kip_w ([info]kip_w) wrote,
@ 2008-03-19 12:33:00
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I'm a broken tooth, darling.
.
As [info]bibliotrope points out, tomorrow would have been Fred "Mister" Rogers's 80th birthday. Anyone inclined to celebrate the day could do worse than to go to Way Out Junk and download the totally amazing circa-1960 LP "Tomorrow on the Children's Corner," which is a self-contained musical fantasy starring Josie Carey and the many puppet voices of Rogers. (Note: there are two download links. The first one seems to be the one that works at the moment.) The songs go from touching to downright silly. My favorite is Lady Elaine Fairchild singing a reprise of X the Owl's "You're Special," only in her case, it's all about herself.

"I'm a leaky pipe.
I'm a garlic bud.
I'm a soggy match, I'm a burlap patch, I'm an itchy scratch,
I'm a sea of mud!
I'm special..."

I was happy to furnish the site's proprietor with mp3s made from a cassette that I pulled from my cousin's girlfriend's copy of the LP when we lived in Houston in the early 80s. I've never seen another copy of it, though a university in Indiana seems to have a piano-vocal score of the show. (They also have another Rogers musical, which might be out there somewhere on LP. Oh, man!)

Special note: on Friday, PBS seems to be showing [info]bibliotrope's favorite episode, which highlights a performance of an opera about Daniel Striped Tiger (also on the LP). My friends in Colorado are big fans of the operas they used to make up for this show. I'm going to try and set my VCR for it, and I'm phoning my friend before I forget.

Tomorrow, tomorrow, we'll start the day tomorrow with a song or two. Happy birthday, Fred!

update: [info]redaxe points out in comments that tomorrow's "Wear a Sweater Day" in Mr. R.'s honor. A cardigan, if you have one.
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[info]redaxe
2008-03-19 05:09 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the download link!

You missed a critical (to me) point, though. Tomorrow, being the Rev. Rogers' birthday, is "Wear a Sweater Day". I would recommend a cardigan, of course, but the folks pushing the event just saw "sweater". (Here's a sample of the articles on the subject, with links to the YouTube.)

I'll be pulling on my best sweater, since I wear one nightly to work anyway, and thinking of all the wonder he brought into the world.

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[info]meggins
2008-03-23 02:03 am UTC (link)
Well, I'm behind as usual so I didn't read this in time to wear a sweater on the appropriate day. (It was cool enough, too.)

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Thanks!
[info]wayoutjunk.blogspot.com
2008-03-25 02:09 pm UTC (link)
Hey Kip!

This is Tony from over at "Way Out Junk". Thanks again for providing that album for the blog. It's been very popular. I also wanted to mention that another reader has contributed some Mister Rogers albums too. I'm featuring "A Place of Our Own" today as part of my New Album Week, and I'll have a couple more from him coming up down the line.

And thanks for letting me know about the dead link. I'll try to get that fixed!

Tony
Way Out Junk

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Re: Thanks!
[info]kip_w
2008-03-25 05:12 pm UTC (link)
I'm very glad to hear that the album is getting some of the appreciation it deserves. I'll go by and see what other Rogers offerings you have. I keep wondering if there's another Children's Corner LP out there. If I'd known then what I know now... well, in the 80s, I'd have gotten a photo of the album cover, and in the 00s, I'd have used a higher bitrate for processing the LP. I could go back and do that now, but it would mean repeating a lot of work (taking out pops and such by graphic wave editing, for instance). If and when I do it, I'll pass it along to you as well. Thanks for hosting the albums.

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