Cool Sides, Daddy-O
We like old stuff. Vintage stuff.
Our house is full of old furniture, comic books, clothing, and knick knacks that usually elicit strange responses from people who first come into our place. (What is that exactly? And where did you get it?) I think if I could live at any other time, it would be in the 50s, mostly because, even if McCarthy’s groupthink ruled the country, at least everything looked good.
Everything had a nice, clean line — nothing too busy, too garish.
And the music was wonderful. Early rock ‘n’ roll, the best country music ever, terrific instrumentals (they just don’t do those anymore, do they?).
For kids, this was the Golden Age. There were wonderful television shows, comic books, and cartoons that all just seemed to have that something — innocence and mirth all mixed together, I think — that made everything that much better. Well, over the past few years, I’ve been buying (when on sale, naturally) DVDs of some of those cartoons and, as you know, I have plenty comic books from that time, too. What I didn’t have were the records.
Then Kristen discovered this amazing site: Kiddie Records Weekly. Each week, the people who run the site upload between one and four different records (usually from the 40s or 50s, although occasionally from the 30s or 60s). You can download the ones you want and put them on your iPod (or whatever mp3 player you own). They are, to put it bluntly, amazing. They are entertaining, educational, fun, silly, and just plain terrific.
My favorites so far are:
Inkas the Ramferinkas: With voice talents of Pinkie Lee (who had his own popular kid show for years) and Thurl Ravenscroft (known by many as the singer of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and many Disney voices), this tells the story of a prehistoric dove that saves the brontosaurs from the raw meat eaters. Great songs.
Fuzzy Wuzzy: My grandmother used to sing this song (not as good as Rosemary Clooney does here, but I liked it nonetheless), and between it and its b-side (“My Chocolate Rabbit”), you have 5 minutes where you can dance around the house with your 5-month-old son in your arms.
Gerald McBoing Boing: A lot of you know this story by Dr. Suess, but having it read by the Great Gildersleeve (actor Harold Peary) makes it even better.
Happy Habits: So you want your child to say please? To wash up before eating? To play well with others? Well, Arthur Q. Bryant (better known as the voice of Elmer Fudd) tells you how.
Assorted Space Age Singles: Just listen. You won’t regret it.
I’ve only listened to a couple dozen so far, but if you don’t download one or two and put listen to them on your way to work, you’ve just got no heart. No heart whatsoever.
I know that Kristen, Henry, and I will be listening to these for many years to come.
