“Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?” Oh sweet nostalgic youth! How I miss those days when Sesame Street was my music television and tunes like Cookie Monster’s “C is for Cookie” or Ernie chiming “Rubber Duckie you’re the one” were the biggest hits in my four-year-old mind.
Not only was Sesame Street vital in educating youngsters but it remains an institution that inducts so many musical guest stars at the peak of their careers. Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel and James Blunt are just a few to go down in the show’s lengthy musical history.
The latest to join the gang is our home and native land’s chanteuse, Feist, who just took home five Junos. At an undisclosed future date, Leslie Feist will be singing her smash hit “1234” as a reworked rendition of “1234 Monsters Crawling ‘Cross the Floor” in a duet with the giggly red muppet Elmo.
While Sesame Street has always been at the forefront of children’s television, it has also sneaked in some hilarious musical parodies for us grown-ups to enjoy as well. With musical muppets like Bruce Stringbean’s “Born to Add” or Mick Swagger and the Cobble Stones singing “I Can’t Get No (Co-operation)”, Sesame Street has always had a bit of a tongue-in-cheek comedic edge for older generations.
"Monsterpiece Theatre" classic “Twin Beaks” with David Finch and the Log Bird is a particular favourite of mine. Mainstay muppets like Polly Darton or Placido Flamingo are some others, or there’s the Beetles (the cutest little bugs) playing spoofed songs of “Let it Be” to “Letter B” and “Hey Jude” to “Hey Food”. They all have the purpose of shaping the minds of a younger generation while giving their parents a giggle or two.
The exciting news of Feist making it to 123 Sesame Street made me think back to my days of sitting in front of the boob tube, boppin’ to other great musicians who’ve appeared on the program. So I decided to compile a list of the Top 10 classic musical guest spots on Sesame Street throughout the years.
10. James Taylor: In 1980, singer/songwriter James Taylor sang his “Jellyman Kelly” with his wife Carly Simon and daughter Sally Taylor on back-up vocals. He also parodied his song “Your Smiling Face” to Oscar the Grouch in a rendition called “That Grouchy Face.”
9. 'N Sync: In 2000, the boy band performed the classic Sesame Street song “Believe in Yourself” with the Sesame cast. A song of encouragement telling kids they can be or do anything they want if they just believe in themselves, it’s been performed by other musical greats like the Neville Brothers and Supreme queen Diana Ross.
8. Paul Simon: During Season 8, the great American singer Paul Simon sang his classic hit “Me and Julio Down By the School Yard” to a group of kids. He appeared numerous times on the show, and his 1988 performance was a classic with the a capella group LadySmith Black Mambazo singing “African Alphabet”, to which a short story is told beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet. Kermit the Frog also sang the song with the Anything muppets voiced by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
7. R.E.M.: On the show’s 30th season, American rock band R.E.M. sang a parody of their hit “Shiny Happy People” called “Furry Happy Monsters”, about monsters being happy, then sad, then happy again. They even had a muppet that resembled B52’s singer Kate Pierson.
6. Stevie Wonder: In 1973, Stevie Wonder made one of the most memorable performances on Sesame Street at the peak of his release Talking Book. He performed his hit “Superstition” as well as wrote and performed the classic number “123 Sesame Street.” If you haven’t seen this amazing performance, do so right now!
5. Pointer Sisters: The famous R&B group may not be an obvious choice, but for those children of the ‘70s and ‘80s, this memorable ditty will ring a few bells. In 1977, an animated segment called “Pinball Number Count” followed a ball through a pinball machine while an ultra-groovy disc number counts “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12” with none other than the Pointer Sisters on vocals. They were also parodied by a muppet pig group called the Oinker Sisters singing “A New Way to Walk”, which celebrated pedestrianism and individuality.
4. Buffy Sainte-Marie: Canada’s own Buffy Sainte-Marie appeared as a cast member on Sesame Street from 1975-81 as the character Buffy. She said her role on the show was to teach children about First Nations people. When she gave birth to her son Cody in 1977, she sang a classic number to Big Bird called “Different People, Different Ways”, about how people can love one another in different ways. Big Bird had become jealous of all the attention the new baby was getting, but Buffy assured him she had enough love for Big Bird too.
3. Smokey Robinson: This parody of “You Really Got a Hold on Me” as “U Really Got a Hold on Me” is one of my favourites. It shows Smokey Robinson singing the song to a big letter U who won’t let go of the singer. No matter how hard he tries to get away, the letter U really has a hold on him.
2. Harry Belafonte: One of the most memorable musical guest spots in the history of Sesame Street was in 1980, with Harry Belafonte singing “The Coconut Counting Man” in his calypso style while stranded on a desert island with the Count. Belafonte appeared many times on both Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and was creator Jim Henson’s favourite guest. Belafonte sang “Turn the World Around” at Henson’s funeral in 1990.
1. Lena Horne: In 1974, the legendary jazz singer and Kermit the Frog sang what became a classic American standard and anthem about embracing one’s race, “Bein’ Green”. This is truly one of the greatest moments in Sesame Street history. Kermit first sang the song in the show’s first season in 1970 and went on to sing it numerous times: once as a duet with the divine Ms. Horne, and another time as a duet with the legendary Ray Charles in 1975 on The Cher Show. If this performance doesn’t make you well up, frankly you have no soul.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
1973 – Johnny Cash singing “Nasty Dan” with Oscar the Grouch
1981 – One of jazz’s greatest entertainers, Cab Calloway, scatted his classic “The Hi-De-Ho-Man” with the two-headed monster to teach them the best way to make friends.
1988 – The piano man Billy Joel sang “Just the Way You Are” with Oscar the Grouch while actress Marlee Matlin signed the words.
1993 – Little Richard performed a rockin’ rendition of Ernie’s “Rubber Duckie” in the bubble bath.
1994 – American opera singer Marilyn Horne performed “C is for Cookie” as Cleopatra.
2002 – The Dixie Chicks performed a remake of the song “Sing” with chickens. “Sing” is another Sesame classic song that’s been performed by Garth Brooks, Vanessa Williams, and Gloria Estefan.
2007 – British singer James Blunt totally redeemed himself for making us all listen to his song “You’re Beautiful” a million times with a parody of it called “My Triangle”.
Who are your most memorable Sesame Street musical guests? Any questions or comments? Email me at jessica.russell@tvguide.ca
SOUND BITES: A WEEKLY DIG THROUGH THE CHANNELS
Tues., April 22: Cowboy Junkies: The Trinity Session Revisited (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, Bravo!)
The Cowboy Junkies perform their classic album The Trinity Session with special guests Natalie Merchant and Ryan Adams.
Tues., April 22: Goldfrapp performs on Jay Leno (11:35 p.m. ET/PT, NBC)
Electro-folk singer Goldfrapp performs from her latest album Seventh Tree.
Tues., April 22: Kathleen Edwards performs on David Letterman (11:35 p.m. ET/PT, CBS)
Canadian singer Kathleen Edwards performs from her latest album Asking for Flowers.
Wed., April 23: Vampire Weekend perform on Jimmy Kimmel (12:05 a.m. ET/PT, ABC)
Indie buzz band Vampire Weekend perform from their self-titled debut album.
Wed., April 23: Tokyo Police Club perform on David Letterman (11:35 p.m. ET/PT, CBS)
Canadian indie rockers perform from their debut album Elephant Shell.
Thurs., April 24: Glastonbury 2007 (8 p.m. ET/PT, MuchMoreMusic)
Coverage of the annual music festival in Scotland. Featuring performances by Amy Winehouse, Rufus Wainwright and Arcade Fire.
Sat., April 26: Saturday Night Fever (10 p.m. ET/PT, TLN)
The classic disco flick starring a young hunky John Travolta and the best-selling soundtrack featuring the Bee Gees.
Sat., April 26: Grease (9 p.m. ET/PT, MuchMoreMusic)
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in this classic ‘50s high school musical.
Mon., April 28: Say Anything (8 p.m. ET/PT, AMC)
This classic Cameron Crowe flick features one of the best musical moments ever (in my mind at least). John Cusack plays the endearing Lloyd Dobler, who in an effort to win over his girl, stands outside her window in the middle of the night holding a boombox over his head with Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” blasting ... *sniffle*.
JESSICA’S JUKEBOX: FRESH TUNES YOU GOTTA HEAR
Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell (Mean Beard/Universal)
This boisterous, danceable indie rock quartet is bound to drive the kids cuckoo and become the next biggest buzz (if they’re not already). Their polished debut album is full of ubiquitous catchy hooks and floating synth rhythms, but the star of the show is clearly Dave Monk’s endearing nasally vocals that deliver some very wordy lyrics. Don’t worry, there’s no pretension here, just a very bright future for these gents.
Recommended if you dig Death Cab For Cutie or the Decemberists.
El Perro Del Mar – From the Valley to the Stars (The Control Group)
Sweden’s angelic songbird’s sophomore album is a blissful escape to somewhere between 1960s girl-group sounds and haunting hymnal overtures. A delicate feat full of melancholy lullabies and sombre church organs that can take you to a fragile state, but just went you’re about to break down, she surprises you with an up-tempo throwback to doo-wop.
Recommended if you dig Jens Lekman or the Concretes.
The Constantines – Kensington Heights (Arts & Crafts)
Let’s face it, the Constantines aren’t really here to break new ground, they’re here to simply rock out in the most purified form, and on this fourth album (and debut for Arts & Crafts) they do just that. Think no-holds Springsteens for the Great White North (or Guelph, Ont.) with grinding guitars, slow-growing gritty anthems and Bryan Webb’s gravelly vocals. And if you enjoy this, be sure to check out their amazing seven-inch duet with Feist covering Dolly and Kenny’s “Islands in the Stream”.
Recommended if you dig Bruce Springsteen or Fugazi
My Blueberry Nights Soundtrack (EMI)
I have yet to check out this flick starring the dreamy Jude Law and singer Norah Jones, but if the soundtrack says anything about the film it should be a great one. This compilation is a feel-good soulful mix of Otis Redding, Cat Power, Mavis Staples tunes, and the star of the show Norah Jones sings an exclusive ditty for the soundtrack.
Jessica’s musical nerdiness/obsession started at a very young age thanks to her older sisters, Jem and the Holograms, CFNY compilations and an early introduction to Nirvana. She has since developed a penchant for effeminate indie rock, soul/mod revivalists, Scandinavian singers and old school hip-hop. After a stint as a music writer at Toronto’s acclaimed NOW magazine, Jessica now aims to make the couch potatoes of the world a little more music savvy in her column "Telly Tunes".
