My Week with Sesame Music – Friday

A to Z
Friday, April 26

It doesn’t start out well. At the start of Sing the Alphabet, Elmo’s up to his old musical theft tricks again, this time brazenly bluffing his way through ABC-DEF-GHI as if butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. And then Early Bird is back with a vengeance, nearly ruining a perfectly good song about the letter “A” with his Jughead impressions. I swear, he’s on the verge of actually using the word “duh.”

(I have a similar problem with Early Ernie, who, in tracks like Rubber Duckie and Dee Dee Dee, which are otherwise perfectly charming, sounds like he should have two big buck-teeth and a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth. Come to think of it, there’s a bit of weird Early Prairie action on The Sound of the Letter A and What’s My Letter as well. I don’t remember her ever sounding like this, but apparently in the early days, Prarie Dawn spoke in a weird, semi-monotone half-whisper, as if she’s frightened that if she speaks too loudly, she’ll get beaten up by Frazzle.)

Parenthetical crankiness aside, Oscar’s B Sandwich, C Is For Cookie, Dee Dee Dee, What’s My Letter, Four Furry Friends and Two G Sounds all in a row is more than enough to push this album over the edge and make me stop praying for the weekend and the possibility of playing something — anything — other than Sesame Street. Listening to these tracks — all from classic, seventies Sesame — restores my faith in Muppet fandom and in the world in general.

Early Bird rears his prehistoric head again in Ha Ha but is quickly redeemed when he introduces Harvey Kneeslapper, who surprises and tickles me by singing in what sounds quite close to Frank Oz’s actual voice.

Ernie and Grover do I Stand Up Straight and Tall, which is fine, but I’m feeling guilty because even though it’s Jim and Frank singing a Joe Raposo tune, I could care less about this song. Right now, my finger is itching to press “skip” so I can get to the next song, which is the terrific Jeff Moss-penned J Friends, featuring Jim, Jerry, Frank and Fran just rocking out as they sing about J Joe Jeans and his jellybeans. This is the sort of number that makes me just sit there in my headphones with a big grin on my face, rocking back and forth as I slip mentally into Sesame heaven.

The joy I feel listening to Bert and Ernie do La La La eases my guilt, since this also is Jim, Frank and Joe Raposo. What other kids’ show would feature a character using the word “linoleum” with such unadulterated joy?

Would You Like To Buy An O is equally fun — without the sing-along potential, but featuring that classic Salesman/Ernie dialogue I used to quote endlessly with my brothers:

Salesman: It’ll cost you just a nickel!

Ernie: A NICKEL???

Salesman: Shhhh!

Ernie: A nickel?

Salesman: Riiiight…

Prairie Dawn and Grover sing The Question Song and fill me with joy, and then there’s a non-musical Bert and Ernie track that I’ve never heard before, where Bert unveils his R detector machine, and Ernie breaks it with a tongue-twister. The sleeve notes tell me that it’s a Jim Henson script, and that makes sense: It’s a really clever, silly idea, and it plays out in a really clever, silly way. It’s just perfect, perfect Sesame.

Professor Hastings shows up, and then Bert gets excited about the letter W, and suddenly I realize that I owe my entire childhood to Jerry Juhl.

I love this album! I don’t even care that this really is a cynical re-release of old material with two Elmo songs pasted in at the start to justify putting him on the cover. In fact, I like the idea that Elmo’s recent popularity explosion might give kids a chance to hear all this great, classic stuff. Who could resent the little guy for wanting to sing a couple tracks himself, before handing the album over to Harvey Kneeslapper, Professor Hastings, the Salesman and Frazzle — none of whom, I’m sure, would have ever shown up on CD without Elmo’s help.

Sing the Alphabet is the perfect metaphor for Sesame Street today: Elmo is the gateway to all good things, and even though he’s got his face all over the front cover and sings the first two songs, he still steps aside and shares the limelight with those who paved the way for him. And now, of course, with Sesame Street’s 33rd season and Play With Me Sesame’s debut, we’ve come full circle, and the classic characters have returned, bathed in glory, to delight a whole new audience of three year olds.

Oh, yeah. And me.

My Week with Sesame Music is now officially over, and I’m allowed to take off my Danny Hat and listen to whatever I want. I think I’m gonna put Sing the Alphabet on just one more time.

by Kynan Barker