Monday Morning Smile: Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Sesame Street

I'm not posting this because I think you haven't seen this -- if you're a semi-regular reader of this site, this appeared probably a dozen times or more in your social media feeds last week.

No, I'm posting this clip of Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and a bunch of Sesame Street muppets singing the Sesame Street theme song on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon because I want to make sure I have easy reference to it. 

Oh, and because it's awesome. 

Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and cast of Sesame Street - "Theme from Sesame Street" [YouTube] 

Gustavo Dudamel and Elmo: Not Quite Stupendous. But Fun.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's wunderkind conductor Gustavo Dudamel ticked off the first of the two major pop icon checkmarks (the other would be being namechecked on The Simpsons) when he got an appearance with Sesame Street's Elmo to discuss the word "stupendous." "Stupendous" means "great and amazing," and while I'm not sure that it's quite that cool, the bit is fun. Little known fact: Ludwig van Beethoven originally scored the last movement of his Fifth Symphony for penguin choir, so Dudamel's just reverting to the composer's intentions here.

Monday Morning Smile: "Needing/Getting" - OK Go

If OK Go's songs were as consistently entertaining as their videos, they would be the world's biggest band. As it stands, they are merely the world's biggest conceptual artists. I mean, they created a video in which they play the music by driving through a race course and having implements attached to their car play instruments played along the course. And they got a corporate sponsor to pay for it. So, in case you haven't seen it yet... OK Go - "Needing/Getting" [YouTube] A bonus OK Go video after the jump...

Monday Morning Smile: The Ultimate "Sing" Post (feat. Laura Doherty)

My kids have been singing "Sing," the classic Joe Raposo song written for the first season of Sesame Street in 1970, for a few weeks now. It's because they've had Laura Doherty's fine album Shining Like a Star (CD Baby | iTunes) on rotation in the minivan. Which made me think that I should totally do a "Monday Morning Smile" on the song. Because while it's ostensibly (and originally) a "kids' song," it clearly has entered the American songbook as a song appropriate for all ages. ShiningLikeAStar.jpgAnd then it occurred to me, maybe I can get Laura's version in this post -- a version I really like and which I would've put into my "Top 25 Songs" list if I didn't think it wasn't a little unfair to put such a classic song in there. Luckily, she agreed to let me feature it here. So let's kick off this post with an exclusive, limited-time-only stream of "Sing" from Laura's Shining Like a Star album. [Ed.: I told you, limited-time-only.]

Review in Brief: You Can't Rock Sittin' Down - The Mighty Weaklings

YouCantRockSittinDown.jpgWith several albums for adults under their belts, you would be forgiven for thinking the New York band The Mighty Weaklings was just cashing in on the kids music trend with the recent release of their first kids album You Can't Rock Sittin' Down.That wouldn't be entirely fair, seeing as singer/bassplayer Matt Vogel's been a Sesame Street puppeteer for a dozen years and they've already had a video on Jack's Big Music Show. This album will seriously appeal to families with a powerpop weakness."The Monster Under My Bed" tells about a kid who's best friend is a monster, and rocks in doing so.The album's best song, "The Grumpy Song," features a banjo-inflected bluegrass tune, vocals Sesame Street/Muppet Show/Fraggle Rock puppeteer Jerry Nelson, and a chorus of kids (and adults) shouting "I'm Grumpy" in such a way that is guaranteed to put a dorky grin on the listener's face. The album as whole has a very strong Muppet Show vibe -- interspersed among the 9 songs are 5 skits.At times I thought the skits were pitched squarely at me the thirty-something parent and wouldn't entertain the younger listeners at all.The knowing humor didn't really match the earnestness of the rest of the songs like "It's Sunny When You Share" (get it?), the imaginzative "Rocket Ship" (from Jack's, and the try-try-again theme of "Fallin' Down."You could easily find the materials for an episode or three of The Mighty Weaklings Show inside the album -- it's not hard to picture a TV show, even without puppets. The 33-minute album's pitched mostly at kids ages 4 through 8.You can hear samples here or listen via the player embedded past the jump.Despite some awkwardness from the skits themselves, the songs here are solid kid-friendly power-pop.Your kids will find that You Can't Rock Sittin' Down ranks high on the "rock" scale and low on the "sittin' down" scale.Recommended.