Sesame Road

[Drtooth]

I can't think of any reason (except financially) why I didn't pick this CD up sooner! I got it two nights ago, but only got a chance to REALLY hear it last night. I have got to say, it is now my FAVORITE cd in my collection!@ I had a gift certificate for this one place, and I have been casing that joint, hoping no-one would buy that cd before I copuld!

It is, without a doubt, one of the best collections of Sesame Song Satire as of yet (and I doubt there will be any more, rats!!!)

Even the cover is satirical! You see Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar, and Elmo ala John Paul George and Ringo on the original Abby road cover. One thing I picked up, on closer inspection... Both Big Bird and Oscar aren't wearing shoes. This must be some sort of Rumor that Carol Spinney is dead (If you are not a Beatles fan, you will not get this joke, trust me!)

Ever since Big Bird said those words, "and now, let me introduce to you, a band you knew for all these years, the Sesame Street Beetles," I was entranced! I remember these songs, but I never really got them until I was older (some I forgot about!) Some of my favorite songs on this CD are:

Letter B
Healthy Food
Rebel L
A little Yelp from My friends
Hey Food
ZZ Blues
Wet or DRY
well, pretty much the entire CD

The only songs I didn't like were, I'm the Big one Now (I liked Jerry Nelson's singing better) and Up in the Morning and off to school (not because Elmo sings it, I just don't like the parody version)

I've gotta dash, but in closing I have to add... Listen VERY carefully to the end of Hey Food. You can here a mumbling low voice go, "Strawberry Jam Forever!" If you don't get that, you really need to listemn to more Beatles music!

 

[ssetta]

You know, this is one of my favorite CDs too. But there was actually a lawsuit with this album. It was okay to do those 2 Beetles' parodies ("Letter B" and "Hey Food") on the show, but the original purpose of those was never to make money off the general public, it was just to be funny on the show. And it wasn't just that they were on an album, because they were on the original Born To Add album, released back in 1983. This album was very similar in a way. It was called Born To Add: The Great Rock & Roll From Sesame Street, and it looked just like Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen. I guess he didn't have a problem with it. I think the problem was that they used the original cover of Abbey Road, and sold it, and made money off it.

 

[Drtooth]

No, ssetta. There is no law suit! Everyone has used the Abbey Road cover as a parody, Ren and Stimpy, Animaniacs, even the poster that came with the Dinosaurs, Big songs album!

Listening to the Cd, I have found that the two songs I've mentioned earlier (I'm the Big one Now, and Off to School) were the weaker of the songs! I think they should have been replaced by Danger, it's no stranger, and Thinking of U. it seems that the songs were written and halfway through they said...boy, this isn't so good! Almost like Don Music wrote them! (personally, it would have been funnier to have Elmo sing the REAL lyrics of Off to School).

I must say that Christopher Cerf and the rest had a lot of fun with the Beetle song parodies, especially Hey food! I tyhink Cerf does such a dead on impersonation of Paul McCartney's yells in Hey Jude. And the end gag where a voice mumbles Strawberry Jam forever, ala the end of Strawbeery fields forever (Cranberry Sauce) cracked me up so much! This is definately a great CD!

My one complaint, In ZZ blues, they cut off Jerry's line, "Only band I ever worked with to fall asleep and keep playing the blues. Guess I might as well join 'em and cop some Zs myself!"

 

[ssetta]

Now when you said that Christopher Cerf does a dead on impersonation on "Hey Food", I hope you weren't criticizing him, because he's my friend. Also, I only vaguely remember the "Hey Food" segment on the show. For some reason, I thought the piano sounded more honky-tonk like, but I'm not sure. And didn't Cookie eat everything in sight at the end, including the whole bandstand, and the music faded out as he ate?

Also, I agree about "Danger's No Stranger" and "Thinking Of U". Chris says that "Thinking Of U" isn't one of his favorites, because he didn't write it. But I do think "Danger's No Stranger" could have been on there.

I think they cut Jerry's line out of ZZ Blues because you needed to actually see what was happening.

Also, Rebel L. I may be the only one, but I've never seen the segment on the show. Was it exactly the same, or was it slightly different?

 

[Drtooth]

Now, what I said about a Dead on impersonation, that means he did it SOOOO increadably perfect, I could almost SWORE it was Paul McCartney (had I not known it was our man, Chris!)! Listen to the screams he does during the repetition of the chorus at the end of the song, and listen to Paul McCartney's screams during the end of the real song. Perfect impersonation! I just LOOOOVE Christopher Cerf songs. He's like the "Weird Al" Yankovic of Sesame Street (and I LOOOOOVE Weird Al YAnkovic, so You can see what I mean).

But You KNOW Christopher Cerf? If you do, tell him that I think his work was the GREATEST!!! I mean, on both Sesame Street and Between the Lions, MAAAAN that is so great! Sesame Road is one of the Best Sesame Albums out there!

 

[totoro]

Is Dangers No Stranger on any Sesame Street CD? or Adventure?

 

[mikebennidict]

what's interesting about this album is besides it being a prioridy of Abby Road, maybe not the whole thing but the cover and of course title. AR was released in Oct. of 1969 and SS debuted the following month. seems interesting that besides that they chose to copy off an album released almost the same time as SS. wonder if that was a coincidence?

 

[Soul H]

Another problem is the 2 versions of Letter B, in the CD version it's pretty much calm and tranquil, while in the TV version the Beetles' Drummer starts drumming up a storm causing the girls to scream, cheer and applaud for him. Why they not make the TV version on the album since in the beginning, there was a screaming audience? Weird no?

 

[Drtooth]

I am not sure, but I think that it's because the CD is more an audio than visual medium. Some of the songs were either reperformed or remixed.

I'm the Big one Now, Off to School, Different ways to get to School, and Hand Talk are clearly reperformed, Off to School, Different ways, and Hand Talk were reperformed with Muppets (Elmo, the Beetles, and Big Bird, Telly Oscar, etc. respectively). Now with Letter B, they made it more like a Beetles CD track than an Ed Sullivan performance (like the TV version was) I think they even made it longer. Think of it as "Letter B, Naked" (once again, if you're not a Beatles fan, you won't get that). Hey Food was redone to be much longer, and they of course added in the "Strawberry jam forever line." In the TV version the skit faded out (to the best of my recollection) when Cookie was eating all the food. In the Cd, they have the song slowly fade out.

I don't know why they cut off the line in ZZ Blues (about the band falling asleep while they were playing), but I'm guessing a lot of the changes were basically because it's a CD, and Chris Cerf wanted it to be much more enjoyable as music, since the visual jokes wouldn't be trasnlated as well.

BTW, I've special ordered Born to Add last week... As soon as it comes in, and I'm near a computer, I'll post my 2 cents about it.