Customer Reviews

Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's amazing what the Sesame Workshop can do when they set their minds to it. Suddenly, after parcelling out little pieces of the past, they release three whole albums at once, and give those of us who grew up with this show something that we really like at a price we can afford. Absolutely terrific. Joe Raposo's "Somebody Come and Play" and "J-Jump," two of our all-time favorite songs, are now in the car, on the IPOD. Our own children can now hear it, too.

Please, Sesame Workshop, all we want is for you to unlock what it meant to be a child in the 60s and 70s, when we thought that you actually cared about us. Before Elmo. Before you moved from a Fisher Price house and little plastic toy people to a Sesame Street image on absolutely everything that is marketed to children. Don't continue to over-commercialize our past. Just give us back our memories and this beautiful music and the episodes that meant the world to a four year old who wanted to believe that people could live together.

After all, it's about kids, right? And raising them well? And the message that you portray? It's not about sitting on things in vaults and miserly handing them out one precious drop at a time.

Release it all.

Finally, we are starting to hear our memories come flooding back with these classic albums, now in CD format! SESAME STREET OLD SCHOOL, VOLUME 1 has three of the great albums from the '70s, and after listening to them, I can hardly wait for the next set!

And don't be fooled by the cover shown here. The CD cover is not the same as the DVD set.

A listing for the three CDs:

THE SESAME STREET RECORD (1970)
01. Sesame Street - Kids
02. ABC-DEF-GHI - Big Bird
03. I've Got Two - Bob, Susan, Gordon, Mr. Hooper, Oscar, Big Bird
04. Goin' for a Ride - Anything Muppets
05. What Are Kids Called? - Bob, Susan
06. Everybody Wash - Ernie, Bert
07. One of These Things - Bob, Susan
08. Up and Down - Cookie Monster, Herry
09. Bein' Green - Kermit
10. Somebody Come and Play - Kids
11. I Love Trash - Oscar
12. A Face - Bob
13. J-Jump - Kids, with Big Bird's poem
14. People in Your Neighborhood - Bob, Anything Muppets
15. Rub Your Tummy - Gordon
16. Number 5 - Kids
17. Five People in My Family - Anything Muppets
18. Nearly Missed - Susan
19. Rubber Duckie - Ernie

-The last few seconds of 07 are edited out, but the CD does come with the original record ending (including the LP instructions)!

BIG BIRD SINGS! (1974)
01. ABC-DEF-GHI
02. A Really Good Feeling*
03. Noodle Song - with Oscar
04. Very, Very Special Letter
05. Big Bird Writes a Poem - with Snuffleupagus and Herbert Birdsfoot
06. Y'All Fall Down - with Ernie, Bert, Cookie and others
07. I Just Adore Four*
08. How Do I Know I'm Here - with Bob, Luis, Gordon and Susan
09. Everyone Makes Mistakes - with Farley
10. The Sound of the Letter "A"
11. Just Three Colors - with Oscar
12. Ha, Ha - with Harvey Kneeslapper and Herry
13. No Matter What Your Language - with Luis
14. Big Bird's Poem

* - Two tracks from the original album have been replaced with others. The sound quality in 07 is not the best here, but still enjoyable.

BERT & ERNIE SING-ALONG (1975)
This is one title that works the songs in a basic plot. Here, Ernie hosts a sing-along in his bathroom while an irritated Bert tries to take his bath!

01. I Refuse to Sing Along - B&E
02. I've Been Working on the Railroad - Ernie, Gordon, Susan
03. Old MacDonald Had a Farm - Bob, Luis, Maria, David
04. A Really Good Feeling - Big Bird
05. Bats in My Belfry - Count
06. Row, Row, Row Your Boat - Herry, Grover, Cookie Monster
07. I'll Give You a Song - Oscar
08. Oscar Don't Allow - David, Big Bird, Ernie, Luis
09. The Limerick Song - Susan, Bob, Count, Ernie, Bert
10. On Top of Old Smokey - Grover
11. Living Hand in Hand - Gordon, Susan
12. What's the Name of That Song?
13. A Very Simple Dance - David
14. Morningtown Ride - Bob
15. Everyone Likes Ice Cream - Susan, David, Prairie Dawn, Bob, Ernie, Grover
16. "C" is for Cookie - Cookie Monster
17. Peanuts - Luis, Prairie Dawn, Ernie, Big Bird
18. John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith
19. She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain - Maria, Susan, Gordon, David
20. Finale: What's the Name of That Song? (Reprise)
21. Sing

Classics, each and every one of 'em! If you grew up watching the Street in the years B.E. (Before Elmo), or you just want to hear what things were like in those days, this is the set for you!

This collection is a MUST-HAVE for many reasons. The albums have been out of print for too long. As an adult, they're worth having for the nostalgia factor. I loved them as a child, and I loved listening to them again as an adult. Such happy memories. And if you have or know any children, they will love it too. As I listened, I kept thinking of grown nieces and nephews who would have loved these if they were on CD ten or twenty years ago, but now I have to wait until there are some more little ones in the family. It sounds great, and the packaging is nice. But... The collection falls flat in a few places, and here's where the Sesame Workshop could improve with Volume 2, 3, 4, etc:

First, Sesame Street taught me my letters and my numbers. Therefore I can count and I can read, and I LOVE to do it. There absolutely should have been a booklet. Tell us the story about these albums. Many of the cast members and production folks are still around to explain the phenomenon of the early albums. How many albums did the records originally sell? How did the cast feel about them? How did they affect the show? How many Grammy's did they win? How many times were they nominated? How about an introduction by Joan? There is no booklet! I understand that booklets can be costly, but the workshop chose to put three cardboard slip cases inside a large outer case, which if swapped for a booklet and a jewel case, would have been less expensive. More for less.

Second, the first album The Sesame Street Record (Original Cast) was originally issued as a gatefold album with a book inside. The book contained original artwork, pictures, etc. Aside from the complaint above, this was a major oversight. The 1974 reissue with the alternate cover should have also been included. Again, why no booklet? Cookie monster must have eaten it.

Third, these albums are actually pretty long, but Big Bird Sings was short enough to fit on one of the CDs with one of the other albums. It could have been done as a 2 CD set, or as the current 3 CDs with another album added (and there are many more to choose from!). These decisions may be made based on other factors such as licensing or clearances, and it is nice to have them available on separate discs, but again, it's not too efficient this way.

Don't let this prevent you from purchasing this collection. It is still worthy of purchase, perhaps alongside the wonderful book Sesame Street: A Celebration! 40 Years Of Life On The Street. But if you folks at the Workshop are reading this, please know how much this collection means to us, and how much more valuable it will be if you add little details like a booklet. We will gratefully appreciate it.

We can't wait for The Count Counts, Letters... And Numbers Too!, The Sesame Street Monsters, Sesame Street 2, My Name Is Roosevelt Franklin, Sesame Street Live, At Home With Ernie & Bert, Grover Sings The Blues, Sesame Disco! Sesame Fever, and more! Thank you Sesame Workshop!

Don't care about all the discussion going on about what's there, what's missing, blah blah blah. Sesame Street was the greatest thing that ever happened to a kid born in the 1970s and this three album collection brings it all back. I love it and my kids do, too! We keep the sing-along album in the car and it keeps us laughing.

This set is fabulous! The other ones I've listened to are not the right voices that I remember. This was just right! I am so excited to play this for my little girls! I highly recommend it. I grew up in the early 80's and this is what I remember. It's just great!

These cd's are exactly what I wanted - the music I remembered from Sesame Street thirty years ago. My children love listening to it. However, I do skip over two songs - "She'll be coming around the Mountain" has a verse that "we'll kill the old red rooster", which I don't think is appropriate for 2 and 3 year olds. Also, Gordon and Susan sing a song with a line about drowning yourself. Not something the average parent of a toddler wants to have to explain. Other than that, the songs are great. It's funny to hear how the character's voices weren't fully developed - Big Bird's voice is all over the place and Grover and Cookie Monster sound alike in some songs. It's sad that David was so troubled and only on the show a brief time - his voice is far and away the best in the cast.

My favorite record as a kid was the Sesame Street Sing-a-Long, and so far that's the only cd of this pack we have listened to. The quality is great, and it sounds just as I remember. Super songs for kids - My son enjoys it too!!

I was trying to copy my old records, when I found these cds! They have almost the exact songs on them that the original records have. There are a few missing off of the Big Bird album, but they are on the Sesame Street album. Other than that they are an exact replica; I can't wait for more of them to be released!

Great collection of songs and enjoyable for a Grandma to listen to over and over again!

I snapped this sucker right of the shelf at my local barns and Noble.... I LOVE IT... In spite of some oversights at least we are getting the songs as they SHOULD have been done in the 90s... These CDs will show some of the history of the show to the younger set as we see Matt Robinson as the first "Gordon" on the first LP... I look forward to sharing this with my Niece and hope that Sesame Workshop releases the rest of the early library... It will be so nice to hear Mr Hooper and the Gang again... 5 stars all around in spite of some minor quibbles... THANK YOU Sesame Workshop for FINALLY Coming around and releasing the albums the right way.. Looking forward to VOl 2 should it happen.... This was a nice 39th birthday gift for myself.... THANK YOU AGaIN....