Line #23 AwesomeMusic/SesameStreet


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4	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Do not uncomment them without expanding them to explain what makes these tracks awesome. Administrivia/WeblinksAreNotExamples; Youtube videos and accounts are deleted all the time, and why should someone click on a link without being given a reason to do so?
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8	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sesame_street_musical_instruments.jpg]]
9	[[caption-width-right:350:♫ ''The band is jumpin'\
10	The music's thumpin'\
11	It's really somethin'\
12	They hit the ceiling...'' ♫]]
13
14	In all likelihood, any song you remember from ''Series/SesameStreet'', for better or worse, can be linked to either Joe Raposo or Jeff Moss. Oh, the tantrums that have been stopped... Paul Jacobs, his wife Sarah Durkee, Tony Geiss, Sam Pottle, and Christopher Cerf also deserve credit.
15	----
16	* During the show's first few years, Music/StevieWonder performed one of the most devastatingly epic versions of "Superstition" ever! [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE Listen for yourself!]]
17	* How about the show's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmcdBnj4ZOg theme song]]? The first song ever to be played on the show, it has gone through several revisions. The original version was used for 23 years before it was changed in 1992, then again in 1998, then 2002 (with a slight revision in 2003), 2007, 2009 (with a slight revision in 2012), and 2016 (with a slight revision in 2022).
18	* Much of Season 1 is Creator/JimHenson and Creator/FrankOz using ''Sesame Street'' as their personal cover album, to awesome results. Particular standouts include their covers of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r42f8lOf00 "Spinning Wheel"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEq8vwikXps "Octopus' Garden"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkXkkmn7Sg0 "Everyone Knows It's Windy"]] and future {{Muppet}} standard [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5W60VwDkas "Mah Na Mah Na"]].
19	* Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh85R-S-dh8 Official Video here]]) was a ''huge'' hit (#10 on the Billboard pop charts!) in 1970.
20	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxOft5QZjDI "Sing"]] is one of the most iconic and beloved songs in the show, and for good reason, as it is a simple, timeless, and joyful song that will last your whole life long and make you want to ''sing, sing a song''. This song is only made better by the Music/{{Carpenters}}' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvc_dWs1f4 beautiful cover]] of the song, which rose to #3 on the Billboard pop charts in 1973. They also added a [[AdaptationExpansion second verse]] to the song that ended up [[{{RetCanon}} being adopted]] by ''Sesame Street'' itself for later versions of the song, bringing things full circle.
21	* Music/RayCharles' cover of "Bein' Green" (recorded for his 1975 album ''Renaissance'' and later featured on ''Series/TheCosbyShow'') is as awesome as it is gorgeously uplifting. He performed his version on the Street in 1989. Music/FrankSinatra and Music/VanMorrison also recorded covers.
22	* The wonderful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oFPveNebPE closing credits music]] that used to accompany Friday episodes, complete with Toots Thielemans' mellow, bluesy harmonica rendition of the theme and the unforgettable [[https://youtu.be/3hXwBAA8IUA "Funky Chimes"]] music (basically, imagine Music/SlyAndTheFamilyStone doing the ''Sesame Street'' theme). Then there's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf9hm_GejsQ the closing theme used in the 90s and early 2000s]].
23	%%* T-I-O-N Tion, Tion, Tion, Tion!
24	%%* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNBVTCJ9Dks On The Subway]]".
25	* "Pinball Number Count". Fun Fact: Yes, that is The Pointer Sisters singing it. "1-2-3 '''4-5''' 6-7-8 '''9-10''' 11-12!"
26	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLgF1CA56yg Telephone Rock]] qualifies as well.
27	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp9B7-Yd7XQ Rock & Roll Readers]].
28	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdcHzquaMh8 It's Hip to be a Square]], based on "Hip to be Square" from Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews and every bit as catchy. The writers did not have to write a soundalike melody for this song. Lewis said of the parody, "they contacted our publisher about doing it, and we were happy to let 'em. I think it's sweet."
29	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7h2n1h6kEM (I Can't Get No) Cooperation]], a Rolling Stones parody.
30	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1q5PUGGW5E "Green Grow the Rushes Go".]]
31	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mAfxJb7c5Q "Nothing! Never! No! N!"]]
32	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyupP2LxbZI "The Word is 'No'"]], featuring a note-perfect 80's music video parody from noted real-life video producer Jim Blashfield.
33	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FCUrNxnCPw "Just Happy to Be Me"]], performed by Kingston Livingston III, with some backup from his friends. Sure, it dates itself, but that bass line is slick.
34	%%* [[http://www.sesamestreet.org/video_player/-/pgpv/videoplayer/0/ba5a9d8c-155f-11dd-a62f-919b98326687 Street Garden Cooperation]].
35	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ2d00D7Gzg "Gimme Five"]] by The Lovers of Five (a.k.a. David, Luis, Gordon, and Bob). Intended as a parody of "Float On" by the Floaters, but between an insanely catchy chorus and the guys batting it right out of the park with their singing, this parody song is far ''better'' than the original. Who could imagine a song about loving the number five could be so cool and suave?
36	* "Keep Christmas with You", both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd5PEVKuAro the original]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiPI5c1KPx4 the remix]]. It has the emotional message about how you can still feel happy and friendly like it's Christmas, even when it's not.
37	* Philip Glass' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch-R1aIM-C0 "Geometry of Circles"]] music. All four clips are pure minimalist goodness, and while they are all based around the same framework, they each play out quite differently to keep things interesting.
38	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6IJ03kQ8w Wait right here at The Bus Stop sign]].
39	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV9rKeC4FEc Don't Walk]].
40	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgfWCT1Dogo Don't Walk (That what the sign says)]] with Patti Labelle.
41	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNMwRH5UGYY Monster In the Mirror.]] Especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM6ya7wTb58 celebrity version.]]
42	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7yAe2MBIpE The Batty Bat.]]
43	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOe4BZAHqmM Standing at the Bus Stop Sign.]] with The Four Tops, and watch for the cameo for Big Bird as the bus driver at the end.
44	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1C5r3r7zms One Way]] also deserves a mention.
45	* Sesame Street Creature Feature: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87XOZ6oczhU The Marmoset]]. Besides the truly groovy spoken-word performance by Joe Raposo, contains the wonderful (and slightly subversive) lines "Are there things to share, when you're a marmoset? / And do you really care, when you're a marmoset..."
46	* Another so-oddball-it's-awesome Creature Feature: Props to Christopher Cerf for creating the best (and possibly only) song about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTNUAqx-xDs how awesome manatees are]].
47	* Another Sesame Street Creature Feature segment: [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/250907072 The Tiger]]. Composed by Joe Raposo and sung by Northern Calloway (who played David on the show). Includes a spoken ending line: "You are such a magnificent animal, and I am really a nice person. And you wouldn't do anything funny, would you? Oh boy!"
48	* The relentlessly upbeat Creature Feature intro deserves a mention of its own. "Birds in the sky! Beasts on the land! Fish in the sea and bugs in ''your'' hand!"
49	* Although a lot of people get on Cookie Monster's case for eating fruits and vegetables in addition to cookies, they don't seem to remember that Cookie has promoted healthy eating as far back as 1974. In 1987, however, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2v7gyqRlUo he rapped about healthy food. Awesomely.]]
50	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjVw6KoumXE The Alone Song]], simply because sometimes people do want to be alone, and there's nothing wrong with it.
51	* [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/252655891 Yakety Yak, Take It Back]] features celebrities (like Music/StevieWonder, Music/BBKing, and many others...), as well as [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Bugs Bunny]] in the music video.
52	* In 2015, the show's 1995 GreatestHitsAlbum ''[[Music/SesameStreetPlatinumAllTimeFavorites Platinum All-Time Favorites]]'' was inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry, quite possibly the ''[[SeriousBusiness highest honor any recording can receive]]'', for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important." You don't get more awesome than that!
53	* Awesome or not, there hasn't been any ''Sesame Street'' song quite as bizarre (or funny) as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZidkXkFhjc "Do De Rubber Duck"]]. And that's not getting into the segment itself, where we see Ernie, two monsters (Telly and Elmo), a Grouch (Oscar), a frog (Kermit), a vampire-like man (the Count), a construction worker (Biff), a game show host (Guy Smiley), a ''cow'' (Gladys) and an owl (Hoots) singing and dancing in (or, in Elmo's case, around) Ernie's bathtub!
54	* Bet you never thought Kermit could have a better anthem than "Bein' Green," right? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAv75mTimRc Sam Pottle begs to differ.]]
55	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrqF7yD10Bo Outdoors]] treats the episode's guest star with respect. It's a parody of the song "I'm Yours" by Music/JasonMraz. [[RoleReprise Guess who they got to sing it]].
56	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtxpdX-Za0I I'm an Aardvark]]" sounds simultaneously inspirational and wacky.
57	* "What's the Name of That Song?", the production number centerpiece of the Season 6 premiere in 1974 (which also happened to be Roscoe Orman's first episode as Gordon). It's a catchy number, featuring almost all of the cast, which, amusingly, never manages to answer the question posed by its title.
58	* Never before has [[https://youtu.be/O3gy_b2Ioo0 a set of hardware tools]] made you want to get up and dance so badly.
59	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KhhG-tLuCg Worm Soliloquy]] is one huge parody of the song "Soliloquy" from ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}'', with a sample of "You'll Never Walk Alone" thrown in. John Raitt, who originated the role of Billy Bigelow in the Broadway version of ''Carousel'', the character who sings "Soliloquy", even sings ''this'' version. Now that's a dedicated ShoutOut!
60	* The stop motion animated inserts of the 1970s and early 1980s featured some truly awesome synthesiser music. Among others:
61	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGdPVyEuTvs Never has a kerosene oil lamp been so awesome,]] the pieces filing out of the box to a drumbeat before the synth kicks in to add just the right sense of ceremony to the lamp's assembly. It takes a haunting yet delightful turn once the lamp has assembled, the wick is lit, and the studio lights are dimmed so that we can only see by the light from the lamp.
62	** Al Jarnow's 1980 short film [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg1a2Kwi67U "Architecture",]] which re-creates various architectural styles from antiquity to the present day using coloured building blocks, is accompanied by a terrific score by Tom Perri, who mentioned in Website/YouTube comments that he and his team had to wire the ARP 2600 synth with which they were working in ways that had never been done before to bring the sounds in Perri's head to life. And it complements the animation beautifully. The music for the transition from the stone circle to the Greco-Roman temple in particular sounds like the triumphant homecoming of a conquering hero or heroine.
63	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GmoCq6t1w4 Watermelons and Cheese]], the hilarious, wacky song about how you shouldn't say 'watermelons and cheese' when you answer the phone.
64	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZawTyARxp0 Imagination]] has a stunning, soaringly beautiful melody that would not be out of place in a Romantic-era song by Fauré or Brahms. Raposo at his best.
65	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOxe8u8Y9R8 Somebody Come and Play]], another Raposo gem, manages to sound optimistic and wistful at the same time, just like a kid who doesn't have anyone to play with him but hopes someone will turn up soon.
66	* The hilarious [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biAMh-xdvJc Dance Yourself to Sleep]], a major earworm as Ernie explains how to do a tap-dance routine with the Boogie Woogie Sheep to put yourself to sleep at night, over Bert's harrowed protestations as the sheep carry his bed out of the room.
67	* [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/252672006 The Story of Bert's Blanket]], another major earworm as the Sheep come to Ernie and Bert's bedroom and sing to Bert about how his blanket is made. At the end of the song, Bert offers to let the sheep sleep on Ernie's bed, since Ernie is at Count Von Count's.
68	* "It's All Right to Cry" has a message you don't often see on TV, but which is true: crying is acceptable, everyone cries, even grown-ups, and it's not just a baby thing.
69	-->'''Narrator''': Crying's not just for babies. Grown-ups can do it too. Big kids cry when there's a reason why. If they can do it, so can you.
70	* [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/268576314 Cereal Girl]], another classic parody, this one of "Material Girl" by Music/{{Madonna}}.
71	* "Quiet or Loud". The animations are funny, it lets kids know they can be loud sometimes whereas similar things focus only on being quiet, and the background music would sound good on its own.
72	* [[https://www.twitch.tv/videos/295285818 "We Are a Family (We Love Each Other)"]] has kids singing about a family as they love each other. Some kids live with their parents, grandparents, or even aunts and uncles.
73	-->'''Kids''': Some families have one kid, the others have two or three.
74	* Both the songs by How Now Brown and the Moo Wave: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xfciIXD-sg Wet Paint]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVcZ7cDggeE Danger's No Stranger]]", even though they're both [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece very obvious products of]] TheEighties.
75	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp4q9K39UXk "City-Country Song"]] (AKA "Life in the Country and the City"), first shown in 1974, sees a cowgirl (voiced by Marilyn Sokol) sing the virtues of country life, while a city slicker (voiced by Jim Henson) sings the virtues of city life. What really makes the song clever is the genre shifts; the cowgirl's verse is done in a country style (with yodelling for the penultimate line), the city slicker's verse is done in a smooth jazz style (with scat singing for the penultimate line), and then they alternate for the final verse as they sing that they'd certainly like to visit each other's home turf, but would rather live where they already are, ending with a dance across the split-screen effect as they sing their final lines in counterpoint (complete with a cow crossing from the country to the city and back again, and the odd car driving from the city to the country).
76	* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyEE7EQx5Z0 Listen to the Wind Blow]]," as performed by Music/BuffySainteMarie. Her vocals are top-notch, as always, and the gentle, lilting arrangement of the song at times feels reminiscent of traditional Indigenous music (particularly with the background chants).
77	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhJLBk-Q9k&t=6s "The Ten Commandments of Health"]], based on "The Ten Commandments of Love" by The Moonglows.
78	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLZIMUYdtrU "Count it Higher"]], sung by Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats from 1973.
79	%%* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7h2n1h6kEM (I Can't Get No) Cooperation]], a Rolling Stones parody.
80	* One reason to feel bad for Mr. Chatterly and all the nonsense he has to put up with in the "Alphabet Chat" segments is that he has a really classy theme song: the alphabet, sung as a round to a Music/JohannSebastianBach melody by Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson in their best madrigal voices.
81	-->W, X, Y, Z, a-and A-ay B-ee Ceeeeeee
82	* Even the short music cues on this show are insanely good. The "News Flash" music, with a staccato electric organ and DramaticTimpani, is only about five seconds long and still gets stuck in your head permanently.
83	* Seldom has the alphabet sounded cooler than in the Vince Collins-produced [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke--dZdZWRM "Jazzy Alphabet"]] cartoon from 1974, which matches a series of very clever transitions from each letter to the next with a marvellously energetic jazz score by Donald Byrd and the Blackbyrds. The featured instrument shifts every four letters, with Keith Killgo on drums taking centre stage for A-D, I-L, and Q-T, while Allan Barnes on saxophone gets to strut his stuff for M-P, and Byrd himself on trumpet takes the lead for E-H and U-Z, all anchored by a groovy bass from Joe Hall and keyboards from Kevin Toney.
84	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAzOVDwOgU8 "Animal Elevator"]] is a catchy song about animals riding in a department store elevator.
85	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnoJwfnzmqA "Beginning, Middle, and End"]] is a catchy song based on the Music/TalkingHeads with a trio of singing books explaining the three concepts and structures of stories.
86	* Snuffy's cover of [[https://youtu.be/W-zvYSV2VyM "On Top of Spaghetti"]] may as well be the definitive version, as his vocals lend themselves perfectly to a {{Bluegrass}} song, let alone a comedic parody of "On Top of Old Smokey".
87	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIq8jLj5TzU I Don't Want to Live on the Moon]] is a fan favorite Jeff Moss tune, sung by Ernie. For its 50th Anniversary Celebration, ''Sesame Street'' created a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGhxemtWXq4 new animated lyric video]], using Jim's vocals (and featuring a familiar face).
88	* The Count von Count song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7yAe2MBIpE "Batty Bat"]] is another classic Raposo number that got featured as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=287OPnJwBKY an animated lyric video]] as part of the 50th celebration.
89	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og-ouj_gMm0 Caribbean Amphibian]] is yet another lesser known gem from Kermit. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDVeCNWEXpA The version he sings with Jimmy Buffet]] in the "Elmopalooza!" special is particularly notable.
90	* Several of the songs from "Don't Eat the Pictures":
91	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b12K94CtPMw Broken and Beautiful]], sung by Oscar as he is admiring the ancient, broken Greek and Roman statues, is a surprisingly sweet song where Oscar describes the statues as "the most beautiful trash he's ever seen".
92	** In a different way, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9PenLqJyHU the title song of that special]] is a hilariously weird song where Cookie Monster warns the viewer not to eat the pictures in an art museum, and includes such lyrics as "Mummy look yummy, but it not for tummy".
93	* While [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI5QX13eluQ "Doo-Wop Hop"]] is a fun and catchy Christopher Cerf doo-wop style song in itself, the video for it is even more memorable!
94	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQz8ChMRDOI The Elephant Elevator Operator]] is another funny Christopher Cerf song, and it's even performed by the Legendary Dave Goelz, in one of his rare Sesame Street appearances! (You usually don't think about it, but it makes you realize how much of a great comedy performer Sesame Street missed out on.)
95	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsTWz750hAM Mr. Between]], with a rare Dave Goelz lead vocal, is about a guy that likes to get between everything, including, but certainly not limited to, two potted plants, two pairs of pants, and a seal and a herring!
96	* [[https://youtu.be/fqXnwK0gBzk The Count's First Day at School]], a completely infectious klezmer bop--just ''try'' to have a bad day when you're singing along. "I'll count Gregory and Sue, that makes numbers one and two..."
97	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6GKNGPDDKU Put Down The Duckie]] is a rockin' jazz song sung by Hoots the Owl as he tries to help Ernie play his saxophone by, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin putting down Rubber Duckie]]. Even better than the original version is the celebrity version, filmed one celebrity at a time over several years [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acBixR_JRuM and well worth the wait]].

Context AwesomeMusic / SesameStreet