Back in the mid-to-late 20th century, the Muppets were riding high. They starred in hit movies, they had a smash hit TV show, and they even had their own store in New York City, the delightfully-named Muppet Stuff. If you were to hop in your time machine and set it for “the mid-to-late 20th century,” you would find yourself tripping over Muppets everywhere you looked. It was a wonderful time to be alive.
You know what else was riding high in those days? Recorded musical albums. They went through a number of different formats – vinyl LPs, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, compact discs – but the basic format stayed the same: 10-15 songs presented as a set, played in a particular order. For decades, people walked into stores and paid money to own albums. People were just crazy for those record albums back then.
But the real magic happened when these two pop culture phenomena got together. That’s right. The Muppets released albums of their very own. And not just a few – a whole mess of ‘em!
Collections of tracks from The Muppet Show:
Soundtracks for their movies:
Dozens of Sesame Street records (not all pictured):
Quick cash-in tapes:
Yes, gang. Back then Muppet albums were one of our greatest cultural resources. When you couldn’t watch the Muppets on TV, you could always listen to them on your turntable, boombox, or TalkBoy.
These albums weren’t all equal in quality. They ran the gamut from the greatest album ever assembled:
To humanity’s all-time worst abomination:
But they came out at a steady pace. For over twenty years, Muppet fans could always rest easy, knowing that they’d regularly get new albums to add their collection. There’s something special about Muppet music – nothing else feels quite like it – and these albums were an amazing way to experience it again and again. Even now, it’s a thrill when you find one for sale at a used record store or flea market.
But as for new albums? Forget about it. There are no new Muppet albums in the works, because physical media is dead.
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by Anthony Strand – Anthony@ToughPigs.com
