R. O. pre-K.

For the past few weeks, my daughter has been watching Looney Tunes cartoons quite a bit…and I must admit that I’ve plopped down on the couch and joined her a few times. After all, who doesn’t love the Looney Tunes? Think of all the classic characters they created; Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Tweetie Bird, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Foghorn Leghorn, Sylvester Cat, the Tasmanian Devil, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, the list goes on and on. Sheesh, my co-workers and I have even been reminiscing about Beaky Buzzard recently. If you consider the entire body of work, Loony Tunes (along with their sister series Merrie Melodies) are probably the best (and most popular) cartoons of the 20th century.

Independent of this, my little brother was pulling together some songs about birds a few weeks ago (the need to compile songs by a common theme must run in the family) and gave me a list of things he was looking for. Imagine my surprise when I saw that one of them was “I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat”. Did I have it? Of course I had it! A few years ago, I raided my father-in-law’s basement and nailed all of his old 45’s from the 1950’s. Frankly, most of it is not anything I would listen to on a regular basis (Pat Boone, Doris Day, Frankie Laine, Dinah Shore, Jo Stafford, etc.), but there was one record that made it all worthwhile…

“I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat”, Mel Blanc (with Billy May), 1951
From the 45 Capitol F1360
“I Taut I Taw A Puddy Tat” lyrics

“Yosemite Sam”, Mel Blanc (with Billy May), 1951
From the 45 Capitol F1360
“Yosemite Sam” lyrics

You can’t talk about Loony Tunes and not mention Mel Blanc. Known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices” (which wasn’t just a catchy nickname), Blanc was said to have performed over 1,000 different voices during his 50+ year career, including all the characters mentioned above. Capitalizing on the popularity of Looney Tunes, he recorded this single with Billy May, who was famous for his work with Frank Sinatra and Nat “King” Cole.

“Powerhouse”, The Raymond Scott Quintet, 1937
From the compilation Reckless Nights and Turkish Twilights
This song is an instrumental.

Raymond Scott was an interesting character: after starting out as a jazz musician, he later became the orchestra leader for the radio/tv show Your Hit Parade, then was one of the first people to experiment with electronic music (inventing many of his own instruments/machines to perform it), which finally led him to work at Motown Records as their Director of Electronic Music and Research. However, his greatest claim to fame is the fact that many of his jazz compositions were sampled extensively in the Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons (among others). Without a doubt, the most famous is “Powerhouse”, which was used in no less than 40 different cartoons.

“War Dance for Wooden Indians”, Don Byron, 1996
From the album Bug Music
This song is an instrumental.

This is another Raymond Scott song that was also used in quite a few cartoons. The album Bug Music has Don Byron performing compositions by Scott, Duke Ellington, and John Kirby. When it came out, he performed a concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he played its songs and also showed the Looney Tunes that they came from. Not only was it a great show, but also a nice excuse to spend the afternoon watching cartoons. Unfortunately, it was geared toward children, and my wife and I were probably the only the only grown-ups in the audience that didn’t have kids with us.

“The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down”, Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm, 1937
From the compilation That Old Feeling (I think…)
“The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” lyrics

You might recognize this as the theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoons.

“Merrily We Roll Along”, Lord Invader with The Calypso Orchestra, 1960
From the compilation Smithsonian Folkways Children’s Music Collection
“Merrily We Roll Along” lyrics

This one is a version of the theme for the Merrie Melodies cartoons. If you listen closely, you can also recognize it as “London Bridge is Falling Down”. On top of that, it’s pretty similar to “Mary Had a Little Lamb”.

“Various Cues from Bugs Bunny Films”, Carl Stalling, 1943-1956
From the compilation Music From Warner Bros. Cartoons 1936-1958
This song is an instrumental.

Just as Mel Blanc is synonymous with the voices of the Looney Tunes, Carl Stalling will be forever remembered for creating their musical accompaniment. Granted, some of it is pulled from Raymond Scott songs and other popular Warner Brothers tunes, but Stalling was the one who blended it all together with his own original music to create distinctively unique soundtracks, still recognizable today. This selection blends together the scores from classic Bugs Bunny shorts; “Rabbit Fire”, “Robot Rabbit”, “Half Fare Hare”, “Beanstalk Bunny”, “What’s Cookin’ Doc”, “Bewitched Bunny”, “Windblown Hare”, and “Hot Cross Bunny.” It’s definitely worth listening to, but as my daughter says, “it’s pretty weird without the cartoons.”

We had quite an exciting few days around our house this past weekend. To start with, Friday was the last night of Hanukkah. To celebrate, we had a small party with some friends and their children. We did it last year and it was so much fun that it we decided to make it an annual event. All the Christmas kids enjoy the chance to help light the menorah candles, play dreidel and eat some gelt, and our daughter loves sharing the holiday with her buddies. It’s a great opportunity to spend time and commemorate an important event with our friends.

Then on Saturday, Dan Zanes did an in-store appearance at a local bookstore. We have a special affinity for Mr. Zanes, not only because he helped open our eyes to the fact that “kids music” should be something that parents can also enjoy, but because we used to live in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn. Once we were turned on to his music, it gave us a kick to see him walking down the street just like everyone else. Now that he’s a rock star among the ankle biter crowd, we feel thankful that our daughter had a chance to see him perform back when she was a tyke. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to see him play since we moved to the suburbs, since his concerts tend to sell out very quickly. Because of this, it was quite an eye opener for me to observe her at this small show. Though she totally enjoyed the music, she refused all my efforts to have her to join the other kids who were singing and dancing along. In a way it made me a little sad, because it forced me to realize how much she has grown up in the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, we had a blast and it was a great show, but I could see a bit of the “too cool for school” attitude peeking through. Can’t wait for those teen years…

We also had a major snowstorm on Saturday, as did most of the East Coast. After we got back from the show, we built a fire, snuggled up on the couches, and tried to find a movie to watch. It turned out to be perfect timing, because The Wizard of Oz was on TV that night. My wife and I have tried for years to convince our daughter to watch this movie, but she has always resisted. Frankly, she’s not a big fan of scary stuff and has always been put off by the Wicked Witch of the West. Even though she read the book and has another one about the making of the movie (see the efforts we went through to get her to watch it?), she always drew the line at seeing the actual movie. Yet for some reason, when asked her if she wanted to watch it this past weekend, she said “sure”, seemingly without a second thought. Of course this just helped reinforce the realization that she is getting older; too young to dance with toddlers to Dan Zanes, but old enough to finally sit through a movie she used to call “too scary.”

Finally, on Sunday we made good use of the snow and built ourselves a snowman. A few years ago, we got a cool “build your own snowman” kit, complete with eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, pipe, and hat. Unfortunately, it hasn’t snowed enough in the past few years to actually use it! So, even though it was a loose snow (we couldn’t even pack snowballs), we managed to construct our own Frosty. Instead of building him in the backyard, we put him out front so that everyone driving by could enjoy him. Not only was it a lot of fun, but a bunch of people have commented “hey, I saw your snowman!”

Oh yes, I almost forgot…after the DZ show, we were walking through the mall and stopped by Santa’s village. It’s a fairly small mall, so there wasn’t a crowd of kids waiting to talk to Santa. As a matter of fact, it must have been awhile since he had a visitor, because he was fast asleep…I mean he was out cold and snoring! I certainly know what it’s like to be exhausted at work, but poor Santa, I can’t imagine how he manages to do it year after year. So kids, make sure you leave him plenty of cookies on Christmas Eve, because I bet that’s what gives him the energy to make it around the world in just a few hours!

Happy holidays everyone, see you next year!

“Swingin’ Dreidel” by Kenny Ellis, 2005
From the album Hanukkah Swings
“Swingin’ Dreidel” lyrics

Unlike Christmas, there aren’t a whole lot of songs about “the festival of lights”. On top of that, most Hanukkah songs are pretty dry, with many sung in Hebrew. However, this album by Kenny Ellis tries to spice things up by injecting a bit of a Frank Sinatra vibe into the traditional standards. As the title implies, this version of the Dreidel song is pretty swinging.

“Linger for Awhile” by Dan Zanes and Friends, 2002
From the album Night Time!
“Linger For Awhile” lyrics

While he has a bunch of great songs, Dan Zanes “Linger for Awhile” holds a special place in my heart. In just a few short minutes, he manages to transport me back to Brooklyn, where we would sit on our stoop, hang out with the neighbors and watch our kids play. Every time this song comes on, I get a little misty for days gone by. Once we knew we were moving, I kept listening to this song and “Autumn Almanac” by the Kinks in an effort to preserve the memories of how much we loved living in a close-knit urban neighborhood. (Dan Zanes has a new record of Broadway songs called 76 Trombones, which we will try to review in the next few weeks.)

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five with Ella Fitzgerald, 1949
From the box set Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” lyrics

For many years now, this has been one of my daughter’s favorite songs. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics about two people so obviously in love or because it features Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan, but whatever the reason, she always makes us listen to it at least twice whenever it comes on.

“Ease on Down the Road” by Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion, 1975
From the Broadway cast album The Wiz
“Ease on Down the Road” lyrics

Since we’ve already posted “Ding-Dong, the Witch is Dead” and an amusing version of “Over the Rainbow”, I decided to include this song from the Broadway musical The Wiz. Though it was later made into a movie featuring Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell and others, I’ll always remember the time my mom took me to see the original musical in New York, especially since we saw it on the day of the 1977 New York City blackout.

“Frosty the Snowman” by Rev. Tom Frost, 2005
From Rev. Tom Frost’s website
“Frosty the Snowman” lyrics

This is a fun version of the holiday classic, sung by the French singer Rev. Tom Frost. If you check out his blog, the good Reverend not only posts collections of obscure holiday music, but also his own interpretations of Christmas standards.

“I Farted on Santa’s Lap (Now Christmas is Gonna Stink for Me)” by the Little Stinkers, 1999
From the single I Farted on Santa’s Lap (Now Christmas is Gonna Stink for Me)
“I Farted on Santa’s Lap (Now Christmas is Gonna Stink for Me)”

Ok, this song is just plain hysterical. The fact that it is sung by a seven year old girl and her friends just makes it that much funnier.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

“Everybody Eats When They Come To My House” by Cab Calloway, 1947
From the compilation Are You Hep To The Jive?
“Everybody Eats When They Come To My House” lyrics

“What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, 1967
From the compilation All-Time Greatest Hits
“What A Wonderful World” lyrics

Over the summer, I began to think that about expanding R.O.pre-K. to include reviews of children’s music albums. Not the typical stuff aimed at the little ones (Sesame Street, Wiggles, Barney, etc.), but kid’s records being put out by “serious” musicians.

Through the years, there has been no shortage of artists who released records for tykes; Woody Guthrie, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Carol King, Randy Newman, Tony Bennett…the list goes on and on. The past ten years have seen a rise in “adult” musicians who also decided to jump in the circle; Dan Zanes (the Del Fuegos), Ralph Covert/Ralph’s World (The Bad Examples), They Might Be Giants, Dino 5 (De La Soul/Digable Planets/the Roots), and the Wee Hairy Beasties (the Mekons), just to name a few.

The idea of doing reviews first arose back in the spring when Jazon Z. told me that Chris Ballew of the Presidents of the United States of America had a new kid’s music project. Then over the summer, my friend Tracy M. found out that Ziggy Marley was coming out with a kids record. At that point I started to think about expanding the scope of R.O.pre-K. to include record reviews. As luck would have it, a few months ago I was asked to write about a kids record by Shel Silverstein. I figured this must be some kind of sign, so here we are.

Underwater Land
Pat Dailey with Shel Silvestein
Released in 2002
Official Underwater Land website

Before we get started on the record, let’s start with a basic question, who on earth is Shel Silverstein?

An artist of many talents, Silverstein was a writer, poet, cartoonist, playwright, and songwriter. He is best known for the book The Giving Tree which tells the story of a little boy and the tree who loves him. Frankly, I never cared for The Giving Tree, since the boy mindlessly strips everything of value from the tree without a second thought, until all that is left is the stump. Not only is the book depressing, it is also a stark reminder of man’s habit of stealing the gifts of nature for our own selfish purposes. (Perhaps I missed the point, as the “experts” have argued that the book is a metaphor for raising children, with the tree in the role of the parent. Either way, the whole thing just bums me out)

However, Silverstein’s poetry is another matter altogether. He published several award winning collections for children, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up, which are absolutely great. Witty, funny, and disarmingly honest, each poem seems to be better than the one before it. The first poem I could ever recite from memory was his “Boa Constrictor”, about a man being swallowed by a snake, which I thought was hilarious. So perfectly clever, it seemed like something that had been passed down and refined from year to year on the playground. Only when I received Where the Sidewalk Ends one Christmas did I realize that it came from the imagination of a single man and not the collective efforts of generations of school kids.

As a songwriter, Silverstein is best known for the songs “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash and “The Cover of Rolling Stone” by Dr. Hook. In addition to these two, his songs have been performed by Marianne Faithfull (“The Ballad of Lucy Jordan”), Loretta Lynn (“One’s on the Way”), Judy Collins (“In the Hills of Shiloh”), Emmylou Harris (“Queen of the Silver Dollar”), Willie Nelson (“A Couple More Years”), Bobby Bare (“The Mermaid”), Brenda Lee (“Wrong Ideas”), The Irish Rovers (“The Unicorn”), and Kris Kristofferson/Waylon Jennings (the soundtrack to the movie Ned Kelly). His songs are so well respected that he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002, the same year that Bob Dylan was inducted.

(Let’s pause for an amusing time-out: as I’m writing this, I hear my wife reading some poems to my daughter in the kitchen. When I go to investigate, sure enough, they’re having fun flipping through A Light in the Attic!)

Now that we’ve baited the hook, let’s dive into Underwater Land.

Recorded in 1997, Underwater Land was one of the last projects Silverstein worked on before he died in 1999. Recorded with his long time friend Pat Dailey, the record is about the ocean and it’s various inhabitants. The seventeen tracks are a mix of poems (both short and long) and formal songs. Sharks, clams, flounder, barracuda, cuttlefish, trout, minnows, octopus, sailfish, snails, and dolphins (among many others) are all fodder for Silverstein’s active imagination.

While many tracks showcase his typically irreverent wit (“Land Shark”, “Cuttlefish”, “Found Flounder”, “Fred the Trout”, “The Minnows”, “The Clam”) some feature puns so obvious that they make you groan out loud (“Sea Shell”, “Poor Anna”, and the worst one “Empty Dolphin Tank”, which the singer stops after a few lines because “there’s just no porpoise in it”…ugh!). Most of the songs are a lot of fun, especially “Underwater Land”, “Ickity-Ackity”, and “Fish Guts”. The album is a perfect way to introduce your munchkin to all the creatures under the sea, and is probably best suited for kids from 4-8. However, if you know anyone (young or old) who is fascinated with fish or the ocean, this is definitely a record you should check out.

“Underwater Land” by Pat Dailey with Shel Silvestein, 2002
From the album Underwater Land
“Underwater Land” lyrics

“Ickity-Ackity” by Pat Dailey with Shel Silvestein, 2002
From the album Underwater Land
“Ickity-Ackity” lyrics

“Fish Guts” by Pat Dailey with Shel Silvestein, 2002
From the album Underwater Land
“Fish Guts” lyrics

(One final note: my daughter recently encouraged me to read her Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that The Last Straw book referenced Shel Silverstein. At one point, the narrator Greg talks about how The Giving Tree freaked him out because of the author photo on the back cover… “Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids.” Greg’s dad uses this to his advantage, telling his son “If you get out of bed again tonight, you’ll probably run into Shel Silverstein in the hallway.” Greg’s response? “That really did the trick. Ever since then, I STILL don’t get out of bed at night, even if I really need to use the bathroom.” No offense to Shel, but Greg has a point…his author photos are pretty scary looking.)

Hey kids, how is your school year going? Are you excited to be in a new grade? Do you like your teacher? Are you learning lots of good stuff? Are there any cool projects you will be working on?

Since our daughter loves school, we all look forward to this time of year. She is especially excited because her grade will be learning about Greek mythology (her favorite topic), natural disasters (though scary, they are pretty amazing things to study), and they will hold a “living wax museum” where everyone dresses up as a historical figure and present reports to the rest of the school.

I know that not all of you might think school is fun, but you should try to enjoy it as much as you can, because once you finish with school you will have to get a job! Though a lot of people enjoy their jobs, work isn’t always fun. Did you ever wonder why Mom and/or Dad sometimes come home tired and maybe even a little grumpy? It’s probably because they had a tough day at work! So, in tribute to everyone who works hard all day, we’re posting some songs that help express the yucky part of having a job. The next time your parents come home after a long day, you can play one of these songs to help them shake off their work day blues.

“Rush Hour Blues” by the Kinks, 1975
From the album Soap Opera
“Rush Hour Blues” lyrics
This is one of our family favorites. Not only is it by the Kinks, but we used to sing it out loud while we waited for the morning train to take us to work and daycare.

“9 to 5” by Dolly Parton, 1980
From the album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs
“9 to 5” lyrics
This is a funny song that was made into a movie a bunch of years ago. In it, some workers get rid of their mean boss and turn their office into a place they really enjoy going to. What ideas could you come up with if you were asked to make an office more fun?

“Takin’ Care Of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, 1973
From the album Bachman-Turner Overdrive II
“Takin’ Care Of Business” lyrics
This song offers some advice; if you don’t like working, quit your job and start a band!

“Sixteen Tons” by “Tennessee” Ernie Ford, 1965
From the compilation Ford Favorites
“Sixteen Tons” lyrics
These days, a lot of people have jobs in offices or working with computers. This one is about a time (not that long ago) when most people made their living through physical labor. Back then, even kids as young as 10 or 12 could be expected to go out and get a job to help out their family. Since most people have had a few different jobs during their life, you should ask your parents or grandparents what was the hardest job they ever had.

“Working in a Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey, 1966
From the compilation His Greatest Hits
“Working in a Coal Mine” lyrics
As a kid, I used to love a version of this song that was done by a band called Devo. When I finally heard the original by Lee Dorsey, I liked it even more, since he sings it like he is completely exhausted from a rough day at work.

“Bang on the Drum All Day” by Todd Rundgren, 1983
From the album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect
“Bang on the Drum All Day” lyrics
This song brings up a good question; what would you rather do than work all day? Think about this really hard, so that when you grow up you can get a job that you really like. As they say, “it’s not work if you enjoy it”!

PS – As luck would have it, I am working on this post while I’m away on a business trip. Now that it’s finished, I realize that it could use one last song; something that describes the best part of a long day on the job…coming home! Unfortunately, I don’t have full access to my music right now, so you will have to wait to hear what it is until I get back in a few days….

…and we’re back! As many people would agree, one of the best things about coming home from work is getting to be with your loved ones. When I came home from my trip I got the biggest hugs from my wife and daughter! So, here’s a song that celebrates coming home to someone you love.

“A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles, 1964
From the compilation 1
“A Hard Day’s Night” lyrics

So we had a yard/garage sale yesterday. This gave us a chance to go through all of our stuff to try and find a good home for all the things we were no longer using. The last time we did this was in Brooklyn, but since no one has a front yard there, everyone calls them “stoop sales”.

It’s funny, there’s a whole subculture of folks who spend their weekends going from yard to yard in search of stuff to buy. Whether they get it for themselves or just to resell I can’t say, but unfortunately some of them can be a bit grumpy about the whole thing, complaining about what might be wrong with what you are getting rid of. For example, one gentleman was looking at a Scrabble set we had (a nice one too, still with all the pieces) and focused on how the box was slightly damaged. Last time I checked, most people play with the actual games and not the boxes! Luckily, a young girl came by later and was very excited about getting it to replace her old set at home (which was missing some pieces). Another funny bit was a box of CDs I had, about 50 in all. It was a mishmash of stuff I had accumulated over the years that were either duplicates, extra stuff from places I worked, or music I just never really listened to. I was thinking it would be lucky to sell a handful of them, but someone came along, looked through them all and liked them so much that he bought the whole box! After talking to him a bit, it turned out he was a dad who used to be in a band and had started writing some kids music himself. It was nice to hear there are other parents out there like us who are disappointed with what’s being put out there for the little ones these days. As I was talking to him, both my wife and daughter poked me and said “tell him about the blog!”

All in all it was a fun day; we got to hang out in the nice weather, meet some new people, chat with a few of our neighbors, and clear some space in our house so we can go fill it with stuff we find at yard sales!

“Rag and Bone” by the White Stripes, 2007
From the album Icky Thump
“Rag and Bone” lyrics

The first time I heard this, it immediately became one of my favorite White Stripe songs. Not only does it have a bit of a funky groove, it also has some playful chatter from Meg and Jack as they try to convince someone to let them take away unwanted items. The term “rag and bone” refers to people who used to make their living going from house to house collecting old stuff that they could then recycle. Hopefully they weren’t as grouchy as our Scrabble man was!

Here’s a completely goofy song that I just can’t stop listening to. Every time I put it on, I have to listen to it at least two or three times in a row, no matter how much my wife complains! The Trashmen were a 60’s surf rock band based in Minneapolis, over a thousand miles from the nearest ocean. This is actually a mash-up of two songs by a doo-wop group called The Rivingtons; “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow” and “The Bird’s the Word”. Years later Big Bird would end up doing his own cover of this song.

“Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen, 1963
From the compilation Surfin’ Bird
“Surfin’ Bird” lyrics

Well this is a little bit embarrassing…I’ve been working on this post so long that it’s almost out of date. It was meant to be put up at the end of the school year as a way to kick off the summer, yet here we are in August and the summer is almost over! I even had to remove two “school is over” songs, since it seems kind of cruel to post them now, with the start of school only a few weeks away. The rest of them are related to summertime, so let’s all enjoy it while it lasts.

“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” by BJ Thomas, 1969
From the soundtrack Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head” lyrics

I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but around here it has been raining non-stop since about April, which has unfortunately made the summer go zipping by. Seriously, we’ve gotten so much rain that people are wondering if they should start building an ark.

“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” by Allan Sherman, 1963
From the album My Son, the Nut
“Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah” lyrics

Those of you who go to camp will definitely appreciate this one. The music is from “Dance of the Hours”, from the opera La Gioconda by Ponchielli, which you may have heard before in the Walt Disney movie Fantasia. The lyrics are about a kid at camp who isn’t having any fun (mostly due to the constant rain) and writes a letter asking his parents to take him home. However, by the end of the song it has stopped raining and he changes his mind and wants to stay. This is a fairly old song, so it’s one that your parents might remember singing as a kid.

“Let’s Go Everywhere” by Medeski, Martin & Wood, 2008
From the album Let’s Go Everywhere
“Let’s Go Everywhere” lyrics

Did anyone go on a road trip this summer? Where did you go? We’re gonna get in the car and go see some family this weekend, but we are also going to try and drive to Washington DC to see the sights before the summer is over. This song is full of a ton of places you could possibly visit (unfortunately I couldn’t positively identify them all in the lyrics), so if you need inspiration for a road trip, give it a listen. If your parents think this song sounds familiar, that’s probably because it’s a spoof of a country song by Hank Snow called “I’ve Been Everywhere”, which has been used in a few television commercials.

“The Andy Griffith Show Theme: The Fishing Hole” by Henry Kaiser, 1989
From the album Those Who Know History Are Doomed to Repeat It
“The Andy Griffith Show Theme: The Fishing Hole” lyrics

This is the theme song to an old television show from the 1960’s, The Andy Griffith Show (ask your parents or grandparents if they remember it). However, on the TV show, the song was an instrumental, with someone whistling in place of the lyrics. If you ask most people who know it from television, they probably don’t even realize there are words to this song! That’s a bit of a shame, because it’s a great song about being a kid and going fishing. While my daughter doesn’t care for fishing, she loves to go crabbing. The first time we caught enough for a crab feast, and another time she caught a turtle (who was not happy about it!). Luckily the trap doesn’t hurt anything, so we were able to set him free with no problem.

“By the Beautiful Sea” by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, 1947
From the compilation The Spike Jones Anthology
“By the Beautiful Sea” lyrics

Those of you lucky enough to live near the ocean will appreciate this one. The funny interlude at the boardwalk sideshow makes me think of WC Fields in a Looney Tunes cartoon taking place at Coney Island, New York.

“Wonder Wheel” by Dan Zanes and Friends, 2001
From the album Family Dance
“Wonder Wheel” lyrics

Speaking of Coney Island, the Wonder Wheel is the name of the Ferris wheel at the Coney Island boardwalk. However, it’s no ordinary Ferris wheel, since the cars slide around! The wheel is made up of two circles (one inside the other), with the cars mounted to the outer circle. As the wheel brings you up, when you get near the top, the cars then slide down onto the inner circle. As the wheel comes back down, the car slides back to the outer circle. When you ride it for the first time you don’t know this, so you can hear the surprised screams of the rookies all the way down the boardwalk!

“Rockaway Beach” by The Ramones, 1977
From the album Rocket To Russia
“Rockaway Beach” lyrics

Ah, a trip to the beach with the family, what could be more fun? Rockaway Beach is located in the borough of Queens in New York City. Along with Coney Island, it is one of the best-known beaches in the city.

“Swimming Song” by Kate and Anna McGarrigle, 1975
From the album Kate and Anna McGarrigle
“Swimming Song” lyrics

Did you learn to swim this summer, or did you already know how? Either way, this one is a great description of what it’s like when you finally figure out how to impersonate a fish.

“Surfin’ Safari” by The Beach Boys, 1962
From the compilation Made in the U.S.A.
“Surfin’ Safari” lyrics

Once you learn to swim, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend that you learn to surf. As for the Beach Boys, though they had a bunch of songs about surfing (“Surfin’”, “Surfin’ USA”, “Surfer Girl”, “Noble Surfer”, “Surf Jam”, “The Rocking Surfer”, “Surfers Rule”, “South Bay Surfer”, “The Surfer Moon”…and those were just the ones with “surf” in the title!) only their drummer actually knew how to surf.

“Ice Cream” by George Lewis’ Ragtime Band, 1953
From the compilation Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans
“Ice Cream” lyrics

Mmmmmmm, ice cream…so tasty, cool, and refreshing, it should be named the official food of summertime! Around our house we’ve had just about every type of frozen treat possible this summer; ice cream, gelato, sherbert, frozen custard, sno-cones, popsicles, and Italian ice. Which one is your favorite?

Ok kids, this next one is for your parents. It’s quite catchy, but probably not anything you want to be singing on the camp bus.

“Lawn Dart” by Ed’s Redeeming Qualitities, 1990
From the album More Bad Times
“Lawn Dart” lyrics

This is a cautionary tale about an old game called “lawn darts”, anyone remember those? They were these big (about a foot long and a few pounds each) darts that you toss up in the air, aiming them towards a circle on the ground about a hundred feet away. Honestly, they did seem a bit dangerous; once the darts were tossed into the air, they would come down with enough force to injure anyone who got in their way. As a result, they have been banned for sale in the U.S. and Canada.

Since we’ve been so quiet lately, here’s a bunch of songs to try and make up for it!

Recently, my daughter has been learning about the solar system in school. As part of this, they put on a class play about all the planets and various other heavenly bodies (the sun, stars, comets, meteorites, etc.), which was a lot of fun to watch. In addition to the parents, they also performed it for the grade below them. As a result of this, she had been looking forward to being in the play since last year when she saw the grade ahead of her do it. Knowing this was coming, I figured it would make a good theme for a post, so I’ve been thinking about it for a little while now. It’s funny; there are a lot of songs that mention the moon, sun and stars, but most of them mention them in the context of love. Not a lot of songs are actually about the solar system, but here is what I was able to dig up from our collection.

PS – When I grew up, Pluto was a real planet…imaging me surprise as an adult when I found out that it had been downgraded to a “dwarf planet”!

“Interplanet Janet” by Lynn Ahrens, 1978
From the compilation School House Rock!
“Interplanet Janet” lyrics

School House Rock! is a great series of short cartoons from the 1970’s. They were designed to run on the weekends, in between the regular kid’s cartoons. At first, they covered four basic topics; science, American history, multiplication, and grammar. In each of the following decades a new subject was added; computers (in the1980’s), money (the 1990’s), and environmentalism (2000’s). In hindsight, it is funny how each of the new series seemed to reflect a major theme of their decade. If you talk to anyone who saw the original series as a kid, the odds are good that they could immediately sing the chorus of at least a half dozen of the S.H.R. songs. And they used to say that all TV is mindless garbage! “Interplanet Janet” is from the original series and was created to help teach kids about the solar system.

“Mr. Bass Man (Mister Spaceman)” by Holy Modal Rounders, 1964
From the album The Holy Modal Rounders
“Mr. Bass Man (Mister Spaceman)” lyrics

The Holy Modal Rounders was a group that was part of the folk music revival of the 1960’s. At the time, many musicians were rediscovering what is best termed “traditional” music (blues, spirituals, railroad songs, Appalachian mountain songs, etc.), largely thanks to a classic collection called The Anthology of American Folk Music, which gathered together a bunch of 78’s (records for you digital kids) from the 1920’s and 30’s. This anthology was instrumental in helping a whole new generation of musicians rediscover traditional songs from across America. As for the Holy Modal Rounders, whenever they learned an old traditional song, if they couldn’t understand the lyrics from the original record, they just made up new words to fit the music. As a result, their versions of these songs tended to be very funny. “Mr. Bass Man” is an original song that they wrote.

“Supersonic Rocket Ship” by The Kinks, 1972
From the album Everybody’s in Show-Biz
“Supersonic Rocket Ship” lyrics

Ahhh, the Kinks. This one is about how they will take off for space and leave the problems of earth behind.

“Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, 1964
From the compilation The Best of the Capitol Years
“Fly Me to the Moon” lyrics

Ok, this one is about love and not outer space itself, but it is such a classic that I couldn’t resist including it. However, it does have a connection to outer space; when the Apollo 10 space mission orbited the moon in 1969, mission control broadcast this song to the astronauts. This version was arranged by Quincy Jones and features Count Basie.

“Rocket Number Nine” by Sun Ra and his Arkestra, 1973
From the album Space is the Place
“Rocket Number Nine” lyrics

Sun Ra was quite a character. He was probably best known for the fact that he claimed to have visited Saturn in the late 1930’s, decades before most people even considered the possibility of life on other planets. From that point on, he adopted the name Sun Ra and considered himself an emissary of the universe. In addition to this, he was one of the most prolific recording artists of the 20th century (composing over 1000 songs across 100+ records), with the vast majority of his music based on the concept of outer space. “Rocket Number Nine” is a little bit on the weird side, but it’s also strangely catchy.

“Starship” (edit) by the MC5, 1969
From the album Kick Out the Jams
“Starship” lyrics

This one is a bit of a rocker, but it is still a lot of fun, especially the part where they start the countdown to blast-off. On the record, there is a lengthy improvisation (including the recital of a poem) which represents a voyage through space, but I cut that part out. The song and poem are based on a Sun Ra composition, as he was a big influence on the MC5.

“Space Oddity” by David Bowie, 1969
From the compilation The Singles Collection
“Space Oddity” lyrics

This is probably the best known song about traveling through space. It has a bit of sad ending, as the main character (Major Tom) ends up being unable to return to earth. David Bowie later recorded an album about a character named “Ziggy Stardust”, who was an alien being that came to earth in order to help save the human race.

“Major Tom (Coming Home)” by Shiny Toy Guns, 2009
From the single Major Tom (Coming Home)
“Major Tom (Coming Home)” lyrics

This song is a tribute to “Space Oddity”, and was originally recorded by Peter Schilling in 1983. In the song, Major Tom does not consider himself lost in space, but views himself as “coming home”. I wanted to post Schilling’s original, but all I could locate was the German language version, which he had recorded first. You have may have heard the Shiny Toy Guns cover already, since it has recently been used in a car commercial. In addition to this song, there is another “Space Oddity” tribute called “Mrs. Major Tom”, which tells the story from the perspective of his wife. I haven’t heard this though, so I can’t say if it is any good.

“Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” by Meco, 1977
From the album Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk
This song is an instrumental.

Now what collection of “space” music would be complete without the Star Wars Theme? This is a disco (dance) version that incorporates the Cantina Band song in it.

“Jingle Bells” (edit) by Nina Rota, 1960
From the soundtrack to La Dolce Vita
This song is an instrumental.

You may be wondering what this song has to do with outer space. Well, it was actually the first song played in outer space! Here is the full story, as originally posted on our sister site http://musicalknowledge.org:

“In 1965, after the Gemini 6 space mission was cancelled, a new mission was designed and named Gemini 6A. Their primary objective was an in flight rendezvous with Gemini 7. On December 15, the mission was accomplished, with the two spacecraft spending almost 3 hours orbiting together, at some points as close as 30 centimeters. When it came time to sleep, they broke their orbit and drifted apart. However, before the crew of Gemini 6 went to sleep, they broadcast the following message;

“Gemini VII, this is Gemini VI. We have an object, looks like a satellite going from north to south, probably in polar orbit…. Looks like he might be going to reenter soon. Stand by one…. You just might let me to pick up that thing…. I see a command module and eight smaller modules in front. The pilot of the command module is wearing a red suit.”

Certainly, the first tinges of panic must have started to rise back at Mission Control. Had something happened to Gemini 7? Was there an unidentified spacecraft approaching Gemini 6A? Was 6A in any danger? What was happening?

All of a sudden, the song “Jingle Bells” was transmitted, played by the Gemini 6 crew (Wally Schirra on harmonica, and Thomas Stafford rocking the sleigh bells). After they finished, they reported that the UFO must have been Santa Claus making a test run for the upcoming holiday. Quite a twofer: not only the first song played in space, but most likely, also the first practical joke. Today the harmonica and sleigh bells are on display in the Smithsonian Institution.”

So the next time you hear “Jingle Bells” at the holidays, take a moment to think about a pair of lonely astronauts floating up above the planet and broadcasting the song through the universe.

Well it’s been a busy few weeks here (a few out of state trips, filing taxes, painting our kitchen, and other fun stuff), so please pardon our recent silence. Today is going to be a quick post to celebrate one of the most important holidays of the year, Mother’s Day.

”Here’s To Mothers” by Hannah, 2009
”Here’s To Mothers” lyrics

My daughter came home with the lyrics to this song and sang it to her mom this morning as she woke up. It’s so cute that we sat her down later to record it for posterity. So, for all you moms out there, Happy Mother’s Day!!!