Have a burning question you’re dying to ask Elmo? Now is the time to do it. Sesame Workshop is hosting an Ask Elmo forum on YouTube where parents and kids can write in their best query for everyone’s favorite furry friend. Visit Elmo’s YouTube channel and click on Moderator where you can send in a question or vote for someone else’s question. Elmo will be asking the top questions in a few weeks, so put your thinking caps on and get started!
Is “C is for Cookie” your go-to song for banishing temper tantrums? Is “Rubber Ducky” how you get your toddler into the bath? Then, you’ll definitely want to make note of this. The Orchard, a digital music company, is making Sesame Street music available to its fans all over the world with a new catalogue. It includes songs that have been performed on the show by such singers as Celine Dion, R.E.M. and Stevie Wonder.
Classic Sesame Street songs will also be re-mixed to create some one-of-a-kind hits. Favorites such as “People in Your Neighborhood” and “Mah Na Ma Na” are in there, too. Click here to hear your favorite Sesame Street songs in one megamix. Just don’t blame us if you can’t get Elmo’s voice out of your head.
It only seems natural that as the calendar turns to spring, we pay tribute to our natural surroundings: our home planet. And since we’d love our kids to spend more time outdoors and not take nature’s beauty for granted, Earth Day seems like the perfect excuse to get them interested in how to preserve their home turf. In celebration of this important day, PBS Kids will be airing special episodes of its beloved preschool powerhouse shows on April 22. Among the eco-friendly featured shows will be Caillou, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Curious George, Sesame Street and others. This cast of characters will explore everything from cooking with solar energy, to understanding nature in the backyard.
If you want to join your child in her learning experience, check out www.pbskidsgo.org and visit the EekoWorld section to discover the effects of pollution on the environment and the importance of conservation. Visit www.pbsparents.org for recyclable craft project ideas and tips on how to throw an eco-friendly birthday party for your child (hint: be sure to incorporate a little “green” into the color theme). And of course, don’t forget the best way of all to celebrate Earth Day: Unplug and get outside!
Because this is Aerosmith week on The Rockabye Baby Blog, we have to play you this awesome Steven Tyler rendition of a children’s music classic — I love Trash, the theme song of Oscar the Grouch! This recording is from Elmopalooza. Check it out!
And, just because we can never get enough Sesame Street, here’s a super early version, from when Oscar was orange!
Be sure to check out our new release, Lullaby Renditions of Aerosmith, featuring liner notes by Steven Tyler! Dream on, and on and on…
The UK’s Daily Mail Online has a really cool article featuring some of the many, many covers inspired by The Beatles’ legendary Abbey Road LP — from Snoopy to Sesame Street, to the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Kanye West, to the unfortunately named Screaming Afterbirth (yikes!). What are your favorites?
Everybody knows how crazy I am about the music from Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. Well, apparently I’m not the only one, as a group of Boston-based DJs and musicians just knocked out “Muppet Mashup,” a ten-track tribute to those great songs that demands a place on your iPod toute suite.
As every parent knows, the one thing every kid can be depended on to not do is sit still for extended lengths of time. But there are some occasions where it’s just unavoidable – most notably, long car or plane trips. We’ve taken Henry all over the country in his two years, up and down both coasts by plane, train and automobile, and these are our family must-packs for keeping the little man in some kind of tolerable state for the duration.
Portable DVD player. Yes, I know, television is making our children into mindless zombies obsessed with consuming high fructose corn syrup in record quantities – or is it? Recent studies show that children who are exposed to television in moderate amounts have absolutely no meaningful learning or behavioral differences from those that aren’t. This isn’t carte blanche to park the sprout in front of Pokemon for six hours, but if you need to pin them down, the groove tube does the trick. We bring DVDs of the classic 70s Sesame Street collections as well as Yo Gabba Gabba. If you’re in a place where you can’t use the speakers, tell your kid that it’s quiet time and softly talk about what’s happening on screen with them.
A “new” toy. This can either be an actual new toy or just something that you’ve taken out of the rotation for a few weeks. Keep this completely hidden until you need it, when your kid is just about to snap under the boredom, and produce it with a flourish. This doesn’t have to be anything complicated or expensive – we’ve had plenty of luck with action figures from the dollar store. It’s more the surprise that a new toy can just come from nowhere that can carry your kid through another hour or so.
Lollipop. Yes, I am recommending that you use sugar to placate your child. Trader Joe’s makes a great all-natural lollipop with fruit sugars that is reasonably innocuous nutritionwise. This is essentially the thermonuclear option when we’re traveling – I defy you to find a kid that can throw a tantrum through a strawberry lollipop. As opposed to other forms of candy, your kid is basically forced to eat it slowly (you should keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t bite it), and when they’re done it’s a good opportunity to wash hands and brush teeth.
Like its sister program The Muppet Show, Sesame Street has attracted an astounding array of performers from all over the world of music. Starting with legends like Lena Horne when the show debuted and spreading out into rock, R&B, country and pretty much every other branch of musical expression, a guest spot on Sesame Street was proof positive that you’d made it. Here is the first installment my favorites from the show’s history, facilitated by the kindliness of YouTube.
It’s a great performance of a classic tune by one of R&B’s most famous showmen, but what really puts this one over the top is the backing band – Ernie on drums and Bert on guitar. They take solos, sing a little scat and generally make this a jam that I can listen to over and over again.
Feist – Counting To Four
Canadian indie songstress Feist once roomed with filthy electro queen Peaches, who we don’t see showing up on Sesame Street anytime soon (unless they need a song about not shaving your armpits). But “Counting To Four” is a rare modern Sesame Street song that stands with the classics, with an insanely infectious melody and quirky lyrics in the classically absurdist mode.
Paul Simon – Me & Julio
If there’s any one clip that illustrates the magic of Sesame Street, it’s this one – a young Paul Simon sitting on the stoop playing his hit “Me & Julio” is unexpectedly interrupted by the little girl sitting next to her, who starts freestyling her own lyrics. Throw in some robot dancing kids breaking it down to the whole deal and you have a priceless TV moment.
P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win our new Lullaby Renditions of Queen CD!
Like its sister program The Muppet Show, Sesame Street has attracted an astounding array of performers from all over the world of music. Starting with legends like Lena Horne when the show debuted and spreading out into rock, R&B, country and pretty much every other branch of musical expression, a guest spot on Sesame Street was proof positive that you’d made it. Here is the first installment my favorites from the show’s history, facilitated by the kindliness of YouTube.
Johnny Cash – Nasty Dan
The Man In Black sings a little tune about a no-good dude, his lousy wife and their crummy kid to a very appreciative Oscar The Grouch. Really shows how the program used to be a lot funkier and more emotionally complex than it is now.
Yo Yo Ma – Quartet for Honkers, Dinger and Cello
Virtuoso cellist Yo Yo Ma has performed alongside all sorts of musicians, but the weirdest have to be his puppet compatriots in the Sesame Street Chamber Music Society. Starting off with some gentle wordplay, sparks really start to fly when the group gets going.
Little Richard – Rubber Duckie
What’s better than Little Richard wearing a leopard-print jacket sitting in a bathtub? All of the aforementioned knocking out Ernie’s bathtub anthem. A few points taken off for the dismal 80s synthesized backing band aren’t enough to dislodge it from my list.
Listen My Brother – Count To Twenty
The late Luther Vandross (in the pink shirt) anchored this New York theater group, which appeared twice on the 1969 season of Sesame Street. This track is a great Stax/Motown breakdown from start to finish, culminating in an awesome fire escape raveup at the end.
P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win our new Lullaby Renditions of Queen CD!
