Customer Reviews

Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We all know a few Sesame Street songs and chances are they appear on this collection which features 31 cast originals and 32 celebrity appearances. If you've been watching Sesame Street, you can probaly add those up to a grand total of 63 songs! Of the 31 cast originals, all but one track (HENSON KING OF EIGHT) has been previously released on LP or CD. It would have been nice to have more never-before-released tracks. That said, it's great to have some of the tracks appearing on CD for the first time. As for the 32 celebrity appearances, 25 of them have never been released before. So this is definately the set for you if you're a fan of the celebrity versions.

Inside the 10.5" cardboard case, the 3 Cds are presennted in cardboard slip covers and a 68 page booklet is included. The booklet is really impressive as it not only has credits and lyrics for every song, but also offers a brief timeline of the series from it's debut through the present day, as well as extensive liner notes.

I was really miffed that the original broadcast version of LADYBUG'S PICNIC wasn't used. In order to make this THE definitive Sesame Street collection I believe the broadcast version of all songs should have been used. That said, the remix version of the PINBALL NUMBER COUNT and SESAME STREET THEME are terrific!

For the casual Sesame Street fan this set is terrific. For the Sesame Street fan who has a few CD's but never owned or knows what an LP is, this set will offer you a few things you've never heard before like the Lena Horne and Grover classic HOW DO YOU DO. But if you want original broadcast versions of the songs and don't care for the celebrity intrepretations, then this is not the set for you.

This set gets close to being definitive, but misses the mark by not including original broadcast versions and focusing a bit too heavily on the celebrity appearances.

I love this CD set - it sure beats hours of looking for downloads! It's got a great mix of vintage originals (plenty of Joe Raposo and Jeff Moss for me!) like "Somebody Come and Play" and "What's The Name of That Song" with celebrity songs like "Furry Happy Monsters," and "Elmo and the Lavendar Moon." Best of all, it contains a remix of the Pinball Number Count (you know: one two three FOUR FIVE six seven eight NINE TEN eleven twelve...)There are a couple pop-schmaltz songs on this CD, but they're few and far between. The songs seem to be recorded directly from shows, which may explain another viewer's issue with the quality.

Another plus is 15 pages of terrific liner notes by Sesame Street artist Christopher Cerf (Chrissy and the Alphabeats). It includes a timeline "Sesame Street through the years" on every page as well as great pictures. All the song lyrics are listed (including every syllable of Mah na Mah na!) Buy it - send your percentage of the profits to Sesame Street!

Anxiously awaiting this box set, I was thoroughly disappointed when I found there were so, so many songs left out. There are so many songs from "today's Sesame" - what happened to the songs of Sesame from years ago? I was expecting to see more of the classic, unavailable songs from my record collection, but sadly, they can't be found on this box set. Disc 3 is a disappointment - who wants to hear another Aerosmith song???!! Not me. Give me the Ernie & Bert Rhyming song and you would have made my day. Sorry, I have to give it 2 stars. Most of these songs are available on all their other CDs. Shame on you Sesame Street! This box set is just as lame as Season 35.

I have bought the CD set myself and while I'm not crazy about the third CD in the set, overall, the I think this compilation of songs is pretty terrific.

However, "BigBoyBen" mentioned that he/she didn't approve of the sound quality of the many of the songs. It should be pointed out that many of the broadcast recordings, particulary on the 1st and 2nd discs were probably taken directly from the performance recorded on the set...to teletape or videotape and not recorded in a proper recording studio. So, keeping that in mind, I think the tracks sound pretty good.

The fact that we have these recordings; documents of our youths that have been long entrenched in our memories is a pretty significant thing...regardless of how they were recorded.

I was given this cd box set as a gift. I have a 3 year old, and I don't know who was more excited to listen to this. The third cd is music that they play currently on Sesame Street, that may be why another reviewer didn't like that cd. I couldn't believe the memories that came back by listening to these cd's completly. You can almost see the record player going around and around, and know where it's going to skip. (of course, it doesn't) I feel it's well done and worth the money. It's something both you and your children will enjoy, something you can both sing along with.

While I agree with other reviewers that the third CD was pretty much a waste, having "The King of Eight," "Captain Vegetable," "African Alphabet" and so many great Joe Raposo songs in the same compilation is wonderful. I was born in '84 so some of the classics I hadn't heard before like "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard," which I only wish I had been able to watch, so I could have seen that little girl dancing. Her improvisational lyrics were so cute, and hysterical. I was disappointed that many of the versions of old songs I love were not the originals, but redone for 90's CDs. I wish Sesame Street would have given us more of the real classics and less of Elmo and modern celebrities. More than anything this CD compilation left me wondering "Why isn't a DVD collection of Classic Sesame Street on the market?"

When I ordered this set, I pretended I was buying it for my daughter but really it's for me. I listen to it even when she is not in the car.

As an kid from the original Sesame Street generation, the older songs bring back memories for me and it's great to share those with my daughter. I've heard a lot of versions of many of these songs on records, tapes, videos, etc, so I don't really feel like one version is the definitive one so I don't feel cheated over which ones they chose. And I must not be picky enough because unlike other reviewers I don't think the sound quality is bad at all. I do think they could have sprung for jewel cases for the CDs, the cardboard sleeves are awful cheapy and I've already stuck mine in some empty CD-R jewel cases so they don't get lost in the car.

Since many of the more popular sesame street songs (rubber duckie, c is for cookie, elmo's song, I love trash...) are on multiple collections already, my daughter has them on other CDs or tapes and some, while I love them to pieces, you can get tired of them after a while. So it's great to get to hear some of the great music from the show that has not been available before. As a kid the visiting singers and guests were one of my favorite things, I would be so thrilled when someone visited Sesame Street. Listening to these CDs I can see Grover and Madeleine Kahn, Billy Joel and Oscar, and Ernie and Aaron Neville as they sing the songs. And Cab Calloway hidey-ho-ing with the muppets.

The booklet that comes with this is fabulous, a great read, very nice and worth it just to have the lyrics to "Mah Mah Mah Nah". It is just so amazing to think of all the stars that have come out to sing on Sesame Street over 35 years.

The 3rd CD is definitely my least favorite, it is the only one with a song or two that I skip over sometimes because I am tired of it. I think it would have been better to mix them up instead of putting all the pop singer stuff together. Younger viewers might relate better to these songs having heard them on the show the first time around. For me, having missed most of the 90s era sesame street being single, I never heard many these till now and one or two of them I could go forever without hearing again, but some of them are really cool. my daughter and I love to make up our own words to songs on the radio so it is such fun for us to hear the muppets singing along with their own lyrics for REM and Hootie and the Blowfish and Spin Docters songs - ones that my daughter has heard her dad and I play the real songs. You can just imagine how much fun they had writing those new lyrics.

I've always loved "Sing" but my new favorite, a song I'd forgotten till it began to play and it came back in a flash: "One small voice can teach the world a song". All those small voices on Sesame Street have taught the world a lot of songs over 35 years. Get this set and listen to them all.

What a way to celebrate SStreet's 35th anniversary! Three cds worth of musical hightlights from the show packaged gorgeously to top it all off.
This is a great mixture of songs for children, collectors and die-hard fans of the show: Children will love the upbeat songs and the more wimsical moments too (i don't want to live on the moon), whilst die-hard fans will relish the best songs (monster in the mirror, rubber duckie) being put onto one collection with over 20 previously unreleased tracks (shiny happy monsters), new versions of old favourites and hard to find songs.
This is such a great compilation from the street, 35 years worth of musical gems.

We have collected a good assortment of CDs since my daughter was born. She dances and sings with this one the most of all of them, even though we don't watch Sesame Street. Jim Henson, Joe Raposa and the other creators of the music and characters of Sesame Street were nothing short of genius in their methods of using popular culture, melody, humor and musicality to engage both children and their parents in learning and the joy of making music. There are 3 CDs in this collection. If I were to rate each separately, I would give the first two CDs 5 stars (1970's and 1980's music) and the last only 3 stars (music from the 1990's). My daughter engages with the simplicity and the artistry of the earlier music better than with the later music.

If you are of the generation that watched Sesame Street in the 1970's, you will be pleasantly reminded of music you probably haven't thought of or heard for years.

Worth every penny.

Like millions of children before and after me, I grew up with Sesame Street. I even credit the show for teaching me how to read at the young age of 5. So, it was only natural that Songs from the Street would attract my attention. Still, because of its price, I hesitated... after a few months, I finally decided to buy it and am I ever glad I did!!!

Everyone who's ever watched Sesame Street will find at least a few personal favorites... And make some discoveries along the way! For instance, Stevie Wonder's 1-2-3 Sesame Street (previously unreleased on album) is a great funky number that could have been used as a theme song for the show. It's THAT good.

And how can anyone listen to Mah Na Mah Na and not have it stuck in the head all day? (Yes, the Mah Na Mah Na song appeared on Sesame Street before being associated with the Muppet Show.)

The sound is pretty good, you can even hear some details that you weren't supposed to hear. For example, on Sweet-A Little Baby, sung by guest star Pete Seegers and the kids, you can hear faint shushing to cue the kids from singing along when the chorus is over.

There is only thing, though: Why wasn't Matt Robinson credited as Gordon? He does appear on at least one song (I've got two -- from 1970's Sesame Street 1 album, featuring the original cast). It would have been nice to see the original Gordon credited alongside the best-known Gordon, Roscoe Orman.

In any case, this is a great box set. I just hope that Sesame Workshop will release a DVD with the best early years' sketches (don't you want to see Mr. Hooper again?).

Happy 35th anniversary, Sesame Street!!!