettes, so hearing it didn't hurt me any!) Also, in the song "Cindy" when the guy sings about wishing he was an apple he sounds a little too excited wanting Cindy to take a BITE of him!

The last thing I wanted to mention here is that to my uneducated ears it sounds like Thurl Ravenscroft (of Tony the Tiger fame) is singing on some of these songs as well. See if you agree.

Here it is. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. I Am a Little School Girl
2. I Had But Fifty Cents
3. Cindy
4. The Piper Band
5. There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
6. 1000 Legged Worm
7. Ebenezer Fry
8. Boom Boom Ain't It Great to Be Crazy
9. Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track
10. John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
11. Seven Sneezes
12. Icka Backa Soda Cracker
13. I Know an Old Lady
14. Funiculi Funicula
15. On Top of Spaghetti
16. Ooey Gooey
17. I Love You
18. Be Kind to Your Web-Footed Friends
19. Big Rock Candy Mountain
20. Clementine

Click here or here to download!

UPDATE: An album with the very same versions of several of these songs (along with many others) is now available in CD and mp3 formats from Amazon.com! You can get the CD here and the mp3 version here.

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color

I'm sure a lot of you are too young to remember this, but it used to be a big deal if a TV show was broadcast in color. In fact, if you catch reruns of some early television shows they'll even make a special point of mentioning this. The announcer will say something like, "The Big Valley...IN COLOR!" I guess it's the same deal now when shows are broadcast in HD or Widescreen.

Anyway, "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" was the first (and only) show I remember that even made a point of mentioning it in the show's title! This album from 1963 features songs from a number of the episodes featured on the show performed by Annette Funicello, Jiminy Cricket, Hayley Mills, and others. If an artist isn't listed next to the song there's not a credit for them on the record. And as a little pre-Halloween treat we also have that great theme song from "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh". Everybody now, "Scare-CROOOOOOWWWW!"


Here's the track list:

1. The Wonderful World of Color - The Wellingtons
2. The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Fess Parker
3. Mister Piano Man - Annette
4. Pollyanna Song - Hayley Mills
5. Casey Jr.
6. Sammy the Way-Out Seal
7. From All of Us to All of You - Jiminy Cricket
   
8. Bella Bella Florence - Annette
9. Farewell - Fess Parker
10. America the Beautiful - Hayley Mills
11. Hector, the Stowaway Pup
12. Scarecrow - The Wellingtons
13. The Wonderful World of Color - The Wellingtons

Click here or here or here to download!

My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin

A couple of months ago, I received a comment asking if I had this album. At the time, I didn't. But I do now, so here it is!

Roosevelt Franklin was a character used more in the early years of Sesame Street. Probably the character (and his supporting cast) was dropped because he was voiced by Matt Robinson, the original actor to play Gordon on the show. I kept thinking that the character of Roosevelt Franklin lasted longer, but the show rotated out segments, so I may have just seen older skits that I hadn't seen previously. Looking at the credits to the album I see that the songs were also written by Robinson (with some help on the music by Joe Raposo), so he had quite a lot of time and energy devoted to the character.

Anyway, here's some songs about numbers, letters, days of the week, months of the year, and being proud of what you are, from Mobity Mosely, Baby Ray, A.B. Cito, Mary Frances and her brother Roosevelt Franklin!

Here's the track list:

1. Roosevelt Franklin Counts
2. Days of the Week
3. Mobity Mosely's Months
4. Keep on Trying
5. The Safety Boy Blues
6. Just Because
7. The Skin I'm In
8. A Bear Eats Bear Food
9. Halfies
10. Me and You
11. Old King Midas
12. Roosevelt Franklin's Alphabet

NOTE: This album is now a part of the 3-CD set "Sesame Street Old School, Volume 2," along with "Grover Sings the Blues" and "The Count Counts"! And you can buy it from the link below:

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: TV Theme & Soundbites

Here's something cool for you Power Rangers fans that you probably haven't run into. This is a series of sound bites from the Power Rangers characters circa 1994. That means you'll hear the theme song, as well as quotes from the Rangers, Bulk and Skull, Lord Zedd, Zordon, Alpha, and my favorite, Rita Repulsa! I think this was originally made for radio stations, but it would be ideal to use for mix tapes or even for sounds on your computer. (I bet you'd make a lot fewer mistakes if your sound effect for Critical Stop was Alpha going "Ay-Yi-Yi-Yi-Yi!")

Rather than type the entire track list, click on the back label here to read all the stuff on this:


Click here or here or here to download!

Here No Evil: A Tribute to the Monkees

I actually hoped to get this on here last week to coincide with the first two Monkees albums being re-released to CD, but I didn't make it. This CD from 1992 has a number of indie performers you've probably never heard of re-interpreting songs from the OTHER Fab Four with varying degrees of success. Give it a try. I hope you like it!

Hey hey here's the track list:

1. The Day We Fall in Love - Deacon Lunchbox
2. Take a Giant Step - The Chant
3. St. Matthew - Bob Rupe Band
4. Last Train to Clarksville - Big Fish Ensemble
5. Pleasant Valley Sunday - Magnapop
6. Valleri - Mitch Easter
7. The Door into Summer - Pat Johnson and the Wellsprings of Hope
8. Circle Sky - The Diggers
9. You Just May Be the One - Peter Holsapple
10. Mr. Webster - Anne Richmond Boston
11. Let's Dance On - The Doll Squad
12. Sweet Young Thing - Opium Hello
13. The Kind of Girl I Could Love - Vulgar Boatmen
14. What Am I Doing Hangin' Round? - Those Big Belt Buckles
15. A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You - Cruisin'
16. Randy Scouse Git - Live Bait
17. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day - Larry Joe Miller & the Rockabilly Rockets
18. Gonna Buy Me a Dog - Boise and Moss with a Side of Hamm
19. You Told Me - Multi-Color House
20. Daydream Believer - Man Size Job
21. (Theme from) The Monkees - The Flying Subs

Click here or here to download!

Count Chocula Goes to Hollywood

Jason at Scar Stuff posted two of the three Monster Flexis that came with Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry cereals back in 1979 here on his site. He asked if anybody had "Count Chocula Goes to Hollywood", and it turns out that I do. In fact, I have all three of the Flexis, as well I should, since I've been eating Count Chocula cereal for about as long as it's been around. No, seriously. I'm 44 years old now, and I still have a bowl of Count Chocula cereal for breakfast. Don't knock it. It's more nutritious than the sweet roll and cup of coffee some of you probably have! ;-D

Anyway, in this record Count Chocula wins a contest to appear on the TV western "Haunted House on the Range". He thinks he's going to be the star, but they hire him to be the stunt man and the same zany antics ensue that always do when a cartoon character becomes an unwilling stunt man. I won't give away the ending, but you probably know how it all turns out. And all this happens in less than 5 minutes! Hey, don't expect deep plots from a cardboard record in a cereal box!

Click here or here or here to download!

What a Wonderful Thing Is Me

This must have been the album cover Jiminy Cricket was posing for. Oddly enough, he doesn't make an appearance on this record at all! Instead, we get three of the four singers that were on the "Songs from the Electric Company" album I posted earlier. This has lots of cute songs about the parts of the body and what they do.

Wow! Without meaning to, I actually tied in this album to another one on this site. Hope that doesn't mean I'm getting in a rut...

Here's that track list:

1. What a Wonderful Thing Is Me
2. My Useful Nose
3. My Heart
4. Ears Are Very Nice
5. Wonderful Eyes
6. What Do We Do?
7. Busy Little Fingers
8. Fresh Air Song
9. Locomotion
10. You Don't Hear Much About Elbows
11. Be a Pal to Your Tummy
12. Activities Song

Click here or here or here to download!

Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing!

You've always wanted to dance to a sampling of TV theme songs set to a pumping beat and a rocking synthesizer, haven't you? Well, here's your chance! Put out by the same company that did "Television's Greatest Hits", this EP from 1986 also functioned as a preview of sorts of what songs were available on that album. Included here was the original theme to the Jetsons (actually the opening theme with the closing theme spliced onto the end of it), as well as a "Longplay" version that included a longer instrumental break. But the mixes are definitely the most unique songs here. Everything from "Adam-12" to "The Addams Family" is represented here in small, bite-sized chunks.

And you really could dance to it, but you might feel silly doing it (especially if you dance like me)!

Here's the track list:

1. The Jetsons Main Title (Original Version)
2. The Jetsons Main Title (Longplay Version)
3. Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing! The TeeVee Toons Master Mix (Prime Time Radio Mix)
4. Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing! The TeeVee Toons Master Mix (Late Night Dance Mix)
5. Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing! (Dubs)

Click here or here to download!

Rock 'N Roll Disco with Fat Albert and the Junkyard Band

This Fat Albert album from 1980 is different than the one I've seen offered elsewhere. It's still got some great songs from Fat Albert and his gang. This one mentions that the music and lyrics are by Dean Andre and Jeff Michael, just in case you wanted to know that. I include a scan of the back cover as well which lists the character's names with their pictures, which would come in handy if you don't know your Dumb Donald (the guy with the pink hat with the eyeholes cut out of it) from your Weird Harold (the tall skinny guy). Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. Saturday-Sunday-Monday-Funday
2. Mr. Shakespeare
3. Little Tiny World
4. Skippin' Out
5. She Doesn't See Me
6. You're My Hero
7. Goodie, Goodie, Goodie
8. I Wanna Be a Cowboy
9. Rainbow of Love
10. Friends

Click here or here to download!

Kasenetz-Katz Super Circus

Here's an album of crazy bubblegum music from the people who brought you the Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Co., and others. I apologize for the condition of the album cover above. (And to be honest, so should they. I don't think I've seen so many Mad Magazine art swipes in one place in my life!)

Here's the track list:

1. Quick Joey Small
2. Let Me Introduce You
3. Easy to Love
4. Log in Fire
5. Shake
6. I'm in Love with You
7. New York Woman
8. Up in the Air
9. I Got It Bad for You
10. Down at Lulu's
11. The Super Circus

Click here or here to download!

Having Fun with Elvis on Stage

In 1991 a book came out called "The Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time". Their criteria was that "the artist must have at least passively condoned the project, and the work must be done by a 'major' artist". So with all there was to choose from, how could this 1974 Elvis Presley concert album have possibly attained the top spot? Surely a live Elvis concert would have some great performances of songs made famous by the King of Rock and Roll himself, wouldn't it? But let your eyes travel to the top right corner of the album cover with me, and notice four simple words that made all the difference. (I blew up the picture in that area if you couldn't read it.)



Yes, this is an actual Elvis live concert album WITHOUT THE SONGS!! This has got to be heard to be believed! Elvis Presley was a great charismatic performer, but he wasn't so good on the between-song patter (and remember, that's all there IS here)! And one last thing: the management will not be responsible for injuries caused by jaws dropping and heads shaking in confusion after listening to this album.

Click here to download!

With Love and Kisses from Tiny Tim: Concert in Fairyland

Remember Tiny Tim? If you don't, he was an odd looking (but very entertaining) man who played the ukulele and appeared on such shows as "Laugh-In" and "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the late 60's. He had a big hit with "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips", which became his signature song. This was actually his second album, released in 1968. However it was an unauthorized release that, according to a Tiny Tim website, was actually recorded in 1962 and pushed back into release when Tiny Tim became famous. It's really not that bad, except that whoever put it together wanted it to sound like a live album so they dubbed in audience cheers and applause. The trouble is, they WAY overdid it. It sounds like the Beatles, Elvis, and Hulk Hogan winning the final game of the World Series (or the World Cup if you're not from the U.S.)!

Here's the track list:

1. Oh, How I Miss You Tonight
2. Let Me Call You Sweetheart
3. On the Good Ship Lollipop
4. Secret Love
5. Animal Crackers
6. Indian Love Call
7. Don't Take Your Love from Me
8. If I Didn't Care
9. You Make Me Feel So Young
10. I Got a Pain in My Sawdust
11. Be My Love
12. Toot-Toot-Tootsie

Click here or here to download!

Flashbeagle

This is the soundtrack to the 1984 Peanuts special "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown". There's a pretty good variety of music here, from disco to country to ballads. Also the song "Let's Have a Party" became the theme song to "The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show". Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Flashbeagle
2. Pigpen Hoedown
3. Don't Give Up, Charlie Brown
4. Peppermint Patty's P.E. Program (I'm in Shape)
5. Snoopy
6. Someday, Charlie Brown
7. Let's Have a Party
8. Lucy Says
9. Woodstock
10. Snoopy's Big Debut

Click here or here to download!

UPDATE: I've read that the bonus special on the upcoming "Snoopy's Reunion" DVD will be "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown"! So if you'd like to get the special that these songs were taken from, just click on the link below!

The Temple City Kazoo Orchestra: Some Kazoos

You know, I feel like I've been a bit remiss in my duties lately. I mean I've had some fun junk here, some neat junk, maybe even some cool junk, but it's been a long time since I've actually put something here that's lived up to the title of this blog. Well, Gang, I'm going to rectify that right now! This is most definitely WAY OUT JUNK!

This short album from 1978 features the Temple City Kazoo Orchestra doing a few of your old favorites, all using that "most difficult of all intruments to master properly", the kazoo. There really isn't much to say here, other than download and enjoy!

Oh yeah, one other thing. If you looked at the record closely, you could read messages written in the run-off groove (that groove between the end of the music and the center label). Here's what was written in that area: "Kazoos...America's best entertainment value!", "A 'Top Ten' smash!", "Rhino Records! Collect them all! Trade them with your friends!", and "Like the record?...then see the movie!!" I guess there's not enough space to do that on a CD, huh?

The last track was taken from another record, but I felt it deserved to be included here. Take a listen and tell me, is this Way Out or is this WAY OUT?!

The track list:

1. 2001 Sprach Kazoostra
2. Stayin' Alive
3. Miss You
4. Whole Lotta Love
5. Kazooed on Classics

Click here or here to download!

The Funky Phantom

Remember the Funky Phantom? This cartoon came out in 1971 on the heels of Scooby-Doo. It was a similar concept, except they had a Revolutionary War era ghost and his cat helping them solve mysteries. This one didn't take off like Scooby-Doo did, and only ran 17 episodes. Here's four stories of Jonathan Wellington Muddlemore (or Mudsy for short), Boo the cat, and their teenage friends. However, they didn't use the original cast for these stories. Instead it sounds like most of the voices were being handled by Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr of Speed Racer fame. Did they think us kids would be stupid enough not to notice the difference? WERE we stupid enough not to?

Anyway, here it is for your enjoyment and edification. I cheated a bit on the cover picture above. I bought mine at a church garage sale a few months ago, and the child who owned it drew circles in magic marker all over it. This one's much cleaner.

Click here or here to download!

Things Go Better With...(with Bonus Tracks!)

This was a promotional record containing commercials for a certain cola-flavored soft drink. (Hey, if they're not going to say the name, neither am I!) But if you can't figure it out from the slogan and the color scheme of the cover, you probably wouldn't be interested in "Over 50 Classic Endorsements of 'The Real Thing'" . There is quite a line-up here as you can see, divided into three sections: The American Jingles, The British Sound, and The Downunder Sound (and the fourth section of bonus tracks I had from other sources). It was really pretty neat how different groups approached their commercials. Some did the regular jingle. Some incorporated it into a song they already sang. And others did a totally original song about the product. All of these are fun to listen to and hard to find otherwise. So kick back, have a Co...I mean a certain cola-flavored soft drink, and enjoy!

Here's the track list (actually just the performers for each track):

1. Jerry Lee Lewis
2. The Everly Brothers
3. The Four Seasons
4. The Limeliters
5. Jan & Dean
6. Roy Orbison
7. Ray Charles
8. Ray Charles #2
   
9. Aretha Franklin
10. Little Milton
11. Fontella Bass
12. John Bubbles & the Shirelles
13. The Shirelles
14. The Supremes
15. The Supremes #2
16. Freddy Cannon
17. The Newbeats
18. Gary Lewis & the Playboys
19. Jay & the Americans
20. The American Breed
21. The Box Tops (with Alex Chilton)
22. Neil Diamond
23. The Fifth Dimension
24. Gladys Knight and the Pips
25. The Who
26. The Fortunes
27. Freddie & the Dreamers
28. Tom Jones
29. Petula Clark
30. The Seekers
31. Mary Hopkin
32. The New Seekers
33. John Farrar & the Strangers
34. Glenn Shorrock & the Twilights
35. John Farnham
36. The Easybeats
37. The Easybeats #2
38. The Easybeats #3
39. Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs
40. Normie Rowe & the Playboys
41. Ray Brown & the Whispers
42. Johnny Young & Kompany
43. John Rowles (Ja Ar)
44. The Executives
45. The Groove
46. Larry's Rebels
47. Doug Parkinson
48. Axiom
49. Brian Cadd
50. Sherbet
51. Little River Band
52. Jan & Dean #2
53. The Fifth Dimension #2
54. Aretha Franklin #3
55. Aretha Franklin #4
56. The Bee Gees
57. The Moody Blues
58. The Moody Blues #2
59. Lulu
60. Lulu #2

Click here or here to download!

What's the Good Word?

I couldn't find a date on this one, but I'm expecting it came out in the early 70's. Subtitled "Children's Sing-and-Learn Introduction to Words and How to Use Them", this album covers a lot of territory including synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, plurals, onomatopeia, and other word forms. While it's not as catchy as the Grammar Rock songs, it is brought to you by those swingers at Peter Pan Records, so it's still pretty cool!

Here's the track list:

1. What's the Good Word
2. With a Wink and a Nod
3. The Dic-Dic-Dictionary
4. A-E-I-O-U
5. Sing a Song of Synonyms
6. Antonym Island
7. It Sounds Alike
8. Ding Dong Dinging
9. The Inside Outside Words
10. The Plurals
11. I've Got a Good Dog (Comparisons)
12. Mister Big Word
13. The Goodbye Song
14. What's the Good Word (Reprise)
    

Click here or here to download!

Chantmania

Did you hear about the two monks who became best friends?

They met by chants.

[RIMSHOT]

I use this (admittedly) corny joke to introduce this (also admittedly) corny concept for an album. Back in 1994 there was an unlikely hit record featuring a group of monks doing Gregorian chants. It was called "Chant" by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silas. Later the same year this album was released by the Benzedrine Monks of Santo Domonica (actually members of the group Big Daddy, featured here in an earlier entry). Unlike Big Daddy, this silly concept couldn't sustain an entire album. That's why there's such a short running time here. It's still fun though. Hope you like it!

(By the way, when I was trying to get more info about this album I was reminded that there was a VIDEO mockumentary released for Chantmania as well. I just got a copy of it off eBay. I'll let you guys know how it is when I get it!)

Here's the track list:

1. (Theme From) The Monkees
2. We Will Rock You
3. Losing My Religion
4. Smells Like Teen Spirit
5. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
6. The Monks' Vow Of Silence

NOTE: This album is now available to purchase in mp3 format from Amazon.com. You can get it here!

The Three Stooges: Madcap Musical Nonsense at Your House

You know how I mentioned that "Howl Along with Huckleberry Hound" was one of the first albums I remember my brothers owning? Well, this was the other one. This one originally came out in 1959 and it features the Three Stooges: Larry, Moe, and (I'm sorry to say) Curly Joe. As opposed to their album "The Nonsense Songbook" where they simply sing songs as written, on this album they actually have adventures wherein they somehow end up singing their own versions of common songs (much like Dennis the Menace did on the album I featured here previously). It's a cute kids album, especially for people like me that grew up on it. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. We're Coming to Your House
2. The Concert
3. At the Baseball Game
4. Click Dart's Bandstand
5. Three Chipped Monks
6. Let's "Cut" a Record
7. Sing Along with Moe
8. At the Circus
9. The Toy Store
10. Goodbye, Auld Lang Syne!

UPDATE: I'm afraid I've been forced to remove my link for this, but you can buy the record from Amazon by following the link below!

...and you can find some of the cuts from this album on CD or mp3 by following this link below!

The Mighty Hercules (with bonus cut!)

Remember this cheesy cartoon from the early 60's? This is from a record based on it that originally came out in 1963 (and was re-released on CD in 2001). The odd thing is that even though there's pictures of the characters on the cover and the same people are used on the album itself, they don't use the same voices as the cartoon. Admittedly for characters like Newton the centaur that's a bit of an improvement, but it's still a strange thing to do. The best part about the show itself was the rousing theme song, and they don't even have the right version of that! However, I did add the real version of the theme song as a bonus track on the end. Hey, never let it be said that I don't take care of my peeps!

Here's the track list:

1. The Mighty Hercules Theme Song
2. Newton's Song
3. You Were Rich the Day You Were Born
4. You've Got to Be Strong
5. Tootle a Flute
6. Hercules (reprise)
7. You Can Do Anything You Want
8. The Kind of Man I Know You'll Be
9. A Bad, Bad Man
10. Newton's Song (reprise)
11. Hercules (finale)
12. The Mighty Hercules (real theme)

This album is now available to purchase in mp3 format from Amazon.com. You can get it here! (The exception to that is the actual theme song, which is available on this album here!)

The Best of Big Daddy

"While on a USO tour of Southeast Asia in 1959, Big Daddy was captured by Communist forces and held captive until the mid 80's at which time they were rescued by CIA forces and subsequently returned to the United States. While being held at Camp David for de-briefing, they were given sheet music of contemporary hit songs so that they could re-build their repertoire and get back to the only work they knew...making music. Of course, not having heard the evolution of Rock music during the quarter century they spent imprisoned in the jungles of Laos, they arranged and performed these songs the only way they knew how...in the classic styles of the 1950's."

This was the concept behind the group Big Daddy, as quoted from the liner notes of this out of print CD from 2000. These songs are taken from their two previous albums and two CD's, which I own as well. Unfortunately they're all out of print now. If you guys like this one, let me know and I'll see if I can make some of the others available. Give this one a try. I think you guys will really enjoy it.

By the way, you might notice something special about the last four cuts here. They were taken from Big Daddy's album "Sgt. Pepper's", where they re-recorded the entire Beatles album in 50's style. The song "A Day in the Life" actually takes on a whole new meaning here, and takes on a haunting effect towards the end.

Here's the track list:

1. Dancing in the Dark
2. Help Me Make It Through the Night
3. Super Freak
4. Little Red Corvette
5. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
6. Once in a Lifetime
7. Whip It
8. My Heart Will Go On
9. Eye of the Tiger
10. Every Breath You Take
11. Sukiyaki
12. Money for Nothing
13. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
14. With a Little Help from My Friends
15. When I'm Sixty-Four
16. A Day in the Life

Click here or here to download!

Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep

Hi again, Gang. First I'm bummed out again because Mondo Daddykin has once again decided to call it quits. He plans on starting up again when he's more confident with the file hosting environment. I hope it's soon. We miss you already, kimosabe.

However, I've decided to do my best to press on. Here's a neat out of print CD from 1991 featuring former Monkee Micky Dolenz. In it he's taken some pop and rock songs from the 60's and 70's and sings them like lullabies. On the surface you would think this is a parody album, but it's not. It's really very sweet and well-done. I think I'm going to put this one on tonight myself. After the hectic week I've had, I can use all the relaxation I can get!

Here's the track list:

1. Pillow Time
2. Dream A Little Dream
3. Beautiful Boy
4. Blackbird
5. Lullaby To Tim
6. Fool On The Hill
7. Good Night
8. St. Judy's Comet
9. The Moonbeam Song
10. Remember
11. Sugar Mountain
12. The Porpoise Song

This album is now available to purchase in mp3 format from Amazon.com. You can get it here!

Annette: A Musical Reunion with America's Girl Next Door

I've got some more records I want to make available here, but I'm having problems with them skipping. Anybody here have suggestions on how best to clean them? Until then, I've been looking through my CDs that are out of print to find things I think you guys might enjoy.

This was a 2 CD set originally released in 1993 and now out of print. This features songs from many a boy's crush in the 1950's and 60's, Annette Funicello. Included is her hits, songs from her movies (including "Back to the Beach"), and other songs from her 15(!) albums. Tragically, Ms. Funicello was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1987 and is still suffering with it today. This CD set is a fitting tribute to the happiness she has given to millions of people. I hope you like it.

Here's the track list:

Disc 1

1. Tall Paul
2. Don't Jump to Conclusions
3. It Took Dreams
4. Wild Willie
5. Lonely Guitar
6. First Name Initial
7. Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy
8. My Heart Became of Age
9. Amo Que Paso?
10. Train of Love
11. It's Really Love
12. Tell Me, Who's the Girl?
13. Strummin' Song
14. Hawaiiannette (Hawaiian Love Talk)
15. Pineapple Princess
16. Luau Cha-Cha-Cha
17. Song of the Islands
18. Italiannette
19. Please, Please Signore
20. Dream Boy
21. Mia Cara, Mia Amore
22. Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Me
23. O Dio Mio

Disc 2

1. Danceannette
2. The Rock-a-Cha
3. Rock-a-Polka
4. The Flapper Flip
5. The Rock and Roll Waltz
6. Mister Piano Man
7. I Can't Do the Sum
8. Just a Toy
9. The Parent Trap
10. Merlin Jones
11. The Monkey's Uncle (with the Beach Boys)
12. Walkin' and Talkin'
13. Beach Party Tonight
14. Blame It on the Bossa Nova
15. Jamaica Ska
16. Bikini Beach Party
17. Let's Twist Again
18. Surfer's Holiday
19. Stuffed Animal
20. Canzone D'Amore
21. Music! Music! Music!
22. How Will I Know My Love?
23. No Way to Go But Up
    
24. Annette (Featuring Frankie Avalon, Shelley Fabares, Paul Anka, and Tommy Sands)

Click here or here for Disc 1

and here or here for Disc 2!

Robin Hood Featuring Top Cat (and links to other HB Records)

Here's another record in the Hanna-Barbera collection. This one's a bit different than many of the others because Top Cat doesn't just tell the story of Robin Hood here. The story starts with TC and his gang of alley cats broke and starving as usual. Brain says they ought to do like Robin Hood does and take from the rich and give to the poor. Well, they reason, nobody's poorer than they are! They learn to shoot bows and arrows (sort of), but before they get much further they run into a couple of escaped bank robbers. It all turns into the old "pretend to rob a bank for the movie we're shooting only it's really an actual robbery" plot that it seems like every show did somewhere along the way. I won't tell you how it ends (as if you can't figure it out for yourself), but it's still fun. And these records love to throw some wacky songs in as well, so that's a bonus!

I admit I cheated on the cover illustration here. I used the HB Records cover when the version I have is actually the Peter Pan Records version. I believe the records themselves are the same, but the HB Records had MUCH better covers!

Since I typed it out for another one of my faithful readers, here's the track list:

1. Song: Top Cat
2. Story: Robin Hood (pt. 1)
3. Song: M-O-N-E-Y
4. Story: Robin Hood (pt. 2)
5. Song: Robin Hood
6. Story: Robin Hood (pt. 3)
7. Song: Dibble
8. Story: Robin Hood (pt. 4)
9. Story: Robin Hood (pt. 5)
10. Song: Buddies

Click here or here or here to download!

Also I had mentioned before that I was looking for copies of the other albums in this collection, and Dartman at "Dartman's World of Wonder" just recently put up the "Snagglepuss Tells the Story of the Wizard of Oz" here at

http://dartmansworldofwonder.blogspot.com/2006/07/heavans-to-emerald-city-wizards-and.html

Thanks, Dartman! Great blog you've got there. Keep it up!

One of the first ones I remember finding online was the "Monster Shindig with Super Snooper and Blabber Mouse" at

http://monster-shindig.blogspot.com/2006/03/joining-monster-shindig.html .

There's some great voicework by Paul Frees and June Foray on this one. Don't miss it!

Dennis the Menace Songs

This album is actually different than the one Mondo Daddykin loaded in a while back on his site. While this came out during the show's original run in 1960 you won't find any of the original show's cast here. Dennis is played here by a boy named Philip Fox who does kind of sound like Jay North. This is taken from a CD re-release from 1998 which is now out of print. In this album "Dennis mixes up his own words to 16 all-time favorite melodies" with these exceptions: Track 1 is the instrumental theme to the TV show, Track 15 is the vocal version of the theme (Betcha didn't know it had words, did you?), and Track 16 is a CD bonus track of an entirely different Dennis the Menace song sung by "Anne Lloyd and the Sandpipers with Bobby Neck as Dennis". That leaves 13 all-time favorite melodies which still ain't bad!

Here's the track list:

1. Mi Televizhun Song (Dennis the Menace Theme)
2. I'm Home!
3. My Mommy and Daddy
4. Margaret
5. Good Ol' Mr. Wilson
6. I HATE Liver
7. What Am I Gonna Do Today?
8. Is Someone in Trouble
9. Someday
10. I Hate Spelling
11. I Sure Love the Summertime!
12. Jeepers Dad
13. An Av'rage Day
14. I'm an Important Member of the Family
15. My Theme Song (vocal version)
16. Dennis the Menace Song (bonus track)

This album is now available to purchase in mp3 format from Amazon.com. You can find it here!

Daddy Dewdrop

Here's a bubblegum one-hit wonder for you. Daddy Dewdrop (Dick Monda) had a hit in 1971 with the song "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)", a song that was originally featured on the "Groovie Goolies" television show. However, before a Goolies album could be released, Monda put together a group of studio musicians to record his own version, which made it all the way to number 9. There's some other odd little bubblegum numbers here too. Hope you enjoy it!

Here's the track list:

1. Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)
2. 5-Card Stud
3. March of the White Corpuscles
4. Strike
5. John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith
6. Fox Huntin' (On the Week End)
7. Diggin' on Mrs. Jones
8. Abracadabra Alakazam
9. Johnny Do It Faster
10. Migraine Headaches

Click here or here to download!

Howl Along with Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear

Subtitled "The First of a Series of 478 Sing Along Albums", this is one of the first albums I remember my brothers owning. Since I was the youngest, I got the records they grew tired of. In fact, until I won this copy of it on eBay, I didn't even know what the cover looked like! As you can see from the picture, it's a pretty snazzy one. Almost like some sort of Huckleberry Hound cult or something! This originally came out in 1960, the year before I was born. My original copy was pretty well-scuffed, but this one's in nice shape. The cover says, "All voices by Sascha Burland with the 'Howlers' Choral and the 'Wailers' Orchestra. Written and directed by Sascha Burland." If Burland's doing Huck here, it sounds pretty good to my ears. His Yogi, however, sounds just like Quick Draw McGraw for some reason!

This is a sing along of popular public-domain songs sung more or less straight by a chorus. Huck and Yogi barely sing on it at all. They just talk between the songs (and Yogi doesn't even arrive until Side 2). There's also an orchestra leader that sounds a lot like Paw Rugg of Hillbilly Bears fame, and a kid named Orville that just says "Nee no nonny" when he talks. The big running gag here is when the chorus all have to turn the pages of their music at the same time, and they'll all miss a word while doing it. For example, in "You're a Grand Old Flag" they'll sing, "You're the emblem of the *FLIP* I love."

There's really too many songs to list here, but chances are if it didn't cost anything to use, it's here! Hope you like it!


Click here or here to download!

A Calendar of Happy Thoughts

I'm not sure what year this one came out, but I know my best friend had some of the songs on 45's. We especially enjoyed the song "Let Your Daddy Sleep on Sunday Morning" because his Dad was a preacher!

You may have heard some of these songs scattered around the Internet, particularly the song "The Bathroom" (which asks the musical question, "Do you have a bathroom problem in your house?") These are some fun songs and stories, and even though it says 30 children's songs on the album I only counted 27 tracks. Oh well. I couldn't get the back cover to come out very well, so here's what it says about the songs presented here. The ellipses (You know, the dot dot dot's) are theirs:

...30 original songs and stories...a "fun" adventure in learning and understanding. The music and lyrics of Selma Rich Brody are chock-full of happy and positive messages for every day...performed in a tuneful, entertaining and motivating manner. It's the nicest way to give your youngster a real head start...and a lifetime of memories, too!

I don't really understand why the word "fun" is in quotation marks. Perhaps this piece was written by Finger Quotin' Margo of "Apartment 3-G" fame. (Find out more about her and other wacky comic strip commentary at http://joshreads.com/ and tell them Tony at "Way Out Junk" sent you!)

Here's the track list:

1. Special Expression Song
2. The Milkmaid and Her Pail
3. The Honest Lumberjack
4. The Pet Song
5. When Mother Calls
6. Your Mouth Is a House
7. Let Your Daddy Sleep on Sunday Morning
8. The Greedy Dog
9. Be Neat
10. When You've Had a Bath
11. The Bathroom
12. You Can Do Most Anything
13. Kindness & Consideration
14. Do Things Right
15. The Donkey & Salt Story
16. Your House Is a Wonderful Place
17. Your Mother & Father Are People Too
18. Your Brother & Sisters
19. Actions Speak Louder Than Words
20. Make Each Meal As Happy As a Party
21. Don't Put Off for Tomorrow What You Should Do Today
22. Listening Shows Very Good Manners
23. The Mouse & the Crow
24. When Your Friends Visit You
25. When You Visit Your Friends
26. The Tortoise & the Hare
27. Do Things Right

Click here or here to download!

Father Guido Sarducci: Breakfast in Heaven

This is Father Guido Sarducci's second album, and I think it's one of my favorite "undiscovered" comedy albums. I've talked to people who remember Father Guido's first album ("Live at St. Douglas Convent") with its bits about the Fifteen Minute University and literally "paying for your sins" when you die, but few people know about this album, and it's a shame because it really is a good one. This is a performance that took place at the University of Notre Dame in 1986, and here's some of the topics covered:

The pros and cons of singing about beer on buses
The History, Folklore, and Myth of the country of Doo Dah
The missing commandments
And even a medley of Beatles' tunes!

But my favorite bit on this album by far is the one about the candles on birthday cakes. This alone is worth the price of admission (which for you is free, but you know what I mean).

Anyway, download this one. I think you'll like it.

Click here or here or here to download!

S.A.S.F.A.T.P.O.G.O.B.S.Q.A.L.T.

I have a confession to make. I was once a proud member of S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. That's the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. We had a barbershop chorus in high school. I even sang with a local chorus group until other commitments kept me from continuing. I still love the music though. A well-placed D7 chord can give me goosebumps.

Bill Hanna (of Hanna-Barbera fame) was also a barbershopping fan, and that leads us to this record from 1966. "The Flintstones in: S.A.S.F.A.T.P.O.G.O.B.S.Q.A.L.T." which stands for "Stone Age Society For Aiding The Preservation Of Good Old Barber Shop Quartets...And Like That". The story is that the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes are sending their best barbershop group, the Neanderthal Notables, to a championship competition when their star bass, Honeytones Jones, has to get his tonsils out. Fred volunteers to take Jones' place, but he sings horribly. However, he finds out he can sing beautifully, but only when he's in the shower. Sound familiar? This plot bears some similarities to the episode "The Flintstones Canaries" where Barney has a similar problem. This is a lot of fun, and has a few barbershop songs spread throughout. It's a bit disappointing that they don't change any words in the songs to reflect the prehistoric setting, but it's still some awful purty singing.

Even though this album says it features the Flintstones, the only regular characters here are Fred and Barney. The odd thing is that their voices weren't done by Alan Reed and Mel Blanc. Fred was performed by Henry Corden, which sounds normal to our ears since he took over the part of Fred when Reed died in 1977. Barney was actually performed by Daws Butler, who ends up sounding a lot like Yogi Bear here, which makes sense since both Barney and Yogi were patterned after Ed Norton on "The Honeymooners". Come to think of it, I've never seen Yogi and Barney together at the same time. Hmmmm, makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Click here or here or here to download!

The Electric Company Times Two!

If you grew up in the early 70's you might remember "The Electric Company". Started in 1971 by the Children's Television Workshop, "The Electric Company" was designed to teach reading skills to 7-10 year olds by using skits, animation and songs. However, the show was so entertaining that it appealed to all ages. I was 10 when it started and even though I had no trouble reading I still watched it religiously. The case featured veteran performers Bill Cosby and Rita Moreno as well as an up-and-comer named Morgan Freeman. Earlier this year a box set of "The Best of the Electric Company came out and comes highly recommended by me.

This first album, "Songs from the Electric Company TV Show" was released by Disneyland Records in 1973. This is definitely NOT the original cast. I feel like they jazzed up the songs too much. It also didn't help that they messed up the first line in the theme song. (Instead of "We're gonna turn it on!" they sang "Get on!") Taken on its own it's not bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to the original.

Which brings us to our second album. All the original cast is on this one from 1974, along with Mel "Who's the dummy writing this show" Brooks and Victor "Pronounced Pronunciation" Borge. There is some overlap between the two, which makes comparing and contrasting fun, particularly on the song "Easy Reader". The guy on the "Songs from..." album can't come anywhere near the great Morgan Freeman's rendition, even if he is a "reading freak"!

Here's the track list for both albums:

Songs from the Electric Company TV Show (Disneyland Records)
1. Electric Company Theme
2. Sign Song
3. My Name Is Kathy
4. Old Double E
5. Punctuation
6. Easy Reader
7. Hard Hard Hard
8. An Un Song

Click here or here to download it!

The Electric Company (Original Cast)
1. Electric Company Theme
2. Giggles Goggles
3. Easy Reader
4. Silent E
5. Be Kind to the Letter S
6. Hard Hard Hard
7. Sign Song
8. A Mysterious Phone Call
9. D
10. Punctuation
11. Jennifer of the Jungle
12. The Clown Song
13. The Clam Song
14. Fight Song
15. Electric Company March
16. Your Rich Uncle Died

And click here or here to download it!

I've redone the pictures for this entry, but the ones included with the file are still the old blurry ones. Just right-click on each picture and do a "Save picture as..." and you're good to go!

Rerun Rock

Well, I've more or less got my Rapidshare problems taken care of. The last thing I tried uploading actually did work. It just went to the free section instead of to my Premium uploads. It's still not working well from my computer, but it's fine from my wife's laptop, so we'll go with that for now.

Anyway, our next share also comes from 1989 (like the Gumby album). In that year, a single came out of the Flintstones theme as if it was done by Bruce Springsteen (or "Springstone" as the case may be). From there somebody (I'm guessing Robert Aguayo because he is credited with producing and arranging the rest of these songs) thought it would be fun to do more TV theme songs seemingly performed by other famous people. Thus the concept of this album. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the combinations, which is where the concept slips a bit. It's still good for a few chuckles though. Somehow, Michael Jackson singing the theme from Rawhide seems even more appropriate now than it did back then!

Here's the list of titles and the performer that the song is done "in the style of" :

1. (The Ballad of) Gilligan's Island - Rap (After all, all rap is alike, right??)
2. The Patty Duke Theme (Cousins) - Bob Dylan
3. Casper the Friendly Ghost - Elvis Presley
4. The Yogi Bear Song - The Cars
5. George of the Jungle - Led Zeppelin
6. The Addams Family - Frank Sinatra
7. Rawhide - Michael Jackson
8. I Married Joan - Jimi Hendrix
9. The Brady Bunch - James Brown
10. Bedrock Rap-(Meet) The Flintstones - Bruce Springsteen

One interesting footnote: Elvis Presley is done by Jess Harnell, cartoon voice artist probably best known for playing Wakko on Animaniacs.

Click here or here or here to download!

Special Thanks and Preview of Coming Attractions!

First of all, I want to say a big Thank You to Ben at These Records are BenT! for linking over to here (and for the confidence booster starting out), and to Mondo Daddykin for the very complimentary recommendation on his site. I see these guys as an inspiration for what I want this blog to become, and their support (and yours) mean a lot to me. Plus hopefully this will be the metaphorical kick in the pants I need to get some new stuff here.

I was hoping to have something new to share up here yesterday, but Rapidshare chose that day to be ornery to me. Everything seems to be OK now, so as soon as it finishes uploading, I'll try to get a new share on here. Until then, here's some things you have to look forward to:

• A double jolt from the Electric Company
• A pack of Hounds of the Huckleberry variety
• Three Stooges for the price of one
• A horse in gym shorts

All that and much much more coming soon to a blog near you! (Well, this one actually.)

Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Rapidshare is still giving me problems. Does anybody here have any other suggestions as to where I can upload stuff?