Joe Raposo, genius

Joe Raposo's best known for his work with Sesame Street, having composed "Sing (Sing a Song)" and "Bein' Green." He's done some other pretty great stuff, too (including the Three's Company theme and four songs on Ol' Blue Eyes is Back; the record company talked Sinatra out of recording an entire album of Raposo songs).

But you all know me; I've got to focus on the kiddie stuff.

A couple of big favorites of mine are "Take a Bweaf" and "There's a Bird On Me."




He performed the vocals for more than a few of the Sesame Street songs, in a really nice tenor voice; this is him singing "Trying and Trying Again" and "Somebody Come and Play."




And here's the man himself acting out a battle with the letters "UN." I'd say his gift for physical comedy is on a par with that of his songwriting.

Spidey!

I was considering marking the anniversary of the Kent State shootings today, but not even learning that Chrissie Hynde was one of the protestors could make it a non-gloomy post.

Besides, something else is going on today that's making everything awesome - Spiderman 3 has arrived at a theater near me. They say this one cost a quarter of a billion dollars to make. You have to wonder why - particularly when there are so many good examples of how quality Spidey can be made with much less.

For instance, here he is on Family Guy...



...on Electric Company (with Morgan Freeman as the cop)...



...as portrayed by Jack Black...



...and Sound of Music kid-grown-up Nicholas Hammond on the '70s TV version (LOVE that theme music).



And if all these clips took too long, here's the first movie in five (or so) seconds.

Not Dr. Doolittle...

...but Dr. Dolots, the character played by Luis Avalos on The Electric Company. Harpo from the scalp up, Groucho from the scalp down, he was one of the key components of the development of my high-speed wit.

Here he is at the shoestore...



...and in his office with Paul the gorilla and Fargo North, Decoder (it took me until high school to figure out that there was a pun there). It may have been the 1970s, but on children's TV vaudville was still alive and well.

siht fo ekam ot tahw wonk t'nod I

Here's a bit that came from The Electric Company, my favorite TV show as a child. I can vouch for its authenticity... forwards. But slowed down and backwards? Hmmmmm.



I mean, I suppose it's quite possibly, maybe even probably, the real McCoy, but it'd also be quite easy to say any old thing and then claim it came from this. I need a second opinion, I guess is what I'm saying.

The Electric Company Sell Out *snort*

The Best of the Electric Company Volume 2 just came out on DVD, and it's number one on my Christmas wish list. Really, the extent to which that show honed my humor as well as my reading skills can't be overestimated.

After the show ended, I saw members of the cast in a few commercials. Jimmy Boyd appeared in an IGA spot, Judy Graubert shilled for Miracle Whip ("Tomato, tomato, tomato..."), and Luis Avalos got to deliver the punchline as a detective in a Kentucky Fried Chicken ad ("His wife'll kill him if he doesn't eat right!")

Here are a couple more, sort of before my time...



Skip Hinnant, the bank teller here, would go on to play Fargo North, Decoder. He was also the voice for Fritz the Cat (it's great fun to hear him say "Go @#$% yourself"), and Schroeder in the original Broadway production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.



Who knows what happened to Morgan Freeman. But I love how he crosses Easy Reader with the Witchita Lineman here.

Hey You Guyyyyyys!

For no particular reason, I'm going to put up a double shot of Rita Moreno today.

Like most people my age, my first exposure to RM was on The Electric Company, where she played a number of characters, most memorably the spoiled Pandora and the Nazi director, forever scaring the cue-card holding Marcello (Morgan Freeman) half to death. Here she is performing the "Billy Lick a Lolly" song, which, as soon as you watch it, you're going to have stuck in your head for the rest of the day. You're welcome.



That's not all she did, of course - this is one of the few people to win an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony, and a Grammy. Here's a part of her Emmy-winning performance (1977: Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music) on The Muppet Show.



Sexy and funny at once. See the comments for Spanish translation.