Schoolhouse Rock: Multiplication Rock

Bob Dorough, Various Artists - Soundtracks - Television, Schoolhouse Rock (Related Recordings)

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 1, 1997)
• Original Release Date: April 1, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B0000033XL
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,216 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Schoolhouse Rocky

2. Elementary, My Dear

3. Three Is a Magic Number

4. Four-Legged Zoo

5. Ready or Not, Here I Come

6. My Hero, Zero

7. I Got Six

8. Lucky Seven Sampson

9. Figure Eight

10. Naughty Number Nine

11. Good Eleven

12. Little Twelvetoes

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Mathematics is a particularly sensitive educational area in the United States (and, for that matter, the world in the digital age). This set is tremendously simplistic but appropriately so, rooting through numerical issues but also introducing the gist of so many "story problems" that kids have encountered since at least the 1970s. The music has a distinctly '70s feel, sounding a touch like Paul Simon backed by some more-staid offshoot of the Staple Singers. "Ready or Not, Here I Come" is a rambling blast, shuffling quickly and soulfully and showing the depth of jazz vocal veteran Bob Dorough's command of language and rhythm. Things are spry--maybe a bit too much--but single-digit kids (mostly the 4-and-over range) will catch the snappy groove easily and ask for more. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This CD is great. I remembered it from my childhood Saturday mornings and it has helped my 3rd grader immeasurably. My five year old knows his threes multiplication tables. He asked his kindergarted teacher if 5 x 20 = 100 and she was floored. If you have a kid who has trouble with multiplication, this is your CD.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ok, I admit it..., August 31, 2001

By	jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I'm 30 years old, with no kids, and I own all the Schoolhouse Rock CDs. The music is fun, the songs are great, and they just make me happy...that said, Multiplication Rock is the best of all of them. All of the songs are memorable. Maybe it's because they were the original concept of the series. If you get this one and the greatest hits, you've covered the best songs of all the CDs.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY THIS FOR YOUR KID! Tables memorized in a week!, April 20, 2001

By A Customer

I can't say enough about this CD. I remember picking the record out at the mall as a child. Found that vinyl in my 20s and rediscovered this great music! Now I'm upgrading to CD in my 30s! Most of the tunes are catchy as heck and will have reciting your multiplication tables without realizing it! The songs illustrate tricks and shortcuts for solving math problems, as well as setting the table to music. A must for kids!

But beyond the educational impact of this CD, it's the music that makes it enduring! "Little Twelvetoes" is a cool song with a very far out way of making it's point! The opening guitar riff of that track would make the sample loop of an instant hit song for someone like Beck or Snoop Dogg or Walrus Gumboot (I want songwriting credit :-) Call it Dec El Doe. "If man were born with 6 fingers on each hand...he probably would have invented 2 more digits in his number system...'dek' & 'el' being two entirely new single digits...and his twelve 'do' would have been written one-o...Get It? That'd be Swell, to multiply by Twelve"

Most of the songs are not quite so "deep". "Naughty Number Nine" is a great blues track. "Figure Eight" has a haunting melody. Suffice it to say that this is not one of those CDs that will drive you nuts if your child plays it repeatedly!

All of the CDs in the series are great, but Multiplication Rock is the best in my opinion. The videos are even better although the sound quality is poor. How 'bout releasing the complete series of 4 on one DVD? If you're already a fan, the tribute CD 'Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks' is worth a listen (Check out Mr. Morton). Bob Dorough (who wrote all of the songs on this CD and sings most of them) also has a recent release called 'Too Much Coffee Man'. Can't wait to hear it!