The Adventures of Little Orley - Uncle Lumpy with Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians

Here's a fun album of adventures with a boy named Little Orley featuring some people you might be familiar with. First of all, there's noted bandleader Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, but that's not really who I mean. You'll notice that these stories are told and sung by Uncle Lumpy. He's credited on the back of the album as Lump Brannum. Still not ring a bell? Maybe you'll remember him better in the role he played later: Mr. Green Jeans on Captain Kangaroo's show. There's no date on this, but I'm thinking he did this before the CK gig. Either way, these are imaginative little stories that I think you'll enjoy. I think I've got another Little Orley album too, and I'll try to dig it up to put on the blog later.

Here's the track list:

1. Little Orley's Big Concert
2. Little Orley - His Adventures with the Parade
3. Little Orley - His Adventures with the Cloud
4. Little Orley and the Happy Bird
5. Little Orley and the Little Engine
6. Little Orley and the Bubble Gum
7. Little Orley and the Haunted House
8. Little Orley - His Adventures as a Worm

NOTE: It looks like these stories (and the stories on the other record I was going to put on here) are now available on CD! It looks like Amazon was showing them as out of print, but you can actually buy them direct at littleorley.com! You should do it too. They're fun stories you can share with your kids!

Let's Go to the Zoo

This one comes from the same people that brought you "Let's All Go to the Circus". This has more fun little songs, only this ones about zoo animals. Note the catchy but somewhat odd song "The Porcupine is Pining for His Pork". Hope you enjoy this one!

Here's the track list:

1. Come to the Zoo with Me
2. Strolling Thru the Zoo
3. The King of the Jungle
4. Monkey Business
5. The Elephant Song
6. The Hippopotamus Song
7. The Crocodile Song
8. Singing Tra La La La
9. The Happy Seal
10. The Leopard Song
11. The Porcupine Is Pining for His Pork
12. Strolling Thru the Zoo (Reprise)

Click here to download!

Disco Duck - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

I'm not quite sure how I ended up with all these albums from The Kid Stuff Repertory Company. I probably got them in a box of albums I bought on eBay. I certainly didn't seek them out specifically!

As you might figure, since this is a disco album, they should do OK on this one. They get low marks on "Disco Duck", however, because the guy doing the duck voice is horrible. Couldn't they have borrowed Irwin the Disco Duck? At least he's SOMEWHAT intelligible! "Enjoy Yourself" isn't too bad, but then they do a disco version of "John Henry". Yes, really! The rest of the album they stick with kids' songs, and they're all right. You pretty much know what you're getting into here, so enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Disco Duck
2. Enjoy Yourself
3. John Henry
4. Kemo Kimo
5. Disco Medley (Greetings, Polly Wolly Doodle, Bill Groggin's Goat, Shortnin' Bread, Nine Pound Hammer, Who Did, Down by the Station)

Click here to download!

Animal Song Parade

Until I started actively collecting children's records to use for this blog, I never really realized how many kids' albums were basically clearinghouses for different songs from different sources. That doesn't necessarily mean that the songs are bad; just that it's a lot more variety than you'd tend to get from a group like the Little Golden Singers. I'm betting this is another hodgepodge, but at least this one gives a lot more information than many of the others. It's nice to know that there were orchestras used in all of these songs! Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Little White Duck - Bob Hannon with Orchestra
2. Fuzzy Wuzzy (Wus a Bear) - Burt Taylor with Orchestra
3. Frog Went a-Courtin' - Peter Piper, Forty-Niners Quartet with Orchestra
4. (How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window - Patty McGovern with Orchestra
5. Ducks on Parade - The Forty-Niners Quartet with Ray Carter Orchestra
6. The Teddy Bears' Picnic - Peter Piper, Forty-Niners Quartet with Orchestra
7. Peewee the Kiwi Bird - Bob Hannon with Orchestra
8. Snoopy the Pussycat - Patty McGovern with Orchestra
9. The Bulldog on the Bank - The Forty-Niners Quartet with Ray Carter Orchestra
10. What Kind of an Animal Are You? - Burt Taylor with Orchestra

Click here to download!

The Alley Cat: Nursery Rhymes with the Teen Dance Beat of Today - The Mod Moppets

For kids in the sixties that wanted to be cool and parents who wanted to keep them tied to the children's classics, here's an album that probably didn't make either group happy! And how about that cover? Seriously, this is some jazzed-up versions of the songs that kids have been listening to for years. I don't know the dances that well, but for anybody who does, does this do a pretty good job in fitting the songs with them?


Here's the track list:

1. Alley Cat Dance
2. The Frug - Old MacDonald
3. The Swim - Row Row Row Your Boat
4. The Jerk - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
5. Hokey Pokey
6. The Shake - Farmer in the Dell
7. The Monkey - On Top of Old Smokey
8. Mexican Hat Dance
9. Watusi - A Tisket, A Tasket
10. Cha-Cha - Oh Dear, What Can the Matter Be?

Click here to download!

King Friday XIII Celebrates in Misterogers' Neighborhood of Makebelieve

This album comes to us courtesy of Tim at The Neighborhood Archive. I know lots of people will be putting up stuff about Jason Voorhees or other scary stuff to coincide with it being Friday the 13th. Not me! Today we feature Mister Rogers (back at a time when he spelled his name as one word) and the adventures of Daniel Striped Tiger, X the Owl and the rest of the neighborhood out to celebrate King Friday XIII's birthday (which is on Friday the 13th naturally). Tim does a much better job of describing what's on this album than I could, so let me refer you to the details here. There are a few unavoidable skips in this album, but this is such a rare find I feel that it's worth putting up as is. Thanks again to Tim for donating the file for this album. Take a look at his great Mister Rogers site when you get a chance!

Here's the track list:

1. Misterogers' Invitation
2. I Like You As You Are
3. Then Your Heart Is Full of Love
4. Looking for a Friend
5. Meow Meow Beautiful
6. Today Is New
7. Creation Duet
8. Find a Star
9. You've Got to Learn Your Trade
10. Prosperous Interval of Time
11. Kingly Gifts
12. Three Rodents with Defective Eyesight
13. Propel Propel Propel Your Craft
14. Tomorrow
15. Goodnight God

Click here to download!

The Wizard of Oz - The Hanky Pank Players

It's always interesting to hear what happens when stories we know pretty well get shortened up to fit on a record. Plot points come at you thick and fast. For example, in the case of this version of "The Wizard of Oz" they barely meet the Wicked Witch of the West before Dorothy dumps a bucket of water on her! This is also unusual in that there's a combination of songs from the movie and original songs as well. The originals are OK, but it's hard to beat the classics. The performances on this aren't too bad either. Enjoy!

Includes the songs "Over the Rainbow", "We're Off to See the Wizard", "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead", as well as original songs "Cyclone", "The Emerald City", "Thank You Song", and "Humbug".

Click here to download!

Time to Tell Time - James King and the Golden Players

Here's another great album full of songs and stories to help you tell time by talking to the big hand and the little hand. It's especially good if your name happens to be "Hurford". Enjoy!

Click here to download!

Tales of Ragged Ann - Lois Sherman

This is Lois Sherman, who according to the liner notes, "appears daily on WJW-TV, Cleveland, as Ragged Ann, one of the most popular children's shows on the air". I never saw the show, but I hope she didn't do the entire show in that position! Why does she look like she's about to get her head chopped off? According to her, the adventures that Ragged Ann have are due to children putting her in their dreams. Way to blame the kids, R.A.! Anyway, this is certainly an unusual collection of stories. Anybody reading this remember seeing her on TV?

Here's the track list:

1. Ragged Ann and the Three Bears


2. Little Red Ragged Ann


3. Ragged Ann and the Seven Dwarfs


4. Irving the Mouse

Click here or here to download!

Scouting Breaks the Song Barrier - The Goodtimers

February is National Scouting Month, so in honor of that, here's an album of songs made for scouts for sing. Along with the traditional songs like "Kum Ba Yah" and "Down in the Valley" there's a couple of new ones too. My older brothers were scouts, but I never went that far. I was always too uncoordinated to do stuff like that (plus my brothers never seemed that crazy about it either). Hope you all enjoy this, and Happy National Scouting Month!

Here's the track list:

1. The Ecology Song
2. Three Jolly Fishermen
3. Down in the Valley
4. Paw Paw Patch
5. Kum Ba Yah
6. Uncle Sam He Saw the Moon
7. Michael Row the Boat Ashore
8. This Land Is Your Land
9. If You're Happy
10. When the Saints Go Marching In

Click here to download!

Land of Lemonade and Lollipops

Here's another one of those albums with songs from a number of sources and a strange random looking cover ("So, Kid, move that candy cane over a little to the right. No, MY right!"). There's some pretty good songs here though. This also scores points for being my new favorite version of "Big Rock Candy Mountain". See if you like it as much as I do.

Here's the track list:

1. Land of Lemonade and Lollipops
2. Big Rock Candy Mountain
3. Back Home (Way Back Home)
4. Marching Song (Children's Marching Song)
5. Little Dutch Boy & Little Dutch Girl
6. Dem Dry Bones
7. Little Red Schoolhouse
8. Stasha Pandowski
9. Billy Boy
10. Grandfather Clock

Click here or here to download!

The Next Hundred Years - The Ragtimers

Remember back in the late 1960s when everybody thought it was cool to do songs that sounded like they came out in the twenties? Yeah kids, people really did that. This is an album of old songs (and songs they made sound old) by the Ragtimers, a group I know absolutely nothing about. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. The Next Hundred Years
2. (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song
3. Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?
4. My Melody of Love
5. Soft Shoe Song (Give Me That Old Soft Shoe)
6. Those Were the Days
7. Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose
8. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree
9. What Have They Done to My Song, Ma
10. Second Hand Rose
11. Ragtime Waltz
12. The Entertainer

Click here to download!

Trains, Planes and Space Ships

This is an odd little album. The first cut, "Skyliner Flight 35", is a simulation of how it sounded if you were in the cockpit listening to the pilots take off and land a plane. The second, "The Columbia Limited" is the same sort of thing except with a train, and the other two cuts, for no particular reason, are two Rocky Jones sci-fi adventures. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Skyliner Flight 35


2. The Columbian Limited


3. Rocky Jones and the Space Pirates


4. Shipwrecked on Planet X

Click here or here to download!

Puff and Toot and Other Musical Stories - Twinkle Orchestra and Chorus

I was going to tell you about this exciting album of train (and clown) songs, but I think the liner notes on the back of the album will do a much better job than I will. (Note the punctuation and spelling are exactly as they're found in the quote) :

Hi there, the jolly conductor of Twinkle Records tells us that he is all set to take us on an imaginative trip to adventure land with Puff & Toot.

We can't wait . . . First we'll ride the Red Caboose and we'll see Squeegie the Clown and stop Down By The Station. But Oh then . . . we can ride the Chocolate Train . . . isn't that exciting? Just think a Chocolate Train all for us. I can't wait can you. Well climb on cause here we go..."ALL ABOARD".

Hi, it's me again. I was going to tell you guys to curtail any "Chocolate Train" jokes, but whoever wrote this seems to dwell on it a bit TOO much if you ask me. And if they wanted us to be excited, you'd think they would have put at least one exclamation point in there. Anyway, this really is a fun combination of train songs (most likely from a number of different sources), so enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Puff and Toot


2. The Red Caboose


3. Chocolate Train


4. Squeegie the Happy Clown


5. Down by the Station


6. I've Been Working on the Railroad


7. Circus


8. Where Do Ya Worka John

Click here or here to download!

Galloping on My Dinosaur and Other Fun Songs for Children - Larry Thor

I'm not familiar with Larry Thor, but according to the Internet Movie Database he did quite a bit of work on radio and TV, appearing in such series as The Munsters, Leave It to Beaver, Gilligan's Island, and The Andy Griffith Show. These are some fun little songs written by Thor himself that simply feature him and his guitar. With all the crazy orchestrated and synthesized albums I normally hear, this is a very pleasant change of pace. Hope you like it!

Here's the track list:

1. Sad Day, Lonely Day
2. The Gimme Pig
3. When You Hurt
4. Picnic
5. Answer Every Question
6. Matinee Lullaby
7. Scary Song
8. Since You Went Away
9. Worry Time
10. TV Song
11. Galloping on My Dinosaur
12. Lullaby

Click here to download!

Songs from "Your a Good Man Charlie Brown" - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

I have found yet another version of the "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" album, this one from the infamous Kid Stuff Repertory Company. These are the same people who did the two kiddie disco albums I recently had on the blog. There is one problem with this album right off the bat, which you'll notice if you look at the album cover above. The actual title of this album is "Songs from Your a Good Man Charlie Brown". That's right, they couldn't even spell the name of the show correctly! And they had a number of shots to get it right: The title on the front cover, the song list on the cover, the title on the spine of the album, even the label on the record itself get it wrong!

And the interpretations for the songs are all screwy. For instance, the title song, which should be this loud fun boisterous tune has been turned into a slow ballad like the poor guy died or something! And "Happiness", which should be a slow song, is done uptempo. The intro to "The Kite", with its heavy synthesizer, makes it sound like it should be the theme to a news show. "Suppertime" sounds like the music is done by Miami Sound Machine. "Snoopy" is OK, except the beginning and end, which are supposed be slow and wistful are fast, and the middle part (the "fierce jungle animal" part) is slow. And finally, if you've ever wanted to hear Linus's song "My Blanket and Me" done in the style of a '70s cop show theme, you now have your wish.

When I listened to this, I spent half the time laughing and half the time shaking my head in disbelief. This is, to my knowledge, the strangest version of this music I've ever heard. There is a sort of morbid fascination here, like trying not to stare at a car accident but not being able to help yourself.

And one more thing. Take a good look at the kid I guess was supposed to represent Charlie Brown on the cover. How do you like that t-shirt?

Half of me think that that's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen, and the other half thinks I should go to CafePress and declare it the first official Way Out Junk t-shirt design!!

Here's the track list:

1. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
2. The Kite
3. My Blanket and Me
4. Happiness
5. Suppertime
6. Snoopy
7. You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Reprise)

Click here to download!

Victor Borge Presents His Own Enchanting Version of Hans Christian Andersen

This was a special request that I was happy to fill. It has stories by Hans Christian Andersen told by another of Denmark's famous natives, pianist/comedian Victor Borge. This is interesting because, interspersed with Andersen's tales, Borge talks about his childhood and how much these famous stories meant to him, even to the point of reading while he was practicing scales on the piano. Now he pretty much tells the stories as is, playing classical music underneath and only throwing in humor when it is appropriate.

This album was put out in 1966 by Eastern Air Lines, so I'm thinking it was possibly a reissue of an album later used as a premium or giveaway. Whatever it was, it's a wonderful set of stories told and accompanied by Borge. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. Introduction and My Favorite Song
2. The Tinder Box
3. The Ugly Duckling
4. The Emperor's New Clothes
5. The Princess and the Pea
6. Papa's Always Right
7. The Little Match Girl
8. It's Perfectly True

Click here to download!

Doctor Dolittle Presents the Grasshoppers

Like my previous share, this is reminiscent of the Beatles as well, but only in name. This group of singing insects was featured on the "Doctor Doolittle" cartoon. This is nothing more than a bunch of happy perky pleasant little songs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Enjoy!

Here's the track list:

1. When You Wear a Happy Smile
2. Everything's Gonna Be Fine
3. Tiger Moo
4. You've Got an Allergy
5. It's the Happenin' Thing
6. Doggone Dog
7. When the Sky Is Clear, When the Water's Clean
8. On a Train Goin' West
9. Good Friends Come in All Sizes
10. You Can Do It
11. You Can Really Fly
12. A Friend in Need

Click here to download!

Once Upon a Beetle - The London Theatre Players

Going from disco to the British Invasion, here's a story about four little Beetles who want to make their fortune playing music. It's a fun little story that at least is done by British people. (I'm assuming the London Theatre Players are British.)

You may have noticed the unusual cover for this record. Apparently the original cover was a puzzle in the surrounding frame, and under that you could color the picture. Well, the copy I got didn't have the puzzle pieces in it any more, and the picture had been colored so long ago I couldn't get the colors off! Anyway, hope you like this album!

Click here to download!

Toon Tunes - Action-Packed Anthems

When I took off "The Mighty Hercules" CD because it became available from Amazon.com, it was pointed out to me that the actual "Mighty Hercules" theme song was not a part of that album. I had included it as a bonus track. This is the CD I got the song from. I checked around and it turns out that it's out of print, so I figured I'd put it up here! There's a wide range of cartoon themes here, from "Underdog" to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and even rarities like "The Hardy Boys" cartoon and "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan"! I think most of these are the real theme songs as heard on the cartoon, but I get a feeling that some of these may have been redone. This also helps to fulfill one of my unofficial goals, which is to have as many versions of the Popeye theme song as possible. Yeah, I think this one is different from any of the others I've got. In fact, it sounds to me like the oldest version of them all. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this!

Here's the track list:

1. Super Friends
2. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
3. Speed Racer
4. Batman: The Animated Series
5. The Tick
6. The Powerpuff Girls
7. Jonny Quest
8. Space Ghost
9. Sailor Moon
10. Spider-Man
11. King Kong
12. Duck Tales
13. Underdog
14. X-Men
15. Popeye the Sailor
16. Mighty Mouse
17. The Mighty Hercules
18. Super Chicken
19. Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers
20. The New Scooby-Doo Movies
21. The New Adventures of Superman
22. Astro Boy
23. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
24. Hong Kong Phooey
25. Darkwing Duck
26. The Hardy Boys
27. Gigantor
28. Tale Spin
29. Crusader Rabbit
30. The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
31. The Atom Ant Show
32. Touche Turtle
33. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
34. Captain Planet and the Planeteers
35. The Secret Squirrel Show
36. The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Click here to download!

Shadow Dancing and Other Disco Favorites - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

If you didn't get your fill of the Kid Stuff Repertory Players going disco from the last album, here's another one for you. You may notice from looking at the titles that they were so cheap they couldn't even afford to buy the extra Oogie in "Boogie Oogie Oogie"! Of course these two albums were so short they probably could have combined both of them into one, but they can sell more records that way. (And yes, these albums were so short that *I* probably could have combined them, but I was able to get two entries out of them this way!)

Here's the track list:

1. Boogie Oogie
2. Jack & Jill
3. See You When I Get There
4. Shadow Dancing
5. More Than a Woman
6. Easy to Love

Click here or here to download!

Night Fever and More Songs from "Saturday Night Fever" - The Kid Stuff Repertory Company

Here's some songs from "Saturday Night Fever" presented by those guys from the Kid Stuff Repertory Company. It's not too bad for a bunch of studio guys I guess, but I don't think these are the same people who do the children's stories!

Here's the track list:

1. Boogie Shoes
2. Stayin' Alive
3. Open Sesame
4. You Should Be Dancin'
5. Nite Fever
6. A Fifth of Beethoven

Click here or here to download!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Little Fir Tree, and The Night the Animals Talked

I figured this would be a good one for the day before Christmas. This isn't the actual poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" but a dramatization of it. This also has the story of the little fir tree who wanted to see the world, as well as the story of the Nativity from the animals' point of view. It says on the liner notes that "The Night the Animals Talked" is a "new and very beautiful story", but I could have sworn I'd heard this story before. Could this have been the first presentation of it?

Anyway, this album features stories performed by voices that will probably sound quite familiar to you (even if the names aren't household words) : Peter Fernandez, Jack Grimes, Jackson Beck and others done in "Stereo Motion", designed to "bring your child into the story". I hope you all enjoy this, and have a very Merry Christmas!

Here's the track list:

1. 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
2. The Little Fir Tree
3. The Night the Animals Talked

Click here or here to download!

Christmas on the Moon - Tim Dinkins

Wow. I don't know what to say about this, other than it makes Frank di Silvestro sound like Lennon & McCartney by comparison! Almost all of these songs are written by Mrs. Nellie Bond who, according to the liner notes, Dinkins met while performing on the Squeaking Deacon Show. They wanted to do an album of all new Christmas songs, and this is what they came up with.

The songs are all sung by Tim Dinkins with a couple of exceptions. One singer, referred to as the "Mystery Guest", sings "The Wise Ole Owl". The liner notes say that they're certain "he'll not be a mystery anymore once you've heard him". I hate to break it to them, but he's still a mystery to me. The second one is a little girl named Susan Kay (who they heard singing on a radio show on station K.I.E.V. (probably performing something Ukranian)). She sings a song called "I Won't Let You Lick My Candy Bar". Thank goodness Tim didn't sing this one as well. That would have been creepy. And speaking of creepy, Tim does his best adowable wittle kid impersonation for the song "A Little Boy's Letter to Santa". Apparently Tim wanted to give me the jibblies for Christmas. *SHUDDER*

I think this might have been shared elsewhere, but I scored a sealed copy of this album so I felt like I should share this clean copy of it. This is just mind-numbingly bizarre, but it's definitely interesting!

Here's the track list (All songs sung by Tim Dinkins unless listed otherwise) :

1. Santa's Rocket
2. The Empty Chair
3. Two Little Stockings
4. I Won't Let You Lick My Candy Bar - Susan Kay
5. Just a Little Birdie in a Coo Coo Clock
6. Merry Christmas
7. The Wise Ole Owl - Mystery Guest
8. Ole Pop Reindeer
9. Christmas Message
10. Christmas Comes to Everyone
11. A Little Boy's Letter to Santa
12. Tinkle Toes

Click here or here to download!

The Cowboys Sing Holiday Halftime

I hope somebody can give me more information on this album. The title, as you can see, is called "The Cowboys Sing Holiday Halftime". That's because it features the Dallas Cowboys football team singing Christmas songs. As I did more research, I found that there are other Christmas albums available with other football teams singing Christmas songs. The covers look exactly the same except for the change in title. What I'm wondering is, did they actually get each team to sing, record, and release their own album, or did they just get a huge group of football players to record one album and release it with the different names? Another interesting thing is that in the song "Let It Snow" there's a solo by Lance Rentzel, who I believe played for the Cowboys when this album was released. If these songs were all done with one big group of guys, did they pick a member of each team to sing the solo in that song and put it on the appropriate team's album? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, no matter what team you like!

Here's the track list:

1. Deck the Halls
2. All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth
3. Winter Wonderland
4. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
5. A Tropical Winter
6. Frosty the Snowman
7. Let It Snow
8. Jingle Bells
9. Auld Lang Syne

Click here or here to download!

Heidi the Pocketbook Doll - Adventures in Fairy Land

One way I'm sort of fudging on putting other records in with my Christmas ones is by saying that this album involves a toy that many little girls probably got for Christmas. Does that count?

This is an odd little album that involves a doll named Heidi visiting a lot of different fairy tale characters, and even though these are all characters that kids have grown to know, the stories still seem to revolve around the fast-talking Heidi and the Jeep she drives. In fact, for extra giggles, every time she mentions her Jeep, say "Sold separately" afterwards (like they always to on the commercials). You'll say it a lot!

The back of the album shows pictures of some of the other accessories you can get for Heidi to help make her life complete. Somehow, captioning the bathroom set with the sentence "Oodles of boudoir glamour for little girls!" just sort of creeps me out.

Anyway, enjoy these delightful adventures of Heidi the Pocketbook Doll and her Jeep (sold separately).

Click here or here to download!

UPDATE: If you want a literal dose of Heidi the Pocketbook Doll and Christmas, than you can get a copy of Heidi's "The Night Before Christmas" album here at Ernie (Not Bert)!

The Year Without a Santa Claus - Boris Karloff, Narrator

Here's Boris Karloff narrating one of your favorite Christmas stories that was later turned into a cool animated special and a not nearly so good live-action remake! No, not the Grinch. (We've already got Zero Mostel doing that one.) This is the story of "The Year Without a Santa Claus" which, I must admit, I didn't realize was a story before the animated version came out. You may be disappointed to find out that, even though the basic story is the same, the stop-motion animated special we know and love added quite a bit to the story. There's no Heat Miser or Snow Miser here, no Jingle or Jangle the Elf, no Mother Nature, not even Mrs. Claus. The only characters I think the two have in common are Santa and the little boy named Ignatius Thistlewhite. This also features some other Christmas songs by a number of different artists, but the best part is hearing Karloff's dulcet tones telling us another Christmas story.

The bottom of the cover states that this is "Presented for the holiday pleasure of young and old by the E.F. MacDonald Incentive Company, 1968". I don't know if that means it was a special giveaway or what. I'd never heard of this album myself until a few months ago. I was looking around online for more info, when I found that Max at "Drunken Severed Head" had featured this album on his blog last year. He has some great background information about the story and the album and, with his kind permission, he's allowed me to link you up to it here. His link to the album no longer works though, so I in turn gave him permission to link over here to me! Isn't the Internet swell? Thanks, Max!

Here's the track list:

1. The Year Without a Santa Claus - Boris Karloff
2. The Christmas Waltz - The Lettermen
3. Old Toy Trains - Glen Campbell
4. Don't Forget to Feed the Reindeer - Peggy Lee
5. The Little Drummer Boy - Al Martino
6. I Sing Noel - Sandler and Young
7. Jingle Bells - Roger Wagner Chorale

NOTE: This has now been released on CD (with different songs included). You can get it by clicking the link below!

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

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

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

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

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

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

Be a Train - Selma Rich Brody

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for December

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

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

By Henry Gibson

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here or here to download!

Popeye Song Folio - Captain Paul and the Seafaring Band

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

Here's the track list:

1. I'm Popeye the Sailor Man


2. The Looney Goon


3. Olive Oyl's Family Reunion


4. I Wants What I Wants When I Wants It


5. The Land of Popeye


6. I'm Sindbad the Sailor


7. Sing a Song of Popeye


8. I Wanna Be a Life Guard


9. Hamburger Mine


10. Popeye on Parade


11. Strike Me Pink Do I See Red


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

Click here or here or here to download!

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

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

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



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

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

Heeere's Amy! - Alison Arngrim as Amy Carter

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

Heeere's the track list:

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

Click heeere or heeere to download!

OGF Wisdom for November

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

At the Organ Grinder Vol. 2

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

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

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

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

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

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

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

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

OGF Zodiac for Oct. 15: Polici the Insurance Salesman

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

OGF Wisdom for October

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

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

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

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

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

Here's the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

Erick - Pastor Pickin'

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

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

Click here or here to download!

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

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

Oops! There comes the track list:

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

Click here or here to download!

Punch and Judy - Doug Anderson the "Magic Clown"

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

Click here or here to download!

Raggedy Ann & Andy's Alphabet & Numbers

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

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

Click here or here to download!

OGF Wisdom for September

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