Customer Reviews

Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Saturday Morning - Cartoon's Greatest Hits" is a fun spin for anyone who grew up watching cartoons in the early to mid 1970s. You probably ate a lot of overly hyped sugary cereal, but the Cocoa Puffs, Trix and Quisp trivia is another story. This collection from 1995 was one of those "tribute" disks featuring altern/modern rock artists.

Liz Phair (with Material Issue) has a fun time with "The Tra La La Song" from Banana Splits. Sponge doesn't fare so well with their take on "Go Speed Racer Go." I recently heard a remix that used samples of the actual theme and sound effects from the show, as well as some of those bad voiceovers. Hilarious. But again, I digress. Matthew Sweet's version of "Scooby-Doo, Where are You?" is faithful to the original and one of the best cuts on the disk. Both Helmet's "Gigantor" and Ramones "Spider-Man" really rock. My favorite cut is probably the Reverend Horton Heat medley of "Jonny Quest/Stop that Pigeon," a bizarre combo, with some blistering guitar work on J. Quest. Multiple key changes, dramatic time alternations. Very cool.

Dig also does a fairly faithful "Fat Albert Theme" comlete with "Hey hey hey!" Watch out for Sublime's version of "Hong Kong Phooey" which is a little edgier than the dog janitor may have intended.

Some other choices are less obvious, like "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In" from the Flintstones, rather than the theme that everyone knows. Another is the Violent Femmes "Eep Opp Ork ah-ah (means I love you)" from The Jetsons.

Okay, and what is Happy, Happy Joy, Joy from Ren and Stimpy doing here?

Pour yourself a bowl of Cap'n Crunch, put on this disk, and enjoy reading the back of the box, or in this case, the interesting liner notes.

There is so much to embrace here! It seems like there's a new tribute album released every day, but the misses usually outweigh the hits.

This album is one of the great few hits. It opens with The Banana Splits by Material Issue (and Liz Phair on vocals!), which is one of the best tracks on the CD. They put a raw energetic indie-style spin on the song, but without losing the essence of the original.

The unmistakable Ramones sound hits home with their take on Spiderman. Like Liz Phair & Material Issue, the Ramones keep the passion of the tune we knew and loved as kids, but sped it up, and we hear Joey, in that traditional high-octane Rock & Roll spirit, yell "Look Out!" before going into the instrumental portion.

About the only songs that left me cold were Sponge's "Speed Racer" and Helmet's "Gigantor." The theme songs we knew and loved as kids were unrecognizable; only the lyrics give you a clue which tune they cover.

Other shining moments are Reverend Horton Heat's "Johnny Quest" and Frente's "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In." There's nothing quite like Pebbles & Bam-Bam singing the latter tune, but these cats do a great cover!

So much to enjoy on this CD! Worth the money and time!

Great CD with songs you remember as a kid. I really got it because of the "Tra La La" Song from the Banana Splits, but all the others are great re-makes; Hong Kong Phooey, Scooby Doo, Stop the Pigeon, Fat Albert's Theme, Spiderman.. and others.

Remember those wonderful, bright Saturday mornings sitting in front of the TV with your crunchy ( later Soggy ) bowl of Cocoa Puffs or Captain Crunch...or even Cinnamon Toast Crunch watching The Smurfs, or Superfriends...or...SCOOBY DOO? Well, this CD really brings those days back!

I absolutely LOVED this CD! I played it SO much that it got scratched, abused, destroyed....man I really need to get another copy!

I loved the artwork, the different varieties of the bands in the album, I even loved the organization of the tracks!

I think I have to say my favorite songs were the ones of the Sid and Marty Kroft shows. Especially the "Friends" Song. I sang that one over and over and over!

I highly recommend this to any 80's kid...or ANY kid for that matter. All modern day kids need to know the origins of some of their fave cartoons.

This CD really brings you BACK!

-Emi

Most of this CD is great. In my opinion, Sponge and Wax didn't do justice to the songs they recorded ("Speed Racer" and "Happy Happy Joy Joy", respectively), but these are the exceptions rather than the rule. The main highlights here are the Violent Femmes' "Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah", Liz Phair & Material Issue's "Banana Splits", Dig's "Fat Albert", face to face's "Popeye the Sailor Man", the Murmurs' "H.R. Pufnstuf" (very cute rendition!) and Sublime's "Hong Kong Phooey" (this one is REALLY wild, as they go through a variety of tempo changes). Looking forward to more compilations like this in the future.

I've had this CD since it's release! LOVED it then, still love it! I think the covers are GREAT! Better than the originals, makes for much more fun reliving the cartoons I grew up on! I had recently purchased a copy for my friends son, who LOVES it, and since has been learning to play guitar! I would like to see more CD's like this quality and caliber of bands to attract the young ones who are our future rockstars!

If you're a kid who grew up in the 1970s -- and still like rock and roll -- this is a must-buy album. Many of the artists on the album weren't well-known when this first hit the streets, although pretty much all of them deserve to be.

"Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits" benefits by having artists of the right generation (mostly) playing the covers. Everything from the amazing Liz Phair's cover of the "Banana Splits" theme song to Matthew Sweet's "Scooby Doo, Where Are You" to Sumblime's "Hong Kong Phooey" to the Ramones' "Spider-Man" are incredibly fun tunes that both evoke the classic cartoons and are representative of the musicians' work.

I picked this album up the first day it was in stores, having heard choice cuts from it on Washington, DC's WHFS all week prior, and it remains one of my favorite albums to this day, five years later.

This Cd was great, i don't know how anyone couldn't appreciate the Sublime version of Hong Kung Phooey or many other good songs like eep opp ork ahah or gigantor.

If you grew up during the era in question and don't like this CD, LIGHTEN UP FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD! I grew up being one of those kids who couldn't go out and play football because of having to practice piano, but I still watched many of these shows! Hearing these talented bands give such serious treatment to the cartoon songs of my TV youth makes me smile. A lot. Put it in your player and leave your worries behind! It's also great if you ever have a party start dragging - If the Femmes' version of Eep Aap Ork Ah Ah can't fix it, then maybe you should consider not having parties anymore. Or getting new friends.

This is one of those albums that is a complete joy to find. As a Saturday Morning Junkie throughout the 70's...this album brought back the fun I used to have as a kid. It is too bad that Saturday Mornings today are not near as much fun. Only two networks have anything on for my son in the morning and he could care less what is really on. Back then...we didn't go out and play until after cartoons were over.

I just wish that the folks who put this album together will do another. There is still a great amount of themes that I remember and it would be fun to hear them modernized. Like "Speed Buggy, Electro Woman and Dyno Girl, Star Blazers, Captain Caveman, The Funky Phantom, etc."

And what the heck is "Ren & Stimpy" doing here? Oh well, it's still a great CD!"