OGF Zodiac for April 5 - June 5: Eerie the Monster!

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Here's your Otis G. Firefly zodiac for Apr. 5-Jun. 5: Eerie the Monster. As a kid this probably would have been my favorite one to get, but alas, I was born in December under the sign of...well, you'll see!

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

Here's a neat album featuring the original cast of the Rin Tin Tin television show dramatizing a number of stories. That Rinty is one sharp dog, isn't he?

Here's the track list:

1. Poisoned Water


2. The Gun Runner


3. Rinty Breaks Through
   


4. The Deserter

Click here or here to download!

I hope everybody enjoyed Way Out Junk New Album Week (pts 1 and 2)! I'm going to try to settle into a 2-3 album per week rhythm for a while. We'll see how it goes!

Namu the Killer Whale and Other Ballads of Adventure - Tom Glazer

The first song from this album is supposed to be from a movie called "Namu the Killer Whale". I don't remember that movie myself, but it's a pretty nifty cover. The other songs are your typical folk songs filled with violence and death and Davy Crockett sung quite nicely by Tom Glazer. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. The Ballad of Namu the Killer Whale (Live and Let Live)


2. The Froggie Song


3. Henry Martin


4. Brennan


5. The Golden Vanity


6. The Keeper


7. The Rifle


8. The Greenland Whale


9. The Ballad of Davy Crockett


10. The Sinking of the Titanic


11. Blow Ye Winds


12. The High Barbaree

Click here or here to download!

Children's Favorites in Song and Verse

This is another one of those albums that has a bunch of classic children's songs that you might remember. It's a pretty cool cover too! Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. The Little Nut Tree


2. The Farmer in the Dell


3. Looby Loo


4. A Tisket A Tasket


5. London Bridge


6. 'Round the Mulberry Bush

Click here or here to download!

Flash Gordon

Even though this album came out in 1979, it really doesn't tie in much with the movie. It still has some pretty cool stories though. I don't think these are from the radio show; I think they were recorded especially for this album. Hope you like it!


Here's the track list:

1. The Hairy Giants


2. In Search of the Glacier Monster


3. Fight to the Death

Click here or here to download!

Josephine the Short-Necked Giraffe - Mister Rogers

Here's a fun story told by Mister Rogers and a bunch of singers and other voices, and brought to us by John, another one of our great WOJ readers. Thanks again, John!

NOTE: This is a .rar file, so you need a program like WinRAR to unzip it.

Click here or here or here to download!

Professor Crow and His Animal Show - The Golden Singers & Orchestra

This is an odd little album of fun animal songs. It sounds like one of those albums that people growing up with it would have fond memories of. I just got it recently myself, but I still enjoy it. Hope you do too!

Here's the track list:

1. Professor Crow and His Animal Show



2. The Elephant's Ear for Music



3. The Musical Rooster



4. The Buzzing Fly



5. The Obliging Frog



6. The Hissing Snake



7. The Talented Bear



8. The Hootin' Owl



9. The Laughing Hyena



10. The Donkey Serenade



11. The Moosical Cow



12. The Silver Tongued Parrot



13. The Silent Giraffe



14. The Cuckoo Bird



15. The Limited Pig



16. Oh Deer!



17. The Tin Can Alley King (Goat)



18. The Heavyhanded Ox



19. The Lucky Beetle



20. The Young Coyote



21. The King of the Jungaliers



22. The Barking Dog



23. The Operatic Nightingale



24. The Howling Wolf



25. Professor Crow Reprise
    

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for April

(Clicking on the picture makes it bigger. No, really, it does.)

For those of you who came late to the dance, these are from this book. More wit and wisdom from Prof. Otis G. Firefly for the month of April. Brought to you (hopefully) on time thanks to Blogger's scheduling posts function!

Don't worry, this isn't counting towards New Album Week 2: Electric Boogaloo. Consider this a bonus!

Father Abraham in Smurfland

(Hopefully I'll find a picture of the cover. If not, you might have to search for it yourself.)

This comes to us from faithful reader Jon. This was another one of those albums that I toyed with buying on eBay, but never got the chance. It's strange hearing a regular voice mixed with the Smurfs, but it's different!

Hey, if I have a Smurf album today, can I call today Blue Monday?

NOTE: This file is a .rar file, so you need a program like WinRAR to unzip it.

Here's the track list:

1. The Smurf Song


2. Smurfing Beer


3. In the Mood


4. Why


5. Pinocchio in Smurfland


6. Christmas in Smurfland


7. Dippety Day


8. Smurfing Tango


9. Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop


10. Do Smurfs Cry


11. The Magic Flute Smurf

Click here or here to download!

My Son, the Hun

I think this would certainly qualify as Way Out Junk. After all, how often do you hear a prep school musical about Attila the Hun??

All I know about this album is what's on the front cover that you see here (the back cover is totally blank) and the record label. The label inside says "Performed by Fordham Preparatory School and the Mt. St. Ursula Academy" It says "Director Records" on the top and "Manufactured by RCA Victor Custom Record Department" on the bottom and is copyrighted 1966. I'm guessing this might have been some sort of souvenir for the cast members of the show. I don't know who they are because there are no other names listed here. I'm figuring these kids are middle school/high school age. I did find that Fordham is an all-boys school and Mt. St. Ursula is an all-girls school. Maybe they got together each year to do a show, I don't know.

How is this? Well, considering the supposed ages of the people involved it is a mixed bag as you might guess. They tend to do better on the faster songs than on the ballads. I do like a couple of songs and performances on here though. "Do What You Want" is a fun little patter song that must have been a pain to memorize. I also like "I Go Where the Action Is". There's also some contemporary (for 1966) references thrown in as well. If you know any more about this (or if you might have been IN this!), please share your insights with the rest of us. Until then, enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Prologue to Act One


2. My Son the Hun


3. Cheers for Attila


4. Battle Hymn of the Huns


5. Ban the Bow


6. No Man


7. Do What You Want


8. Call Wizard


9. Here's Your Rainy Day


10. Prologue to Act Two


11. Where Am I Going


12. Long Before Now


13. I Go Where the Action Is


14. You Turn Me Off


15. Hallelujah Hallelu

Click here or here to download!

Well, "Way Out Junk New Album Week" now ends its broadcast day. I hope you guys all enjoyed it.

But wait. What's this? It looks like I've got so much of a backlog (forward log?) now that "Way Out Junk New Album Week" is being HELD OVER for a second big week!!! How do you like them apples, kids?

Ol' Brown Ears Is Back - Rowlf the Dog

This was one of those albums that I had wanted for quite a while. I had heard songs from it, but never owned it. I was finally able to snag one and thought I'd pass it along to you. This was released in 1993 but was recorded a few years before that because it's Jim Henson voicing Rowlf. This album contains a number of songs that were previously performed on "The Muppet Show"; some originally by Rowlf and some by others. It's a fun variety of songs and, as always, I hope you like it!



Here's the track list:

1. Lydia the Tattooed Lady


2. Eight Little Notes


3. I Never Harmed an Onion


4. Halfway Down the Stairs


5. Memory Lane


6. Cottleston Pie


7. Bein' Green


8. Carbon Paper


9. Garden Song


10. New York State of Mind


11. When


12. You and I and George


13. Wishing Song


14. Old Dog Trey
    

Click here or here to download!

Little Marcy Visits Smokey Bear

Here's an odd combination of Christian ventroquism and conservation! Little Marcy has a picnic with Smokey Bear and all their friends in the forest. And just so you don't forget which side Marcy's bread is buttered on* near the end of the album Marcy peeks into Smokey's window and sees him praying before he goes to bed. Anyway, this is a fun (if unusual) story, and I hope you like it!


(* Boy, I really massacred that figure of speech, didn't I??)


Click here or here to download!

Best of Friends - The Smurfs

Here's some fun songs from our little blue friends the Smurfs, brought to you by Jon, one of our great blog readers. Thanks Jon!

Here's the track list:

1. Smurfing Around the World
2. Smurf Square Dance
3. Smurfin' Summertime
4. Dance Like the Reggae Smurf
5. Smurf Rodeo
6. Let's Play Another One
7. Follow My Leader
8. The Best Friend of All
9. Believe
10. If You Come to Smurfing Land
11. Here's a Smurf, There's a Smurf
12. Sleep Until the Brand New Day

Click here or here to download!

NOTE: Dave at Children's Records and More has both front and back cover scans and the lyrics sheet for this over here. Find them there and look at all the other cool stuff he has, and tell him I sent you!

Annie: Original Children's Soundtrack and Story

This one comes to us courtesy of Big Bird Fan at Way Cool Music . It's one of those story records that uses audio clips from the movie tied together with narration so, unlike the other Annie records I've featured here, this one has the original movie cast. He's got some great stuff at his site too, so give him a visit and tell him Tony at Way Out Junk sent you!

Click here or here to download!

BONUS: Big Bird Fan also included a plethora of episodes of the Little Orphan Annie radio show (and this file as well) and you can get those here!

A Place of Our Own - Mister Rogers

Way Out Junk Free Album Week continues with a great Mister Rogers album brought to us by John, another one of my wonderful WOJ readers. This is in honor of what would have been Fred Rogers' 80th birthday. Thanks John! (I'll have another humongous Mister Rogers contribution from John coming soon.) You can find another Mister Rogers album called "Let's Be Together Today" over here from Big Bird Fan at Way Cool Music. And speaking of him, we'll have a contribution from him tomorrow!

NOTE: This is a .rar file, so you may need a program like WinRAR to unzip it.

Here's the track list:

1. A Place of My Own
2. It's Such a Good Feeling
3. You Are Pretty
4. A Lonely Kind of Thing
5. Wishes Don't Make Things Come True
6. You Will Not Go
7. A Handy Lady and a Handy Man
8. I Did Too
9. Look and Listen
10. Hello There
11. Propel, Propel, Propel Your Craft
12. Many Ways to Say "I Love You"
13. I Need You

Click here or here or here to download!

My First Record

This seemed like the ideal album to start my New Album Week. This has a bunch of songs that were supposed to have been featured on Romper Room and Ding Dong School. I never saw Ding Dong School (I think that was a little before my time), but I vaguely remember Romper Room. I only song I recognized from that was the Do-Bee Song, but you might know some of the others from that as well. There's a couple of classical instrumentals on here as well. I know that wouldn't have done much for me (it's not peppy enough), but it might have floated your boat. Anyway, hope you like it, and let's hope that New Album Week goes off without a hitch!


Here's the track list:

1. Ding Dong School


2. London Bridge


3. Will You Come and Play With Me


4. Clapping and Stamping


5. See Me Jump


6. Tippy-Tip Toe


7. Hop Up Hop Down


8. Scuffy the Tugboat


9. Polly Wolly Doodle


10. Children's Marching Song


11. Swiss Dance


12. Mr. Shortsleeves


13. The Do-Bee Song


14. Dance of the Swans


15. Tawny Scrawny Lion


16. Did You Ever See a Lassie


17. Marching to My Drum


18. Halls of Montezuma


19. To a Wild Rose


20. Hansel and Gretel


21. Brahms' Lullaby

Click here or here to download!

OGF Zodiac for March 18 - April 4: Itchi the Chigger

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Here's the next in the Prof. Otis G. Firefly Zodiac: Itchi the Chigger! Note: the joke about 1994 is funnier if you realize this book came out in 1974. Therefore, please reread the sentence substituting the year 2028. See? That's MUCH better!

Don't forget: WOJ New Album week begins Monday March 24th. One new album every day this week, as long as Blogger's scheduling posts function works. In fact, a few people may have accidentally gotten a couple of albums early (like my 44 Bloglines subscribers). I accidentally hit Publish instead of Save. I took them back off a couple minutes later. Don't worry though. Everyone will see them soon. And for those of you who may have seen them early, don't tell everybody else. It's more fun that way. Thanks!

EXCITING NEWS!!! (as in "WRITING IN ALL CAPS" EXCITING!!)

Hey Gang! Believe it or not, I'm still around. I've been working on getting stuff together, when I saw that Blogger is now offering the option of Scheduling Posts. That means I can make a blog entry for July 4th now and schedule it to not appear before then.

So I got to thinking. What would be a good way to see if scheduling posts on Blogger really works? This is what I came up with. Starting Monday March 24th I will have a new album post to this blog every day this week! The nice thing about this is that I can work on and post a lot of stuff at once and spread it out to appear over a longer period of time. Can I keep up this frantic pace? Are you kidding? But I can guarantee (if the Scheduled Posts function works on Blogger) that there will be one new album each day from March 24th through March 30th. I've even got enough to go 2-3 albums a week for the next couple of weeks after that. This is my way of saying Thank You to all of you who have stuck around with me through some lean times on the blog. (And thanks to faithful readers John, Jon, and Bob for contributing albums that you'll be seeing soon!)

So phone the kids and wake the neighbors (or the other way around if that works better for you)...

WAY OUT JUNK NEW ALBUM WEEK STARTS MONDAY MARCH 24TH!!

OGF Wisdom for March

And here's your Prof. Otis G. Firefly wisdom for March!

Click the pic to blow it up real good.



Yeah, I know these may be a poor substitute for all the records I was putting on before, but I wanted to have SOMETHING on here to make up for school taking up most of my free time. I've got one album almost ready to put up here, so I'll try to get it on here by the weekend. (And if all goes well, I may even get a second album on here by then too!)

Thank you all (or at least all of you that are left) for your patience!

OGF Zodiac for Feb. 30 - Mar. 17: Chunkus the Jar of Peanut Butter

Here's your next sign in the Otis G. Firefly zodiac: Chunkus!

Click the pic to make it bigger!

The Amazing Adventures of Little Batman

What if you filmed the Batman TV show with a cast of little kids?

If you did it well, it would look a little something like this....



Here's Part 2 where the action really starts picking up, including a tribute to a famous scene from the Batman movie:



And Part 3 with a special guest appearance!



Hope you liked it! WAH WAH WAH!!!

More TV Storytime with Tom and Jerry

Here are six stories of Tom and Jerry as narrated by Bret Morrison. It's a bit odd to put together a record of two cartoon characters who don't even talk, but it's still a neat old record (even if they do throw in a squeaky voice every so often). One thing I like about this one is the record cover. What's up with Tom's eyes? It looks like he's been hypnotized or something. I also love that TV the kids are using in the photograph. This record's not dated, but going by that TV it looks like this was done in the late 50s or early 60s. Anybody got an idea on this?


Here's the track list:

1. Tom and Jerry and the Fire Engine
2. Tom and Jerry and the Rocketship to the Moon
3. Tom and Jerry in the Wild West
4. Tom and Jerry Down on the Farm
5. Tom and Jerry Meet Santa Claus
6. Tom and Jerry Find Aladdin's Lamp

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for February

Click on the pic to make it bigger...

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT- - PLEASE READ BEFORE DOWNLOADING!!

Hey Gang!

I didn't mean for that to sound so ominous, but I just wanted to get your attention. I'm in the process of reorganizing and changing up some of my links. This will mean that some of the links will give you an error message when you attempt to download them. I know it's happening; you don't have to tell me about it. If that happens to you, try one of the other links on that entry. If, however, NONE of the links work for a specific entry, please do let me know that so I can get it fixed. You can either email me at the address in my profile or simply leave me a message here. It'll probably take me a while to get to them all, but I will do the best I can. Also I don't want my messing with old links to take time I could spend putting new albums up here for you.

Thanks for reading this. I hope it alleviates any problems that might come up.

Tony
Way Out Junkmeister

The Unicorn - The Peter Pan Pop Singers and Orchestra

This one’s a bit odd. (I know that’s a shock coming from me!) It was made in the U.S., but I don’t think it was made FOR the U.S. I mean, it’s got a number of hits from around 1968-69, but then it has stuff like “Waltzing Matilda” and “Molly Malone”. Were these songs all popular around the same time somewhere? Another fun thing is that the Peter Pan Pop Singers tend to sing all the songs in a sort of pop/march tempo. It’s works OK for some of the songs, but on others (like "The Mighty Quinn") it sounds a bit off.

Finally, I’d like to point out the very nice cover on this album. It’s not signed, but I know that George Peed did a number of Peter Pan’s album covers. I think it might be him, but I don’t know for sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!

Here’s the track list:

1. The Unicorn

2. Half a Sixpence

3. Molly Malone

4. 76 Trombones

5. Up Up and Away

6. Simon Says

7. Waltzing Matilda

8. Green Tambourine

9. The Mighty Quinn

10. Tip Toe Thru the Tulips

Click here or here to download!

OGF Zodiac for Jan. 15 - Feb. 29: Splices the Square Knot

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Here's the next in the Otis G. Firefly Zodiac. Enjoy!

How Much Is That Doggie in the Window and More Songs About Your Favorite Dogs

This album is different from my other "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window" album. This one has a lot of fun songs each about a different breed of dog "mostly written by Cy Coben" (which I assume means he wrote all the songs on this album except for "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window"). I had a reader looking for this album under a different title. I need to go through my email and see if I can find him. If you're that person, let me know!

Anyway, hope you like this!!

Here's the track list:

1. How Much Is That Doggie in the Window
2. Overture and Introduction
3. Chihuahua (Cha Cha Cha)
4. Great Dane
5. Cocker Spaniel
6. The Terriers
7. German Shepherd
8. I'm a Dachshund
9. The Hunting Dog (Retriever, Setter, Springer)
10. St. Bernard
11. Just Plain Dog
12. Pekinese
13. Dalmatian
14. Boxer
15. Collie
16. Les Poodles
17. Boston Bull (Now How Come There Is No Dog Day?)
18. Take a Bow-Wow-Wow

UPDATE: This album is now available (under the title "Dog Songs") in mp3 format from Amazon.com! You can get it here.

OGF Zodiac for January 1-January 14: Boarus the Warthog

(Click pic to embiggen!)

Sorry I got this information to you late, Boaruses, especially considering when it says your lucky part of the year is!

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this!

To read more about Prof. Firefly, read my original entry about the book here.

OGF Wisdom for January

(Click on the picture to make it bigger.)

Here's the first entry about January. I probably won't say much about these. Not because I don't like them, but because I don't think I can compete! Enjoy!

To learn more about Prof. Firefly, see my original entry here.

Otis G. Firefly's Phantasmagoric Almanac and Calendar

I was one of those kids who read a lot when I was in school, mostly comic books and silly stuff. One of the things I enjoyed the most was ordering books from the Scholastic Book Club. I'd always get the latest Dynamite magazine (and later Bananas magazine) and whatever other interesting stuff struck my fancy. This unusual book became one of my favorites. I was doing some cleaning and came across it again, so I thought I'd share some of it with you. Prof. Firefly has his own crazy zodiac and information and words of wisdom about each month. I'll put this info up (more or less) when it comes up during the year. This may help you understand where some of my bizarre sense of humor comes from! Look for the first entry shortly!

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!