The Sugar Bears (1972)

Last day of "Animated Bubblegum Week!"

Sugar Bear was the advertising cartoon mascot for Post Super Sugar Crisp cereal. He originally appeared as a character in the 1963 Saturday morning cartoon Linus the Lionhearted. Most of the characters in the series were mascots for Post cereal products. Sugar Bear – the shallow eyed, easy going, Dean Martin sounding character – proved the most popular of the lot. So in 1972, when fabricated cartoon bands were the craze, Post Super Sugar Crisp created their own pop group called The Sugar Bears. And the bubblegum pop music was as sugary sweet as the cereal.

[DOWNLOAD] Presenting The Sugar Bears (1972)
01- Happiness Train
02- All Of My Life
03- Right On
04- Feather Baloon
05- Kinda Friendly Things
06- Love You've Been A Long Time Coming
07- You Are The One
08- The Two Of Us Together
09- It's A Good Day
10- Someone Like You
11- Anyone But You


Here's an odd Super Sugar Crisp cereal commercial that for some reason doubled as a PSA against air pollution...



And here's an episode of Sugar Bear's Saturday morning cartoon show...

Josie and the Pussycats

Day four of "Animated Bubblegum Week!"

Josie and the Pussycats was produced for Saturday morning television by Hanna-Barbera Productions, airing on CBS. It featured an all-girl pop music band that toured the world with their entourage, getting mixed up in strange adventures, spy capers, and mysteries. The series started in 1972 and later re-conceptualized as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. The Pussycats finished their television run in 1976.


In preparation for their upcoming cartoon series, Hanna-Barbera Productions began working on putting together a real-life Josie and the Pussycats girl group, who would provide the singing voices of the girls in the cartoons and also cut an album of bubblegum pop as well. They held a talent search to find three girls who would match the three girls in the comic book in both looks and singing ability. They settled upon casting Kathleen Dougherty as Josie, Patrice Holloway as Valerie, and Cherie Moor as Melody. Cherie would be known later as Cheryl Ladd, the girl who replaced Farrah Fawcett on Charlie's Angels in 1977.

[DOWNLOAD[ Josie And The Pussycats: From The Hanna-Barbera TV Show (1970)
01- Every Beat Of My Heart
02- La, La, La (If I Had You)
03- Stop, Look And Listen
04- Hand Clapping Song
05- I'll Be There
06- You've Come A Long Way Baby
07- (They Long To Be) Close To You
08- Roadrunner
09- Lie, Lie, Lie
10- It Don't Matter To Me

And here's the opening intro from Josie and the Pussycats...

Hot Wheels the cartoon

Day three of "Animated Bubblegum Week!"

Hot Wheels originally aired from 1969 to 1971 on ABC-TV. It was based on a product by sponsor Mattel Toys. Because of it's close connection with Mattel's Hot Wheels line of toy cars, the Federal Communications Commission demanded that the opening to the Hot Wheels cartoon, along with any references in the cartoon to the Hot Wheels title and any mention of the makes of cars, all be counted as commercial time. The FCC was, in effect, ruling that the whole cartoon show was a commercial for the Hot Wheels toy cars and not an entertainment program. This led ABC to cancel the popular series after only two years on the air. But not before they could release an album of pure bubblegum...


[DOWNLOAD] The Original Hot Wheels Soundtrack
01- It's Magic
02- Sky Hawks
03- Millie La Rue
04- Jack Rabbit Special
05- Mothers
06- Hot Wheels
07- Come Back Baby
08- Dance Little Girl
09- Where The Nicest People Meet
10- Words And Music

And here's the intro to Hot Wheels, the cartoon...

The Cattanooga Cats (1969)

Day two of "Animated Bubblegum Week!"

Cattanooga Cats was an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. It aired from September 6, 1969 until September 4, 1971. The Cattanooga Cats were a feline rock ‘n’ roll band that included singer/dancer Kitty Jo, drummer Groove, lead singer/guitarist Country, and bass player Scoots. A large, shaggy dog named Teenie Tim rounded out the cast. In the spirit of cross merchandising, an album was released in tandem with the series featuring a collection of their songs.


Here it is...

[DOWNLOAD] Cattanooga Cats (1969)
01- Mother May I
02- How Did I Ever Get So Lucky
03- Wait A Minute For Country
04- My Group Has Too Many Cavaties
05- Alle Alle Oxen Free
06- Cattanooga Cats Theme
07- Country Carnival
08- Johnny Johnny Jump-Up
09- My Girlfriend Is A Witch
10- My Birthday Suit
11- Merry Go-Round


And here's the opening intro to Cattanooga Cats...

The Hardy Boys - Here Come The Hardys (1969)

This week is "Animated Bubblegum Week!"

I wrapped up last week with an adventure story with The Hardy Boys – inspired by the Shawn Cassidy/Parker Stevenson 1970's television series. The Hardy Boys started as a series of juvenile criminal detection books, chronicling the fictional adventures of teenage brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, written by many different authors between 1927 and 1979.


Aside form the Cassidy/Stevenson show there was also a Hardy Boys cartoon. With the success of The Archies, Don Kirshner and Filmation decided to create another cartoon band which would also release music. They decided to update The Hardy Boys detective series by making them part of a traveling rock band that would solve crimes along the way. The music was the typical catchy sugary-sweet bubblegum pop that Kirshner was famous for, and since this was 1969, The Hardy Boys and their band dressed in super groovy mod clothing. Kirshner quickly assembled a real Hardy Boys band that resembled the cartoon characters...for concerts and appearances.

[DOWNLOAD] The Hardy Boys - Here Come The Hardys (1969)
01- Here Come The Hardys
02- Those Country Girls
03- One In A Million
04- Thats That
05- (I Want You ) To Be My Baby
06- Sink Or Swim
07- Namby Pamby
08- My Little Sweetpea
09- Sha La-La
10- Feels So Good
11- Love And Let Love

And here's a couple of scenes from The Hardy Boys...

The Hardy Boys (1978)

Here's another story adventure from Wonderland Records. This time with The Hardy Boys!

[DOWNLOAD] The Hardy Boys (1978)
1- The Disco Conspiracy
2- The Mystery of the Missing Iceman

P.S. If anyone knows where I can get a copy of Spaced Out Disco Fever, from the back of this album, I would greatly appreciate it. MP3 form would be fine, too. Thanks.

Great Adventures: Bionic Woman

As many of you know I'm a fan of the Bionic Woman and Wonderland Records. Here they are...together.

[DOWNLOAD] Great Adventures: Bionic Woman

1- Mask Of Tamburo
2- Prisoner Of Arak (part 1)
3- Prisoner Of Arak (part 2)
4- Wings Of Death

20 Bands Trash 20 Songs To Find The Way To Sesame Street

I've shared a lot of Sesame Street music on this blog. Now here's all those songs performed by obscure punk bands.

(P.S. That's not my scan that's blurry and pixelated. This record is so D.I.Y. independent that they had no idea how to prepare the art.)

[DOWNLOAD] 20 Bands Trash 20 Songs To Find The Way To Sesame Street
01- Sesame Street Theme -- The Lizards
02- I Love Trash -- Krupted Peasant Farmers
03- The Grouch Song -- G.N.P.
04- Knock 3 Times -- JAKS
05- 8 Beautiful Notes -- Sink-n-Tired
06- Batty Bat -- Fraud Ramsey
07- Ladybug Picnic -- Pounded Clown
08- 12 -- Blind Spot
09- Play Along -- Haggis
10- Zizzy Zoomers -- The Dave Ferrin 5
11- My Body Full Of Rhythm -- Babba Booey
12- The National Association of W Lovers -- Nuclear Armed Hogs
13- C is For Cookie -- The Independents
14- Put A Cookie In My Mouth -- Guano
15- Up And Down -- Nobodys
16- Monster In The Mirror -- Fetish
17- My Name is U -- The Banned
18- Put Down The Duckie -- The Unspoiled
19- AB-C-DEF-GHI -- Rights reserved
20- Somebody Come and Play -- Schlong

My Muppet Whatnot

My Muppet Whatnot finally came in the mail! I had taken the family to FAO Schwarz in NYC a few weeks ago, just to build a Muppet Whatnot, but the workshop was closed...so I ordered it online instead (www.fao.com).

It's a fun process... you get to pick the body shape, eyes, nose, hair and clothes. Then it lets you see how your Muppet Whatnot will look. I did it a bunch of times, trying different combinations, but the one I ordered was my very first combination. I named him Ted. Best $90 bucks I've ever spent!
What's a Muppet Whatnot? On the Muppet Show a Muppet Whatnot was basically a blank puppet that could be made into anything..whatever character the skit called for. During the first seasons of Sesame Street, they were known as "The Anything People" who could be anything they wanted. Usually the live actors, like Bob, would turn them into different characters. Below is an example of how the "Fat Blue" Anything Muppet took on different forms and characters...

Metallica - Thrasher 1986

I'm going to keep the Metallica love going for one more day with a James and Kirk interview from Thrasher skateboard magazine – which I've saved since 1986. This article came out in August, just one month before Cliff Burton's untimely death. R.I.P. Cliff.

(Just click on the image to view it larger.)

Metallica - ...And Justice for All [Demos]

Last day of "Metallica Demo Week!"

This demo was recorded in 1988 and included early, shorter versions of songs which later appeared on the band's fourth album ...And Justice for All. This was recorded before James wrote all the lyrics so you'll often hear him sing gibberish in place of words.

[DOWNLOAD] Metallica - ...And Justice for All [Demos]
1- Blackened
2- ...And Justice For All
3- Eye of The Beholder
4- One
5- The Shortest Straw
6- Harvester of Sorrow
7- The Frayed Ends of Sanity
8- To Live Is To Die
9- Dyers Eve

James Hetfield - vocals, rhythm guitar
Kirk Hammett - lead guitar
Jason Newsted - bass guitar, backing vocals
Lars Ulrich - drums

Metallica - Power Metal & Megaforce [Demos]

Day two of "Metallica Demo Week!"

Power Metal was a demo recorded sometime in April 1982. It contained four original songs...one of which, "The Mechanix", was the first song written for the band by Dave Mustaine.


[DOWNLOAD] Metallica - Power Metal [Demos]
1- Hit the Lights
2- Jump in the Fire
3- The Mechanix
4- Motorbreath

James Hetfield - vocals, rhythm guitar
Dave Mustaine - lead guitar, backing vocals
Ron McGovney - bass guitar
Lars Ulrich - drums

MEGAFORCE DEMO
Megaforce was recorded in 1983 and was the last demo recorded with Dave Mustaine. The demo was designed to introduce Cliff to potential record labels and landed the band a deal with Megaforce Records. It contained two new songs which had not been previously released.

[DOWNLOAD] Metallica - Megaforce [Demos]
1- Whiplash
2- No Remorse

James Hetfield - vocals, rhythm guitar
Dave Mustaine - lead guitar, backing vocals
Cliff Burton - bass guitar
Lars Ulrich - drums

Metallica - Ron McGovney's '82 Garage Demo

This week is "Metallica Demo Week!"

If you follow my blog you know I have a wide range in music...so a week of Metallica demos coming off a week of childrens music is normal in the Franklin Mint world. I've been digging the new Metallica album so it's recharged my enthusiasm for their earlier work. I can honestly say that I was a fan from the beginning. But I'll also say that they lost me after the Justice album. The new album finds Metallica back to which they came from...exactly what I've been waiting for.

The first demo was recorded in original bassist Ron McGovney's garage on March 14, 1982. Here it is...

[DOWNLOAD] Metallica - Ron McGovney's '82 Garage Demo
01- Hit The Lights
02- Jump In The Fire
03- Killing Time (Sweet Savage cover)
04- Let It Loose
05- Sucking My Love (Diamond head cover)
06- The Prince (Diamond Head cover)
07- Am I Evil (Diamond Head cover)
08- Helpless (Diamond Head cover)
09- No Remorse

James Hetfield - vocals
Dave Mustaine - lead guitar, backing vocals
Lloyd Grant - Lead guitar on "Hit the Lights"
Ron McGovney - bass guitar
Lars Ulrich - drums

A while back I posted Metallica's 1982 No Life 'til Leather demo which were the demos for the Kill 'em All album (get it here).

John Denver & The Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday

When John Denver guest starred on The Muppet Show, it was the beginning of a life-long friendship between Denver and Jim Henson that spawned two television specials with The Muppets – John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979) and John Denver & The Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday (1983). I've always been a fan of John's music and his acting...Oh God! is probably in my top 25 list of all-time favorite movies.

[DOWNLOAD] John Denver & The Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday
01- Hey Old Pal
02- Grandma's Feather Bed
03- She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain
04- Catch Another Butterfly
05- Down By The Old Mill Stream
06- Durango Mountain Caballero
07- Gone Fishin'
08- Medley: Tumbling Tumbleweeds/Happy Trails
09- Poems, Prayers And Promises
10- Take 'Em Away
11- Going Camping
12- Home On The Range
13- No One Like You


Here's John and The Muppets hiking in the woods when they come across a house full of hillbilly's singing "Take 'Em Away"...