Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974

Product Review

Just in time for the 40th Anniversary, comes Sesame Street Old School Vol. 1, a reissue project to release some of the earliest Sesame Street albums, featuring the original art, and the earliest cast (sorry kids no Elmo here). When Sesame Street first aired on television in 1969, it was a revolutionary new show aimed specifically at preschool children - an audience previously not targeted by television programming. From its earliest planning stages, Sesame Street was designed to be a show that would use music and singing as a part of the material being taught. So it was only natural to release the musical content on records, not only to reinforce the curriculum lessons for children when they weren't watching the show, but also because Sesame Street music is enjoyable just for its own sake. Many of the albums went on to chart on Billboard top album charts and get nominated and win Grammys. Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1 features three of the classic early Sesame Street albums: The Original Cast Record, Big Bird Sings, and Bert & Ernie Sing Along. All albums have been fully remastered, with original artwork. The Original Cast Album, originally released in 1970, peaked at #23 on Billboard's Top LP's chart in 1970, and was certified Gold by the RIAA. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children. "Big Bird Sings" was originally released in 1974. "Bert & Ernie Sing Along" was released in 1975 and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children. All titles have never before been available on CD. These CDs are sure to be a hit with parents, collectors, and even kids as the lessons taught then are just as appropriate and the music just as enjoyable.

Title Tracks for Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974

1. Sesame Street
2. Abc-Def-Ghi
3. I've Got Two
4. Goin' for a Ride
5. What Are Kids Called?
6. Everybody Wash
7. One of These Things
8. Up and Down
9. Bein' Green
10. Somebody Come and Play
11. I Love Trash
12. A Face
13. J-Jump
14. People in Your Neighborhood
15. Rub Your Tummy
16. The Number 5
17. Five People in My Family
18. Nearly Missed
19. Rubber Duckie
20. Abc-Def-Ghi
21. A Really Good Feeling
22. The Noodle Song
23. Very, Very Special Letter
24. Big Bird Writes a Poem
25. Y'all Fall Down
26. I Just Adore Four
27. How Do I Know I'm Here?
28. Everyone Makes Mistakes
29. The Sound of the Letter "A"
30. Just Three Colors
31. Ha, Ha
32. No Matter What Your Language
33. Big Bird's Poem
34. I Refuse to Sing Along
35. I've Been Working on the Railroad
36. Old Macdonald Had a Farm
37. A Really Good Feeling
38. Bats in My Belfry
39. Row, Row, Row Your Boat
40. I'll Give You a Song
41. Oscar Don't Allow
42. The Limerick Song (Come on and Sing Along with Me)
43. On Top of Old Smokey
44. Living Hand in Hand
45. What's the Name of That Song?
46. A Very Simple Dance
47. Morningtown Ride
48. Everyone Likes Ice Cream
49. "C" is for Cookie
50. Peanuts
51. John Jacob Jingleheimer Smith
52. She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
53. Finale: What's the Name of That Song [Reprise]
54. Sing

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review

(11 customer reviews)

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

Old School Sesame Street--FINALLY! Go Joe Raposo!, March 26, 2010

P. Costello - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

It's amazing what the Sesame Workshop can do when they set their minds to it. Suddenly, after parcelling out little pieces of the past, they release three whole albums at once, and give those of us who grew up with this show something that we really like at a price we can afford. Absolutely terrific. Joe Raposo's "Somebody Come and Play" and "J-Jump," two of our all-time favorite songs, are now in the car, on the IPOD. Our own children can now hear it, too.

Please, Sesame Workshop, all we want is for you to unlock what it meant to be a child in the 60s and 70s, when we thought that you actually cared about us. Before Elmo. Before you moved from a Fisher Price house and little plastic toy people to a Sesame Street image on absolutely everything that is marketed to children. Don't continue to over-commercialize our past. Just give us back our memories and this beautiful music and the episodes that meant the world to a four year old who wanted to believe that people...Read more

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful

How to get (back) to Sesame Street, March 26, 2010

AngusMcTavish "AMT" (Auburn, WA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

Finally, we are starting to hear our memories come flooding back with these classic albums, now in CD format! SESAME STREET OLD SCHOOL, VOLUME 1 has three of the great albums from the '70s, and after listening to them, I can hardly wait for the next set!

And don't be fooled by the cover shown here. The CD cover is not the same as the DVD set.

A listing for the three CDs:

THE SESAME STREET RECORD (1970)
01. Sesame Street - Kids
02. ABC-DEF-GHI - Big Bird
03. I've Got Two - Bob, Susan, Gordon, Mr. Hooper, Oscar, Big Bird
04. Goin' for a Ride - Anything Muppets
05. What Are Kids Called? - Bob, Susan
06. Everybody Wash - Ernie, Bert
07. One of These Things - Bob, Susan
08. Up and Down - Cookie Monster, Herry
09. Bein' Green - Kermit
10. Somebody Come and Play - Kids
11. I Love Trash - Oscar
12. A Face - Bob
13. J-Jump - Kids, with Big Bird's poem
14. People in Your Neighborhood - Bob,...Read more

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

A must have! But a few oversights, March 27, 2010

Motown Collector (Bridgeport, CT USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 1: 1969-1974 (Audio CD)

This collection is a MUST-HAVE for many reasons. The albums have been out of print for too long. As an adult, they're worth having for the nostalgia factor. I loved them as a child, and I loved listening to them again as an adult. Such happy memories. And if you have or know any children, they will love it too. As I listened, I kept thinking of grown nieces and nephews who would have loved these if they were on CD ten or twenty years ago, but now I have to wait until there are some more little ones in the family. It sounds great, and the packaging is nice. But... The collection falls flat in a few places, and here's where the Sesame Workshop could improve with Volume 2, 3, 4, etc:

First, Sesame Street taught me my letters and my numbers. Therefore I can count and I can read, and I LOVE to do it. There absolutely should have been a booklet. Tell us the story about these albums. Many of the cast members and production folks are still around to explain the...Read more