Learning can be funky
For reasons still only known to them, my parents hardly ever let me watch TV when I was a small child. However, despite their aversion to nasty American cartoons I was still allowed to watch Sesame Street. Thank God – how I loved Sesame Street!
It didn’t bother me that Cookie Monster encouraged gluttony and binge eating of sugary snacks, that Super Grover’s stunts defied health and safety regulations or that some people thought that Ernie and Bert living together was a tad suspect. No, I loved the diverse mix of people and muppets who populated the show and attempted to teach me about ‘co-operation’ and ’sharing’.
But for me, the best thing about Sesame Street was the music. Disguising education in the form of a funky tune worked a treat on me, and some have stayed with me forever. Here are two of my favourites.
‘Days of the Week’ from My Name is Roosevelt Franklin, 1971/1974
I’ve had this LP in my collection for as long as I can remember and it is still one of the funkiest records I own. Roosevelt Franklin was one of the few Black American muppets on Sesame Street between 1970 and 1975, but was apparently dumped for being too feisty/naughty and setting a bad example to children. Here though, he sets a good example by singing about, um, the days of the week: ‘I go to school five days a week, ‘cos I get five times smarter that way’.
‘Days of the Week’ from My Name is Roosevelt Franklin (2.56 MB)
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‘Pinball Number Count’, around 1976/77
This supremely funky tune was recorded especially by the Pointer Sisters to accompany a scarily pychedelic animation. For more (lots more) info check the muppet wiki.
Tags: dirty nostalgia, on TV
May 26th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Wow! Brilliant stuff. I too grew up watching Sesame Street. Is it still going?
Loved Oscar best, Big Bird was a jerk though. Too many others to mention………
Don’t remember Roosevelt Franklin, but the number song was always eagerly anticipated.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Ill Man – Sesame Street is indeed still running and is one of the longest running shows on TV I believe (it started in 1969).
I never liked Big Bird much either, he always struck me as a bit stupid. My favourites were Grover, Mr Hooper the shopkeeper and the Muppet Newsflash sequences with Kermit. I don’t remember Roosevelt Franklin either actually, I just had the LP!
May 26th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Never seen a full sesame st I’m afraid but the Muppets ruled in our house. Mahna Mahna song by Peter Umilioni was skill (as would have said but don’t anymore except juts now). all together Mahna Mahna doo doo do do….
May 26th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Oh yes, BLTP, I liked the Muppets too. That was definitely a favourite in our household. Mahna Mahna = classic. Could have been on Eurovision… ;)
May 26th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I learned to count to 10 in Spanish thanks to Sesame St (as an adult).
May 27th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Roman Empress – that is definitely more useful than being able to sing 1,2,3 – 4,5 – 6,7,8,9,10 – 11,12…
I haven’t seen Sesame Street in years – did it work for you as an adult?!
May 27th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
There are some properly funky nuggets tucked away in Sesame St (I’ve been firewalled for sound today – so will have to give these bits a blast later) – try typing ‘Sesame Street Jazz Spies’ into youtube .
And have you checked out ‘Doing The Banana Split’ from the Banana Splits? It’s written by ‘ he is the walrus’ Barry White.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Oh yes, I remember Jazz Spies – freaky stuff in retrospect – I was thinking about wacking some of these up too but thought that it might be overkill. If you like these, then you’ve got to listen to Roosevelt Franklin!