first steps

NOTE - I recently FINALLY picked up all my old vinyl from my parents' house - and I don't quite know how I've managed without it so long. Aside from the fact that it sounds infinitely better than CD, there's a lot of stuff there that I haven't listened to in a while. So after reveling in the superior audio, I'm aware of the irony in deciding to crunch some of the choicer moments down to mp3 format for your listening pleasure!

The first album I can remember my brother and myself owning was "The Muppet Show". I loved that TV programme and remember when my Dad came home with the album for us (also available on cassette and cartridge, according to the LP) - he'd also brought himself a copy of "The Sound Of Bread". Somewhere in between these two albums is mine and my brother's entire musical taste.

Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem - Tenderly
... featuring a post-performance chat with Animal - surely the drumming icon of choice for anyone born in the 70s?



Fantastic organ work here from Dr. Teeth, not to mention Zoot on Sax... and the other two. Floyd and Janice?? If you can help me out, join me in the retro-void.

Rowlf - Cottleston Pie



I remember that I would pretend to play the piano along with this track - excellent bit of music theory when Rowlf explains what a modulation is. Is it me, or does this sound like Tom Waits??

Scooter (with Fozzie Bear) - Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear



... and this one might even have subliminally lead me to discover Randy Newman (hear his version here).

The Muppets - Hugga Wugga



History seems to have picked "Mahna Mahna" as the Muppet nonsense classic of choice, but I love this one - and blow me down if it doesn't sound like Funkadelic!

This albums has served me well over the years, especially in the making of many MANY compilation tapes. Go forth with these choice selections and spread the joy.

Buy - Muppet Show: Music, Mayhem & More!, which has most of this stuff
Visit - Muppets.com

--

from the comments to the original post

boyhowdy - "Floyd and Janice, indeed. In fact, in the Muppet pilot -- which was VASTLY different from the ultimate Muppet show -- floyd was one of the three main characters.

Thanks for these, by the way. We're a tv-less family with two little kids, and plenty of muppets videos (and now the whole first season on DVD) -- but it's nice to have these stripped out and isolated for us.

And...I thought manah manah was actually a cover of a porn song? Maybe just an urban myth. "

Ian - "Me and my brother had this on cassette too when we were kids. Until that sad and sorry day when some reprobate broke into my dad's car and swiped the stereo and collected tapes.

The swine!

'Tenderly' is such a good song!"

Francis - "i didn't know Randy Newman did "Simon Smith.." I only know the Alan Price version. I shall now compare and contrast Newman & Price's version with the original by Fozzie... "


cookies from elastic - "These are great! Thanks much. But, in the interest of fairness and scientific inquiry, wouldn't it be appropriate to post Manah Manah along with Hugga Wugga, so readers can judge between the relative merits of each? Ok, I admit, I'm less interested in scientific inquiry than in hearing Manah Manah again. I just thought subtlety might be the more effective approach. But I could be wrong.

Cheers, either way!"

Jason -  "Having just watched the majority of Season One on DVD, I am really appreciative of the time you took to rip these from the vinyl. They're fantastic. Thanks so much.

Did the vinyl have "Halfway Down The Stairs" as sung by Robin? Oh, how I love that song.."