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Sing it to me, Baby!
12 Plays1 month ago
We finally got to the holy grail of Saturday Mornings! The cartoons that gave us the musical sensations that we wanted to be! The Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, The Flintstones and for a select few, Barbie and the Rockers! We sang, we danced, we loved. Join Josh and Tyler as they spin their way through the hits of a Gen X childhood!
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Transcript
Nostalgia and Cartoon Bands
00:00:00
Speaker
Okay, actually, I'm going to start off with a question for you. You know those old-fashioned record players where you could stack a bunch of 45s all together?
00:00:11
Speaker
I sure loved that when I was a kid. Exactly. So if you had a stack right now of from cartoon bands, what record would be on the top?
00:00:23
Speaker
Oh my gosh. You mean what what would be the first one I'd have to listen to? Yeah. Okay. does it ah Did it have to literally be released on 45? No. Okay. All right.
00:00:33
Speaker
Okay. Then it would be um The Time for Love by Josie and the Pussycats. Of course it is. That's awesome. All right, let's kick it off.
Podcast Introduction and Hiatus
00:00:49
Speaker
Hey, don't turn that channel. You've reached Yabba Zunker Zoinks, the Saturday morning podcast where your host, Josh Downing, and that's me, will take you on a trip through a Gen X Saturday morning of cereal, toys, cartoons, and so much more.
00:01:02
Speaker
So grab your honeycombs and your favorite Micronaut and sit back and enjoy.
00:01:08
Speaker
oh So welcome back, everyone. I'm so sorry that we we took a a bit of a hiatus. There was a lot going on in everybody's lives, and we needed a bit of a break. So we'll call that our like midway season break. But we yeah we certainly needed some time to to get our real lives back in order.
00:01:26
Speaker
But speaking of real lives, we're going to talk about some really cool stuff today. And I have my awesome best buddy here today, Tyler. Hey, Josh. Hey, everybody. So glad everybody's back. And we're going to talk about some cool stuff
Animated Bands and Their History
00:01:41
Speaker
today. We're going to kick it off by talking about those awesome animated bands that we grew up with because there were so many.
00:01:50
Speaker
this is a subject i have been waiting for. and Josh always spins this stuff on me after he hits record. And I'm like, OK, I'm peeing my pants because this is really cool, but I am not prepared.
00:02:04
Speaker
There's no preparation needed because you are the expert on this. ah Yes. Right? Keep talking. i was I was trying to do some some research and I'm like, I don't even need to do this. I'll just ask you.
00:02:19
Speaker
It all started with the Elvin show. Yes. Carry on. Carry on. Just before we we jump into some of the the ones that we recognize, it's kind of cool because i When I do my research, I remembered that there was also a lot of those really first early cartoons that were supported with music.
00:02:40
Speaker
And then there were so many of those ones that came out in the 30s and 40s that were bands and they were you know people singing. to these animated cartoons. And they're just absolutely amazing.
00:02:52
Speaker
That was kind of the beginning of it. And then we always, like we've we've talked about before, we we grew up with Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies, where there was music and bands and singing with these animated characters.
00:03:05
Speaker
The Three Little Bops. remember the Three Little Bops? No, which ones were they? The three pigs that had that jazz band. Oh, Fox. Yes. That's amazing. I love that.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah. And the fox dies at the end. Yes, of course. Spoiler alert.
00:03:23
Speaker
So if you haven't seen it yet, there you go that's That's how it goes. Or think, was it a wolf? Anyway, carry on. It was probably a wolf. Yeah. A fox wouldn't do that. Yeah. um and And probably one of the most famous was one of the ones that I loved the most, and that would have been the the Archie's. Oh, yeah.
00:03:40
Speaker
Right? Sugar, Sugar. yeah. Number one hit on the Billboard charts in 1969. Take that, the Monkees. Right? Burn.
00:03:51
Speaker
So cool. Could have been yours. just we We would just run around singing that song all time. Yeah. it was just it was just part of our you know our saturday to to sing the the sugar sugar song the year that i started going to san yugo comic-con 2010 the year prior when i wasn't there ron dante was there at san yugo comic-con promoting the archies and it's like ah crap and he tours every year
00:04:25
Speaker
But he tours with you know the Turtles and like I don't remember the name of the tour. ah Sorry, it wants to come to me. oh ah Happy Together, of course, that's what it's called.
00:04:36
Speaker
And it never comes to Toronto. It doesn't play Canada. And he probably only does sugar sugar and probably doesn't do any of the other Archie stuff, you know, but still like that's something I've missed out on is just seeing him live, let alone meeting him.
00:04:51
Speaker
He is the happiest, most appreciative person for his career. You know, anyway, he's, he's incredible. that's That's so awesome.
00:05:02
Speaker
um and There was a little note here that I saw when I was reading some research, and it said that the soundtrack for The Archies was overseen by Don Kirshner, who was the music supervisor of The Monkees.
00:05:14
Speaker
Yes. Do you know that legendary story? Yeah, tell me. No, I don't know. it Tell me the story. Well, in my way of wording it, The Monkees wouldn't do what Don wanted.
00:05:25
Speaker
So he was like, okay, I'll get a band that won't talk back to me. And so nice we went with the Archies and gave them sugar, sugar that the monkeys turned down. And I love the monkeys. I think we both do. Oh yeah. Yeah. They can do no wrong, but absolutely. You know, and I don't think that really would have been their song. Like that's so it's too soft. Right.
00:05:44
Speaker
But for the Archies, it's perfect. Yeah.
Music Evolution in Cartoons
00:05:47
Speaker
So he had full control over a band for once, you know. So to me, it's kind of win win. you know what i mean? The Monkees got to do more and more what they wanted to do.
00:05:56
Speaker
and then he had his, you know, vision of total control over another act, you know. and And Ron used to record all those songs in New York every single week.
00:06:09
Speaker
And then they would get them ready for the next, you know, Saturday morning put together of the episode. Like he was just cranking out the songs that were written for him, but just cranking them out, you know, from the other side of the country every week.
00:06:23
Speaker
pretty crazy back then. Nice. Yeah. Yeah. And it was, it was, and it was amazing. Like we loved, we loved the sound as well as loving the cartoon and the characters and the comic books, of course.
00:06:36
Speaker
Like the production drives me bonkers because there's so much percussion and yeah you know, the lyrics are great and they timely and you know, it's, it's not all fluff that any outsider would assume.
00:06:49
Speaker
You know what I mean? But, you know, there was one single ah summer prayer for for peace that only charted in Canada. Oh, really? I'm like, that's really cool. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, anyway.
00:07:01
Speaker
Oh, that's really cool. Yeah. like I could talk forever about the Archies. I apologize. No. Hey, that's where we're here. even my favorite. the The cool thing, too, was that music was going under such a huge change.
00:07:15
Speaker
Yeah. right It had come from that from that really, you know, poppy kind of 1950s dance music to something that was even more lively and more energetic.
00:07:27
Speaker
And, you know, the the pop music that came out of this this time period, especially with, you know, the Beatles and the Monkees, it was just a whole generation of music-driven everything. Yeah.
00:07:41
Speaker
And, you know, more social, you know, conscious and... more melodic and more for younger people records weren't just for mom and dad anymore no and it was and they were there for getting together with your friends and they were for dancing you know and and having a great time and looking great right so there was such a shift it was a very different time period yeah and records were cheap quote-unquote right cheap entertainment back then Yeah, and you can also just you know go to the malt shop and play records.
00:08:20
Speaker
Yeah, that I never experienced. No, I actually did. We did have the malt stop. The malt stop. Yeah, we had the malt stop. And go, so this is a malt? Yeah, okay, it's all right.
00:08:31
Speaker
Yeah, growing up in Surrey, that's where all the cool kids, well, the cool rocker kids went. They went to the malt stop. We didn't get it here until the eighty s early 80s.
00:08:42
Speaker
Maybe we had it late 70s. I don't know. But it you know anything chocolate, of course, is fine. But a little bit of an acquired taste, but I wouldn't ever turn it down. No, not at all.
Obscure Cartoons and Hidden Gems
00:08:54
Speaker
uh so there's so actually some other ones and i don't know if you know these guys but there was also another really obscure 1960s um animation called the beagles oh yeah yeah do you remember them yep yep yep the two isn't it just two dogs just two dogs and apparently they sounded like dean martin and jerry lewis yes that's right that's right yeah i never did see it and i know about just as much as that about that show i saw I saw a little clip of one of the cartoons, and I guess their manager came in and said, oh, you got to write a song, and they were still in bed.
00:09:30
Speaker
Together? Yes. They were in one big bed, and they just jumped up and just started singing. And they're just singing the song. And I'm like, that's pretty cool. Well, it was so easy back then, because and no because all the songs hadn't been written yet, so it was still to be discovered.
00:09:47
Speaker
And there was only two instruments. There was a drum and a guitar, and that was it. And you got a full sound, just the same. it was still on mono because, you know, nobody had stereo back then. Yeah. But yeah, really cool.
00:10:00
Speaker
Apparently all the the negatives of the the vehicles were destroyed, so it's really hard to find anything. But yeah, it was ah it was by the designer of Underdog and Trix Rabbit, the serial rabbit, which is really cool.
Tributes to Iconic Figures
00:10:13
Speaker
You heard June 4A passed last week? No, no. Who's that? um Like the voice of Rocky on Bullwinkle and Rocky. ah, I can't, I can't do that.
00:10:24
Speaker
And we just, ah we also just lost Ruth today. Yeah. Yeah. I know. And, and the funny thing about Ruth is like, it's not that I'm a fan, but she was in everything. We watched everything, whether it was Saturday morning or for the adults, she was there.
00:10:40
Speaker
she was yeah She was amazing. She was, she was somebody that I knew uh, somebody who was extremely funny and I just loved her. I loved her so much.
00:10:51
Speaker
And it's so funny because I just saw a post on social media from her husband saying, unfortunately she's no longer going to be, you know, posting. she she loves you all. Thank you And I, I clicked a big heart on that post.
00:11:06
Speaker
And then I thought, Oh my God, if she's pulling back, she's probably, you know, not feeling great. And then the next day she had passed. Oh, Yeah, that's so that's a tough one. Yeah, it's sad. yeah But anyways, back to the Banana Splits.
Banana Splits and Groovy Memories
00:11:20
Speaker
Yeah, don't mind if I do. I have the CD somewhere in my collection. Oh, in the UK, I have a CD single for, and don't remember if it's called the Banana Mix or something like that, where it's just like a really bad dance track, but they sample the Banana Splits like all the way through it. It's it's a legit track.
00:11:41
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I like, I like their song. Don't go away. Go, go girl. No, no. Don't go away. ah Stay. Yeah. Get back here.
00:11:53
Speaker
They were, they were awesome. I loved when they would stop and just play a song. That was an incredible show. And I love all those photos that have come out, you know, of the actual actors in the costumes, you know, where they're just standing there with the head off yeah of the costume and actually see who was in it, you know? Yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
Oh, it's so awesome. And I just, I love that everybody had a band. The Groovy Ghoulies had a band. They were band. Yeah. Yeah. With Drax feet hitting the pedals. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. so good killer animation for that so amazing i know i know and it was so exciting and you know it's like every song could be a single you know what i mean like nothing was throwaway back then no it was great music it was all quality yeah yeah like it was really great music it was a lot of fun and it wasn't that it wasn't kid music it wasn't like they were right you know like here's elvin and the chipmunks
00:12:50
Speaker
Yeah. It was just on in the mornings instead of in the evenings, like the pussy cats, that's Elvis's band, you know? So that's why like their sound as well produced as it is, you know, is spot on perfect because they're professionals. you know Yeah.
00:13:09
Speaker
Absolutely amazing.
Lost Shows and Rights Issues
00:13:11
Speaker
Yeah. Do you remember a show called the Catanooka cats? Yes. Do you want me to sing? I won't sing, but yeah. Yeah. No, you should sing. They have album.
00:13:20
Speaker
That's one record I don't have, and I don't have even like a bootleg CD of it. Ah. Yeah. Oh, yes. So it spawned its own soundtrack album. Mm-hmm.
00:13:31
Speaker
It's got that really cool psychedelic black and white. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, it's really cool. was watching a clip of of them today, and if i hadn't if I didn't have the cartoon in front of the you know in front of the music, have just thought this is just an awesome pop hit.
00:13:47
Speaker
you know pop hit Yeah, and they don't they don't have anything on home video. Wow. wow There's no way of watching it properly. you know It could be streaming in the States, but and I don't know about that. But yeah it just seems to be one of those lost ones. And I don't know ah why that would happen because Warner seems to have everything in its library, unless there's a a rights issue or something. But Catanooga Cats never comes up.
00:14:13
Speaker
No. No, I've not seen anything either, so But yeah, um another really amazing 1960s time capsule of a band, right? Yeah, yeah.
00:14:25
Speaker
So here's another one. So go ahead. It reminds me of the Sugar Bears. because the sugar Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah And that's Kim Carnes on the Sugar Bears album. No way. Everybody starts somewhere, right?
00:14:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. like Like the Jackson 5. Yes. yes I have that home video and I've never watched it.
00:14:51
Speaker
What? But I have it because I feel I should watch it. And, but I haven't, you know, it's, it's like the, it's like the Osmonds. Yeah. You know, and the Beatles, like they all had their Saturday morning shows, you know, but the style of the art doesn't grab me for those particular shows, but.
00:15:13
Speaker
What studio did the Jackson 5? Is it like the Pink Panther one? That DePaty, Freeling? i don't even know if I'm saying that right. Yeah, that remember which studio it is. No, I don't remember either.
00:15:25
Speaker
But yeah, I need i need my my my bands to look like humans.
Brady Kids, Partridge Family, and Filmation's Impact
00:15:30
Speaker
Sorry, more like humans. Unless they look like animals. In proportion, is what I'm trying to say.
00:15:36
Speaker
Oh, I see. Yeah, get it. So that it can be confused easily with reality because I wish that it was. so Yeah, totally. Yeah. No, and I i loved the Jackson 5. I thought that was an amazing ah show as well.
00:15:48
Speaker
Loved singing. I'm sure it is. like like Like, what is it? Like, do they go on adventures or? Yeah, there was always some kind of gags. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah they yeah they were they were adventures. I think it was about them touring.
00:16:02
Speaker
That's cool. They have adventures on and on their tour. yeah i could be wrong. So we'll we'll put the challenge out there. If I'm wrong, let me know. They're out there on chaperone touring America. Of course. There's no adults in these shows. Yeah, exactly. Just like the Brady kids. Who was managing the Brady kids?
00:16:20
Speaker
Okay, that's one cartoon band I can't get too excited about, but I i appreciate it for what it was. But the fact that like Filmation really ripped off the Archies on that one. Oh, yeah. I'm a little uncomfortable with that one.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, and i I wasn't watching that one. I think that one came out a little bit later, and I wasn't really watching it. I mean, I grew up Brady. I loved the Bradys. Right. And I watched it, but I don't think I really watched the Brady kids that often.
00:16:50
Speaker
I don't remember us having it here in Toronto. Like, I don't remember it being on the air here. There's the odd show where I'm like, well, we never had that. You know, even though we had American Dations. I'm like, nope, maybe Rochester got it, but Buffalo didn't.
00:17:02
Speaker
you know oh Okay, that's weird. But what about the Partridge family, 2200 F-ing love it. twenty two hundred a d efin love it ah I knew it because the the style of although they did rip off Butch Cassidy like they like they they you know drawn over the Butch Cassidy band um but the style of all of the family up on those crazy high jets and still when they play when I was a kid I was just drooling at that I'm like I
00:17:37
Speaker
how effing cool is that you know what i mean like all those instruments you know it was just it was just it was so spacey you know what i mean and it ah amazes me how there's so much info out there on some of these shows but not all of the shows there's no info on that band you know i'm like okay isn't that weird who was it you know It's just strange.
00:18:04
Speaker
Yeah. And, and also it was the Partridge family. Like I, another family that I loved watching on TV. That came about because it was supposed to be a Jetsons sequel.
00:18:16
Speaker
And instead they, they switched it up and made it the Partridge family and they had already started working on it. So they had all those backgrounds that look exactly like the Jetsons. So it was like, okay, keep going, but we're making it the Partridge family.
00:18:32
Speaker
Nice. I was good with that. like so And I'll just say, because you can't get it on home video, my favorite episode was when I came from Danny, not Danny, if Keith had laryngitis or
Diversity and Influence of Animated Bands
00:18:44
Speaker
had shrunk. I can't remember which it was.
00:18:46
Speaker
both they had a key and they had ah They had a cardboard cut out of Keith out up on his tall still thing. And of course, that was his performance, right?
00:18:56
Speaker
Nobody knew what was going on. Of course not. That's awesome. I love that show. That's so awesome. Okay, so tell me about the Hardy Boys.
00:19:07
Speaker
ah Well, they released two albums, which is wonderful, and a bunch of singles, and that's Filmation again. And one of the things about Filmation Hardy Boys that always comes up, and I think it's important, is that was the first film Black character male to be on Saturday morning cartoons in 69.
00:19:31
Speaker
And then following year, Valerie, the first black female, Josie and the Pussycats. So both of those things, I think, are really special and really important. And it's great that, you know, they were both band shows.
00:19:45
Speaker
um I have both those albums and I think I have bootleg CDs as well, too. um And I follow one the lead singer on Facebook. He doesn't post very often, but, you know, he's always willing to chat, which is cool.
00:20:00
Speaker
um I don't think they got the recognition that they should have because those are those are pretty strong singles and the albums are fine. um But they kind of got lost in time, too.
00:20:12
Speaker
you
00:20:15
Speaker
It's kind of frustrating because then they don't get the remastered. treatment you know with proper releases on cd you know and maybe it'll happen tomorrow but for the most part doesn't happen right groovy ghoulies happened yeah gift you know um but holding out for the hardy boy you know it's not even on dvd to watch at home you know But I do have a cell from the Hardy Boys. So nice that's pretty cool. Yeah, have Wanda Kay dancing in one of the the music performance scenes. So that's pretty cool.
00:20:51
Speaker
But that's actually a great show for seeing animated band sequences because they kind of went all out on them, even though it would repeat. they were pretty legit looking, you know?
00:21:05
Speaker
So anyway, i love the design of, of the times. And of course, anything with the band drove me crazy when I was little, that's the life I wanted in a band. I need to do muggy.
00:21:17
Speaker
and need to live and live on the beach. yes And, you know, and that's, that's all I ever wanted. I probably still only want that, you know, it's just not in the cards. Right. But anyway, I digress.
00:21:32
Speaker
You're listening to the Opinion Prozoics, the Gen X for Life podcast.
Mystery Writing for Kids
00:21:39
Speaker
So, yeah, of course, we all wanted that. I mean, I did.
00:21:42
Speaker
wanted my doom buggy. Like, seriously. Yeah. ah I don't want to be five years old. I want to be 16. 16 with a band touring the world. Yeah, yeah. With your doom buggy. Yeah.
00:21:53
Speaker
yeah Solving mysteries. yeah Yeah. Like, that was it. That was the dream right there. And I loved mysteries when i was a kid. I used to read mystery magazines. So all of these shows like were right there for me.
00:22:07
Speaker
Loved it. I always wondered like, what did the writers think? Cause it's one thing if you're just writing gags, but whenever, when you're actually writing a mystery, you know, like you you would have to actually enjoy your job to do that. Well, you know, well, yeah. and And that's a completely different genre of writing. Right. And also you got to think, well, I'm writing a mystery, but it's also for kids.
00:22:30
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, exactly. So you got to keep it light. Yeah, it can't be a Hitchcock mystery, but it also has to be interesting and believable for kids. Totally. what about What about the ah the Chan clan?
Ron Dante and Cartoon Music Production
00:22:44
Speaker
Okay, so I'm sitting here thinking, when's he going to talk about all the other bands? We're not done, right? Yeah. There's so many. So yeah, so Chanclan was Ron Dante again from the Archies. And he put out an album not that long ago that features the Chanclan tracks.
00:23:00
Speaker
Nice. Which is cool, but they're literally just lifted off the show. So they have, you know, like the the laugh track or... you know they they they're only like a minute and six seconds long or whatever. You know what I mean? But it's cool. It's cool that they're there.
00:23:14
Speaker
um I know we talked about Josie and the Pussycats, Untouchable, number one for life. Yeah, absolutely. The band that did the second season, the Josie and the Pussycats in our space, I have no idea anything about that band. Nothing.
00:23:31
Speaker
i't Really? about Nope, not a thing. I haven't researched it, but it just... doesn't cross my path so i have no clue anything about that band at all well that's because everything was lost in space of course sound effect that was really good Wait, we're going to do something here. very go Oh, well done.
00:23:52
Speaker
Well done. Awesome. And then the second season of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? had the chase music. Yes. Oh, gosh. What is his name? I forgot the singer's name.
00:24:03
Speaker
It just left my brain for a minute. I want to say Sean Astin, but of course, we know that's not him. Yeah. But like his voice drove me bonkers when I was a kid. And that was more great music with great percussion. And just, you know, it's all that La La production, I guess, coming out of California where they was to me, that was a hit factory because could do no wrong week after week. And it's not like every song sounded the same because they didn't.
00:24:30
Speaker
No, no, they didn't. And what about Lancelot Link? Is that on your list? No, i missed that one. That's that's the live action monkey, you know? It was escaping me. Secret Chimp and his band, The Evolution Revolution. now I got to look this one up. I don't remember this.
Humorous Critiques and Nostalgia
00:24:50
Speaker
Very psychedelic. They had an album and I have the CD um and they had a 45 or two.
00:24:57
Speaker
um Just more great bubblegum music.
00:25:02
Speaker
Along with Teenage Pebbles and Bam Bam. Yes. I didn't forget about them. Yeah. Cause the bedrock rockers. Yeah. That was that group, you know, that was really called love. yes Yeah. Yeah. That did all the backup for Partridge family and every commercial back in the seventies. But like, I love that music too. Drives me wild. Amazing.
00:25:21
Speaker
Amazing. I forgot that there was a fat Albert in the Cosby kids band. Oh my gosh. I want the, there's a Halloween record like fat Albert. And the Cosmic Kids have like a music record, but there's also the Halloween special record. So just FYI, I'm watching one on eBay that's still factory sealed.
00:25:39
Speaker
Okay. Several thousand dollars. I just watched the Fat Albert Easter special. So can we take a break here and so I can discuss it for a second? Yes.
00:25:50
Speaker
Go ahead. Talk about it You know, the cool one, the cool guy, can't think give his name. um Is it Rudy? was yeah, yeah. The pink like pork pie hat. and where's Yeah, it could be Rudy.
00:26:01
Speaker
He's the cool one, right? Yeah. Okay. ye So well they're out they're down in the junkyard. And as an Easter surprise, they're going to fix up this old man's shack that he lives in, you know, as a surprise.
00:26:16
Speaker
And Rudy doesn't want to do any work, right? So what does he do? He puts a ladder against the shack and, for anybody that's gonna go up onto the roof to help fix it. And then he greases the latter and doesn't man very senior man climb up that ladder fall back oh and the next scene is him being taken away in an ambulance oh in the junkyard and then when he's in the hospital and the kids have to sneak in because they're not allowed in without an adult right of course so they sneak in and the man has no will to live anymore oh my goodness he's like i'm not going home but and i'm like oh no
00:27:01
Speaker
But you can't afford to stay in the hospital. yeah exactly. I'm like, it's ten thousand a day how do I not remember this user special? Oh my Oh my gosh. I don't remember that. Oh yeah. Not much of a, of an uplift 22 minutes. Wow.
00:27:18
Speaker
But did they sing a song to him at the end? Yeah, they didn't even do that. But in the end, he did go home. and Okay, good. Rudy confessed when they were in the hospital. and He was totally fine with it, which is strange considering he's bandaged from head to toe.
00:27:32
Speaker
But anyway, yeah, Fat Albert Easter. Wow. yeah Okay. Everybody, you got to go check that out. Yes. That Albert Easter is worth it. Tell me about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids. Oh, come along with me. Okay. So when that came out, I think I was four.
00:27:52
Speaker
So I was like the perfect age to just soak in more of this stuff. Right. Yeah. And yeah,
00:28:01
Speaker
I assume I'm the biggest fan out there. um But it is a bit of a cringy show because the voice acting, the voice direction is not great, um even though it's got big names like Mickey Dolenz in it.
00:28:17
Speaker
It's a little... it's a little it's a little hard on the ears um but again the the design of that show drives me wild the look of the kids drives me wild the color um mr socrates ah when i was a kid i would just be fascinated by them going on that um what do you call that moving sidewalk what do call that Like a people mover kind of thing? I want to say monorail. Isn't that funny?
00:28:48
Speaker
But yeah it would be on that... that Oh, Movader? No. yeah and Yeah, they were kind motivatvators going into a giant computer room, you know, and he's giving them assignments disguised as shows.
00:29:05
Speaker
You know what mean? You're going to play at, you know, blah, but when you're off stage, you're going to go and, you know, look after this crime. Right. And I'm like, this is so cool. That's the best. Yeah.
00:29:17
Speaker
And their white pants drove me crazy. Yes. I'm like, what? White pants? What's that? I want white pants. But else wore white pants? what What did you say?
00:29:28
Speaker
Who else wore white pants? They wore it so well. I'm like, these kids are like fashion icons. You know I mean? And the fact that the computer was allergic to the dog, I'm like, that's gold, you know.
International Influence of Animated Bands
00:29:43
Speaker
But anyway, their record didn't come out. They had two forty five s come out and two promos of the same thing. There was an album. It didn't happen. I'm like, damn, because I'm sure it was recorded, you know.
00:29:56
Speaker
um But Australia, God bless them, put out singles. So I'm happy to have that recorded. But yeah, that that was I like that show because it was a bit more mature in the name.
00:30:11
Speaker
You know, that might sound silly, but it just it was probably so much so much influence at that point, like Hawaii Five-0 and whatever what other shows, you mom and dad are watching, you know, we're really starting to, you know, bleed into Saturday morning.
00:30:27
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. um and that you said they were later too, right? So they were probably sort of at the tail end of that. Oh, they were literally like, yeah. Like when they were one of the last, weren't They were one of the last. Yeah. Because even the Partridge family, 2200, that was a bit of a strange thing to still happen. And even Jabberjaw, it was a bit strange to happen, you know, cause we were done with this, you know, but still a few more so still squeaked out.
00:30:55
Speaker
So that would be probably why the, uh, the, the push for records and things like that just didn't happen. Yeah. Like Captain Cool and the Kongs had an album, which is pretty cool, but i I don't have it, but, and it was Israel that put it out. Like it's how the weeks worldwide.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah. You know, i didn't know as a kid, you know, it' to me, it was just America, America, America, you know mean? Well, everybody's watching this stuff around the world. Right. Yeah. Which is awesome. So who did I miss?
00:31:25
Speaker
Uh, well, you could say, Jim. Oh my God. I have Jim right here on my list. Why didn't I bring that up? Yes. Um, no I don't think we missed anybody.
00:31:38
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Of course we did. The first one, the very first Hanna-Barbera band. You know who it is? No. Who's that? The impossibles. You know what? i I saw that when I was doing my reading and I was like, who are the impossibles? Yeah. Frankenstein Jr. and the impossibles. I didn't write it down. And then I remembered later. I'm like, oh yeah. Yeah. They were the first.
00:32:00
Speaker
They were the first. They had a single, which every now and then I try to track down. They were very much like a beach boys. don't know if that's fair, but they're kind of like surf music.
00:32:11
Speaker
Well, that sounds too specific. But anyway, you know what i'm saying? Very light hearted music. um Kind of like the stuff you would hear on the Flintstones. Actually, the Flintstones is worth mentioning, right? Because you had the White House and you had the Bo Brummel Stones and, you know, there was lots of pop music on there and Marg Rock, you know, music happening there, right? Even Fred himself, right? So, like, to me, the Impossibles is kind of more like the music that would pop up on the Flintstones.
00:32:37
Speaker
Anyway, I'm talking in a mile a minute here, but yeah. So, and the Alvin show. I think the Alvin show was actually the first Saturday morning show to have music yeah I think it was yeah I I I do like album the chipmunks I think it's adorable and it's so sweet and it's of its time and David Seville was a an incredible artist like he did all that stuff himself and He learned how to manipulate all those tape machines, you know, to speed things up, slow things down, you know, and he had hit records before he even started with the chipmunks.
00:33:15
Speaker
You know, he had like the witch doctor and all that stuff, you know, so he was he was fine. And then, of course, the chipmunks just blew things up even more. And I just saw I was going to send it to her. Maybe I did.
00:33:28
Speaker
the commercial came up on Facebook for chipmunk punk. Did I send that to you? I don't think you did. Do you remember that album? It's really familiar. We're covering like Blondie and all this stuff.
00:33:41
Speaker
Yeah. That sounds familiar. It was brutal. Yeah. really sounded like the chipmunks to me, but now anyway, I, I, I remember when that album came out because records were still big for kids, right? Yeah.
00:33:53
Speaker
All those Sesame street records and Disney records and, you know, which we've touched on before, but I guess we talked about the story records, right? We talked about the music records. Yeah. We haven't touched on the music. So I'm talking like Sesame street disco and all that kind of stuff. Right. oh yeah. I remember that.
00:34:09
Speaker
And Mickey mouse disco. So I guess chipmunk punk wasn't, you know, too far after that. it was bound to be. Yeah. It was really bound to be chipmunks with attitude.
00:34:24
Speaker
oh my God. That's awesome. Okay. You know what?
00:34:28
Speaker
It's time to play a game. Oh, no. Your favorite part. Oh, here we go, everybody. This is my favorite part. we're We're going to play Name That Band. It's kind of like Name That Tune, but the other way around.
00:34:41
Speaker
Okay. so I'm going to give you us a name of a song. Okay. From an animated show, so an animated band. You can tell me if you if you know who who what show that was from.
00:34:54
Speaker
All right. i will try. Okay. And if you need a hint, I might be able to give you ah a hint at least about the year. Oh, that helps. Yes. So i'm going to get my, my, um, my cursor over here on my buzzer just in case. I'm waiting for you you say, yeah, but I'm like, I'm pretty sure know who that was.
00:35:12
Speaker
No, here we go. Uh, first song who played, what's your sign? The bedrock rockers. Oh, look at you. Look at and where, wait, where's my little thing here?
00:35:26
Speaker
Yes, of course. That's I didn't think you were not going to get it. I just That's awesome. Totally. Yeah, so they were the Flintstones comedy hour from 72 to 73.
00:35:38
Speaker
Yeah, because the band wasn't part of the original animated show. Yeah, it was on the Flintstones Comedy Hour. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't remember that until I was looking stuff up and I saw, i actually got to watch one of the little clips from that too. It was really good.
00:35:52
Speaker
Nice. Yeah. Okay, next up. Sorry. See what I mean by was adult themed? also So all these little kids are running around singing, what's your sign? Exactly. They're like, I don't even know what a sign is, but what is it?
00:36:06
Speaker
My mom's a Pisces. Yeah, we all know. That's so funny. Okay. Here's your next one. Okay. What band played?
00:36:17
Speaker
How did I ever get so lucky?
00:36:23
Speaker
No, I have no clue on that one. Wait, can I have a hint? ah The show ran from 69 to 71. Okay.
00:36:33
Speaker
Oh, that could be a few.
00:36:37
Speaker
oh Well, I could guess. I don't really want to guess. I'd rather you tell me. Okay, well, so we give you a buzzer on that one. That is the Cat Nuka Cats. Is it? Okay. yeah Yeah. though And it's actually a great song.
00:36:50
Speaker
Is it? Yeah, it's pretty good. i like how the the little girl cat dances. Yeah, totally. It's amazing. She like Daphne. Yeah, absolutely. And she came before Daphne, but anyway.
00:37:03
Speaker
Okay, so your next one. What band played Best Friends? Oh, man.
00:37:11
Speaker
i have no clue. a That is Barbie and the Rockers, who we didn't talk about. Oh. ah For good reason. and I remember my mom wanted a Christmas gift for somebody the year that that toy line came out. And I don't remember how it came about. And I said, well, there is a Barbie the Rockers movie you can get on VHS. and She's like, oh, i want that.
00:37:34
Speaker
So where I don't know where I was, but I grabbed it and that was the gift. Anyway. Kmart. Well, yeah it could have been. It could have been. Or Zellers. Yeah, it would have been 189. Yeah, exactly.
00:37:50
Speaker
okay so here's your next one who's saying i like your style oh come on i'm gonna can i just guess just for the fun i just guess i'm gonna say the banana splits oh my goodness you didn't get that one oh that was the misfits from gem Oh, I'm not thinking that far. What was it called?
00:38:13
Speaker
What was it called? It was called I Like Your Style. like your style. I don't remember that song because I like to think I remember all those tracks too, but I don't remember that one. It probably threw you off because it was misfit song.
00:38:23
Speaker
I wonder who they were singing it to. They don't like anybody. Right? I think they were talking to themselves. They were looking in the air. Yeah. You know what? That's really funny. I like your style. Yeah, that's probably true.
00:38:34
Speaker
That's so funny. Okay, I got one more for you. Okay. If you ever get a chance, if you ever get a chance, look up Gimme a Gimmick. Gimme a Gimmick? By the Misfits. That's a great bit of animation.
00:38:45
Speaker
Okay, good. I'll look for that one. All right. All right. Who's saying, It's All Right With Me? Oh.
00:38:54
Speaker
increase Absolutely. I saved the best for last. It is all right with me. Yeah. that's yeah you can't go and You can't go wrong. Oh, so good. so So to wrap up, what what are some awesome things we need to know about Josie and the Pussycats?
00:39:11
Speaker
Oh my gosh. You are the encyclopedia, by the way. Are we talking about the band? Yeah, let's talk about the band. To me, the the coolest bit of trivia is that it's Elvis' band.
00:39:23
Speaker
Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. For the, for that season, for the 1970 season, the one that had all the, the records, um, There was four singles put out by Kellogg's to start.
00:39:37
Speaker
um All big number A-sides and strange B-sides. um And of course, can't get them in Canada, but in the States, you know, you could mail away for them.
00:39:51
Speaker
And then there was a couple of promo singles after that. And then the album... And the album is a little strange because there's some covers on there and it's like, oh, you took away some of the original music just to put in covers, which I get is what everybody did back then. You know, everybody was always covering stuff, right?
00:40:10
Speaker
So to me, it's a bit of a heartbreak because of that. um But that's, I'll tell you, you know this story, but. In 1992 or 1993, when the Canadian versus America exchange rate was really poor, and this is before the internet, so I guess it's 93, 92.
00:40:34
Speaker
well Somebody found me a factory sealed copy of the record. For $400.
00:40:43
Speaker
It took me, I think, like three paychecks to get that money together. And then it came in the mail, mint, sealed. And I opened it and I played it. And it was like a moment because i actually had a bootleg cassette that I bought at a toy show in L.A.,
00:41:04
Speaker
a few years before but to hear it proper in like perfect stereo no cracking no popping you know no nothing right nice it's ah it's a treasured piece for me i did have all the kellogg singles i think i sold them off because it rhino did put it out on cd eventually which is cool um And I did buy extra copies. I do have them here somewhere.
00:41:29
Speaker
um But yeah, that's, ah so the band, the group, the girls, um of course, Sherry Moore, who was Cheryl Ladd when she changed her name, um and Patricia Holloway, whose sister was really famous on the radio. and for some reason, she didn't really take off that much.
00:41:51
Speaker
But I find her voice. It's funny how they use Valerie as the lead for most singles, but she had a powerful, powerful voice. And it was just to me, that's their sound is Valerie, you know, and then Kathy, who was Josie, who doesn't get used that much.
00:42:08
Speaker
Ironically, it's really heavy with Melody and Valerie. um But just perfect pop, incredible production, just nothing makes me happier. It's the music I don't skip on my iTunes when they come on.
00:42:23
Speaker
um And just incredible memories, you know, just why all that music coming out of Hollywood. Yeah, absolutely.
00:42:33
Speaker
But why would you have music your... Oh, and that's the best building ever. I'm coming out of there and I'm like, I need to live there, mom. So, i but I have to ask though, why would you have music you skip on your, on your, uh, playlist? Oh yeah. That's a, that's yeah. Considering it's only, you're only on there if I want to hear Right. Yeah.
00:42:54
Speaker
I guess it just depends on timing mooding or what you're in the mood for. Or if you're like, nope, I just heard that yesterday. I got to skip it. You know, even though there's 6,000 songs for some reason, the same three keep coming up.
00:43:08
Speaker
You know, but what if it's all right with me? Yeah. Yeah, that that would be totallyify totally fine. Totally fine. I always think must be funny when I'm blasting that stuff. And I assume people can hear it outside the car, right? I'm like, ah, you don't even know what it is. It's okay. No, they have no idea. just like like He's old. He's playing old guy music. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
00:43:29
Speaker
Which is funny because it's even older than us. So I have a question for you, Josh. Yeah. Yeah. So last week I gave you my original factory sale Groovy Ghoulies record. Yes, you did. um Did you open it?
00:43:41
Speaker
I have not opened it yet. I have not because I've got a couple of things in my, in my wait list on my record player. So because i I've been busy playing the the peel sessions of the OMD record. g Oh, I love so much. It's amazing. So for the folks following at home, that Groovy Ghoulies record includes the theme song and it also includes the, oh wait, have to stop and think about this for a second.
00:44:06
Speaker
It has the, oh. me to go get it? Nope, nope, nope.
00:44:13
Speaker
First annual semi-formal combination celebration months. Oh, I blew it. First annual. Oh, let me get this right. First annual combination celebration, meet the monster population party song. I love that song. And I think I got the name wrong. hang man You'll know it when you hear it. Great song.
00:44:34
Speaker
Totally. Oh my God. I can't wait. So Tyler's kept this record preserved. Yep. Mint in package for 60 years or something. First annual semi-formal combination celebration meet the monster population party. That's what it's called.
00:44:49
Speaker
There you go. Now you got it. I think anyway. So I, I, I will get to the point where I will crack it open. Oh yeah. And then we'll talk about that, but yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I got a few things to listen to before I get there.
00:45:03
Speaker
That's cool. Awesome. Anything else I missed? I don't think so. Like we touched on the Osmonds, we touched on the Beatles, you know, I don't know that that stuff will ever see the light of day on video. A lot of it hasn't and a lot of it hasn't.
00:45:20
Speaker
But if we if we cap it at, you know, at Jem, then we pretty much covered everything. If we didn't, I can't imagine what we missed. and I know things come later as well, but doesn't count.
00:45:32
Speaker
yeah And it's funny too, because in my research, I saw that there's there's still a lot of music and bands showing up in animated shows even today. think that's really cool.
00:45:43
Speaker
Is there? Yeah. it's It's not quite the same because they're obviously they're not they're not releasing albums and things, but you know there is there is music being played and there's you know there's pop music and current music being played in shows.
00:45:59
Speaker
Like Japan's really good at putting stuff out, you know? And of course those bands actually get, you know, releases. um Like Hi Hi Puffy Amayumi, that was an okay American series, you know? And it it gets a proper album based on the cartoon show. But I can't think fast enough of what else there's been. i don't know if it'll ever really come back again, you know?
00:46:25
Speaker
Maybe it will. Yeah, that would be cool. Yeah. Well, fantastic. I knew this was going to be a fun one. And I know there's so much more to talk about, but it's, uh, it's, it was a really cool part of our, our growing up was, you know, bands on cartoons and and the music that came with it.
00:46:45
Speaker
And if I can also just say, I feel so bad for the kids who grew up after that, because all they had was animal shows, you know, like shirt tails and.
00:46:56
Speaker
No, they had the raisins. Yeah. gummy bears and snorks and like there's something cool about that you know what i mean like I'm such a product of all that stuff you know what I mean that I would be so sad to have grown up with just you know, forgettable animals bumping into each other on Saturday morning. It's true.
00:47:20
Speaker
It's true. We were really lucky. Like we really did have the golden age of Saturday morning. Totally, totally, totally, totally. Plus all the superheroes. But anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a whole other one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't worry. I'll shut up.
00:47:32
Speaker
ah Awesome. Well, thank you so much listeners. ah We're really excited to have you with us. Please subscribe if you haven't shared. You know what? On my social media, there's some great links. You can, you can reach out, you can ask questions, you can correct some of our facts. If we got something wrong, um you could, you know, ask questions anyways. um Great to have you so excited. We will get back on track and get some more episodes out there for you, but until then have a Yabba Zonkers link Saturday and we'll see you next time.
00:48:04
Speaker
You've been listening to Yabba Zonker Zoinks, a Gen X for Life podcast. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any exciting episodes. You can reach out on Instagram at Gen X for Life podcast. That's Gen X number four life underscore podcast or send an email at Gen X for Life podcast, all one word, at gmail.com.
00:48:25
Speaker
I'd love to hear about your favorite Gen X Saturday morning memory, maybe a favorite toy or the cereal you just couldn't wait to tear into. Until then, have a Yabba Zonker Zoinks day, and I'll be back bright and early next Saturday morning.