You may or may not remember that last year was devoted to the 7" 45 RPM records here at the blog (Starts
here, ends
here). I shared out hundreds of those little records, 45 at a time, for 45 days in a row (with five more batches of 45 at the end of bonus stuff that I'd recorded throughout the month). It was a grand celebration of the art of the Christmas single and I pretty much exhausted my stash of those records. But as fate would have it, I was gifted a 45 during the course of the last year that I absolutely have to share with you. It's from Japan, was never released in the US and it features one of the stars of Sesame Street! You might remember Bob as one of the human stars of Sesame street from the premiere of the show through 2016. Millions upon millions of children grew up with him as one of the characters that helped kids learn life lessons alongside a giant bird, a trash can denizen, a Count who loved to count, a green frog reporter and two roommates who later had a blog named for them. As the saying goes, Bob was big in Japan where he released a few albums and singles, but his career never caught fire here in the US. I think he got his start singing with Mitch Miller in the States, but his recording career didn't catch fire until his records got released overseas. The Japanese fans loved him. This Christmas EP came out there in 1966 and never had a US counterpart as far as I know. I've lusted after it for a few years and earlier this year I got an email from a Christmas music buddy asking for my address. He wouldn't tell me why, and a week or so later this record appeared in my mailbox. I'm eternally grateful to the Christmas music community that exists online, I'm frequently the recipient of cool stuff like this, but I have to say that the is one of the most unexpected things I've ever gotten! So many thanks for this record, and I'm sure everyone who downloads and enjoys it will leave a nice thank you as well. This is
Bob McGrath-
Christmas With Bob McGrath (CBS (Japan) 7" 33 RPM YSS-10002-JC, Stereo,1966), the only 7" record I have to share with you this year. I guess technically this record wouldn't have been part of my single celebration last year since it spins at 33 RPM, but that's a minor technicality. I
shared out several sets of
7" records that spun at 33 RPM last year as well, but that was a pretty small pile of records compared to the 45s.
1. White Christmas
2. Silent Night, Holy Night
3. Jingle Bells
4. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
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Wow - this is delightful! The Japanese children's choir is the cherry on top.
ReplyDeleteIt's good isn't it? I was really excited to get my grubby paws on this one finally. :)
DeleteFascinating item! I do remember Bob McGrath from when my kids were little.
ReplyDeleteHe had a decent career before Sesame Street was even a dream for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
DeleteHi Ernie,
ReplyDeleteWell he has a very nice voice, sounds like a stage trained voice. I am too lazy to google him to find out.
As to Sesame Street, I have never seen it. It was to juvenile for my tastes. I could read, as in read, and write, not print, before I entered first grade. My mother made sure her children could do this. Being raised a Catholic the way my mother was, her children were going to be raised like she was. The exception was myself. I rebelled just after beginning the 7th grade in Catholic school. So, I went to public schools and flourish.
I must say, people have over the years, have brought up this TV series to me. I only know of Big Bird. I really could not tell you about any other character, human or puppet.
Long as you enjoy his singing, that's what matters.
DeleteThanks for this one. I grew up watching Bob on Sesame Street - at the time I didn't even know he had a last name, he was just "Bob."
ReplyDeleteI, too, didn't learn about his singing career until much later. I wasn't much of a Sesame Street watcher, but I enjoyed The Muppets and knew about their career on The Street.
DeleteAlso, he looks very Sedaka-esque on that cover.
ReplyDeleteYes he does. :)
DeleteThanks Ernie- My wife and kids love the 'Christmas Eve on Sesame Street' Christmas special, and watch it every Christmas Eve. Bob carrues many scenes with his 'Keep Christmas With You' and 'True Blue Miracle' songs. Glad to see he recorded more Christmas selections. Thank you for sharing this rare gem!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure. He was a multi-talented guy for sure.
DeleteNever even knew this existed. Nice. Sesame Street was a babysitter for a lot of us, I'd guess. Taught me and my Sisters a ton of things and made it fun.
ReplyDeleteCool, eh? Who knew he was big in Japan? :)
DeleteUpon first glance at the cover photo, I thought it was Neil Sedaka! What a fun, unexpected bonus this year. Much thanks to your 'benefactor' as well.
ReplyDeleteSedaka wouldn't be as cool. :)
Deleteabsolut great. nice to discover. Fantastic christmas sound and directly in my playlist
ReplyDeleteMany thanks from Germany
Enjoy!!
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