You Don't Have To Visit This Blog

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Well, enjoy my first post (and keep in mind, these are from various sources, so purists may not always like some of the sound quality):

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 1:

Track List:

01 - Yvonne De Carlo - Everyone Is Welcome - [THE MUNSTERS (1964-1966)]
02 - Jackie Gleason - And Away We Go! - [THE JACKIE GLEASON SHOW (1952-1959)]
03 - Art Carney - Song Of The Sewer - [THE HONEYMOONERS (1955-1956)]
04 - Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, & Max Baer, Jr. - Beverly Hills - [THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (1962-1971)]
05 - Leonard Nimoy - Highly Illogical - [STAR TREK (1966-1969)]
06 - Brent Spiner - It's a Sin (To Tell A Lie) - [STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987-1994)]
07 - James Darren & Avery Brooks - The Best Is Yet To Come - [STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE (1993-1999)]
08 - Lola Albright - Straight To Baby - [PETER GUNN (1958-1961)]
09 - Edd 'Kookie' Byrnes & Connie Stevens - Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) - [77 SUNSET STRIP (1958-1964)]
10 - Shelley Fabares & Paul Petersen - What Did They Do Before Rock n' Roll? - [THE DONNA REED SHOW (1958-1966)]
11 - Bart (Nancy Cartwright) & Buster Poindexter - School Day - [THE SIMPSONS (1989-Present)]
12 - Michael McKean & David L. Lander - Vamp On / Night After Night - [LAVERNE & SHIRLEY (1976-1983)]
13 - Cindy Williams & Penny Marshall - Sixteen Reasons - [LAVERNE & SHIRLEY (1976-1983)]
14 - Patrick Macnee & Honor Blackman - Let's Keep It Friendly - [THE AVENGERS (1961-1969)]
15 - Homer (Dan Castellaneta) & Marge (Julie Kavner) - I Love To See You Smile - [THE SIMPSONS (1989-Present)]
16 - Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton - Anything You Can Do - [ALL IN THE FAMILY (1971-1979)]
17 - Tony Randall & Jack Klugman - You're So Vain - [THE ODD COUPLE (1970-1975)]
18 - Telly Savalas - Who Loves Ya Baby - [KOJAK (1973-1978)]
19 - Nancy Kulp & Raymond Bailey - Love of Money - [THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (1962-1971)]
20 - Sorrell Booke - Laughing All The Way To The Bank - [THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (1979-1985)]
21 - John Schneider - In The Driver's Seat - [THE DUKES OF HAZZARD (1979-1985)]
22 - Lorne Greene, Michael Landon, Pernell Roberts, & Dan Blocker - Skip To My Lou - [BONANZA (1959-1973)]
23 - Ted Cassidy - Lurch - [THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1964-1966)]
24 - Hoagy Carmichael & Cast - Yabba-Dabba-Doo! - [THE FLINTSTONES (1960-1966)]
25 - Judy Carne - Sock It To Me - [ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN (1968-1973)]
26 - Marge (Julie Kavner) - Springfield Soul Stew - [THE SIMPSONS (1989-Present)]
27 - Bob Crane & John Banner - Hogan's Heroes - [HOGAN'S HEROES (1965-1971)]
28 - Sally Field - I'm So Glad I Can Fly - [THE FLYING NUN (1967-1970)]
29 - Tony Randall & Jack Klugman - Johnny One Note - [THE ODD COUPLE (1970-1975)]

Total Time: 1:14:19
around 106 MB

You will need both parts before you can extract the files:

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 1 - Part 1

TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 1 - Part 2

Or if you don't like rapidshare (and if you're like me, you use the free option, but you don't like waiting for 80 minutes for the next dl), you can download it from megaupload in one big piece:
TV Characters Sing Just For You, Vol. 1

pw = you_dont_have_to_visit

Update: You can replace the Odd Couple tracks on this compilation with better ones I got from MisterLesterKeen's blog. They are Tracks #17 & #29. MisterLesterKeen has put up the whole Odd Couple Sings! album, so please go over to his blog and download it for some more listening fun!

pw = youdont

TV Chars Sing Just For You, Vol. 1 - Replacement Tracks 17,29 (rapidshare)
TV Chars Sing Just For You, Vol. 1 - Replacement Tracks 17,29 (megaupload)

around 12 MB

If anybody has any trouble with the files or if people have a preference to say, zip files over rar, for instance, let me know.

check the tags for the appropriate attributions (album names, site origins, etc.)

The criteria for this compilation were actors who sang or performed (sometimes it's hard to call what they were doing 'singing') as their characters.

I was stretching the criteria a bit for some of them, like Brent Spiner or Shelley Fabares & Paul Petersen, for instance, since they weren't really singing AS their characters, but were performing reminiscent of their TV characters. But when you sing about not telling a lie, you have a spoken passage by Patrick Stewart, and your whole chorus is made up of the male members of the TV show, I think it's safe to say you're trying to evoke a sense of your Star Trek character.

It probably helps to have seen all the shows to fully enjoy the songs, but I think it's still a fun compilation. Now that I think about it, I think I've seen almost all the episodes to most of the shows here (although I haven't watched that much of The Donna Reed Show, 77 Sunset Strip, or Peter Gunn). I don't know how enjoyable it would be if you haven't seen the shows (especially if you're from another country), but I'd be interested to know what people think.

Come to think of it, since I don't have a premium account at any of these places, I have no real way of telling how many people are downloading these files, so I would appreciate people leaving comments, even if it's only to say hi, so I can get some idea of how many people get the files or whether it's worth putting up any more of the same type of material. Thanks in advance!

Notes on the compilation:

#02, #05, #18, #23-#25, etc.: Songs incorporating the show's or characters' catch phrases.
#01: 'Everyone is welcome' seemed to be a good sentiment for the first track of my first post.
#02 & #03: You can't get songs from characters who are more down-to-earth than these guys.
#04 & #05: Two songs about the absurdity of life seen from a different perspective.
#09-#17: Some duets & dual performances on the themes of such things as rock 'n roll, compatibility, and combustibility.
#17: I love the banter here and the way it deconstructs the song, but it may take several listenings to get over Jack Klugman's vocal qualities.
#18-#20: Some 'love' songs (or possibly 'self-love' songs).
#18: 'Who Loves Ya Baby' - I know it's cheesy, but I can't help but like it as an actual song.
#22 & #23: If you were wondering why I put Bonanza next to The Addams Family, it's not just because their shows are about wealthy, close-knit (& somewhat blended) families who all live together, but after hearing the low note by Lorne Greene at the end of the song, I just had to put 'Lurch' right after it.
#24: 'Yabba-Dabba-Doo!' - A bit of a cheat, at least in terms of the other songs, since this volume was really meant to be confined to novelty or celebrity recordings made APART from the show. This one was actually FROM the show, but I always liked it and it fit with the other surrounding 'catchphrase' songs. Actually, originally, I had more of those catchphrase songs all in a row, but they got squeezed out onto Volume 2 as I put other ones in here.
#25: Is it just me or do you also find Judy Carne really sexy in this song? Maybe American men are just suckers for British accents, but it's also the sauciness of the performance.
#25-#27: Three instrumentals with commentary.
#27 & #28: Two songs about freedom & escape.
#29: And with Jack Klugman's comment at the end of this song, how could I not make it the last song on the compilation?

And now that I think of it, just in case you haven't had the chance to see some of these shows or might have forgotten:

#1: as Lily Munster;
#2: not as any particular character that I can remember, but working the famous catchphrase he used to start the proceedings on his show into a song;
#3: as Ed Norton, sewer worker;
#4: as nouveau riche oilman, Jed Clampett, his mother-in-law, Granny (Daisy Moses), & his nephew, Jethro Bodine;
#5: as the Vulcan science officer on the starship Enterprise, Spock;
#6: reminiscent of the android science officer on the starship Enterprise, Data;
#7: James Darren sang a version of this song on the show in his role as holographic lounge singer, Vic Fontaine and is joined here by Avery Brooks (who played Captain Benjamin Sisko on the space station, Deep Space Nine);
#8: she played the character of Gunn's girlfriend, the nightclub singer, Edie Hart, here singing a vocal version of what is usually heard instrumentally as Henry Mancini's, 'Session At Pete's Pad';
#9: as parking lot attendant, Kookie (Gerald Kookson III) with Connie Stevens (who played Cricket Blake on the 'Hawaiian Eye' show - the two shows often did crossovers);
#10: reminiscent of their roles as sister & brother, Mary & Jeff Stone, but according to my ears, it's definitely not Carl Betz as the father on this recording!;
#11: as student, Bart Simpson with some help from former New York Doll, David Johansen (a.k.a. Buster Poindexter) doing a Chuck Berry tune;
#12: as Lenny (Lenny Kosnowski) & Squiggy (Andrew Squiggman) doing an original song;
#13: as bottlecappers, Shirley Feeney & Laverne De Fazio;
#14: reminiscent of their roles as spies, John Steed & Cathy Gale, commenting on their relationship (and its inherent sexual tension);
#15: as Homer & Marge Simpson singing the Randy Newman song;
#16: as Archie & Edith Bunker doing the competitive Irving Berlin song from the stage show, 'Annie Get Your Gun';
#17: as photographer, Felix Unger and sports writer, Oscar Madison singing the Carly Simon song;
#18: reminiscent of his role as police lieutenant, Theo Kojak, singing his famous catchphrase in his endeavor to 'serve and protect' the object of his affection;
#19: as greedy banker, Milburn Drysdale and his secretary, Jane Hathaway;
#20: as greedy tyrant of Hazzard County, Boss Hogg;
#21: as local miscreant of Hazzard County, Bo Duke;
#22: as rancher (and if you've ever seen the movie, 'Tin Men', kiss-of-death), Ben Cartwright, and his sons, Little Joe, Adam, & Hoss;
#23: as butler, Lurch, helping some teens learn a new dance;
#24: more-or-less as himself backed up with the cast singing a song about Fred's famous catchphrase;
#25: spoken with instrumental, using the catchphrase from the show;
#26: spoken with instrumental;
#27: spoken with instrumental TV theme, as World War II prisoner-of-war, Colonel Robert Hogan and his guard, Sergeant Hans Schultz;
#28: as novice, Sister Bertrille, singing about her love of flying (as a result of the stiff cornet on her nun's habit and the windiness of Puerto Rico);
#29: singing the great Rodgers & Hart song from the stage show, 'Babes in Arms'.

Some of the actors like Edd 'Kookie' Byrnes, Michael McKean & David Landers, & Sally Field, if I remember right, actually performed the songs (but not these versions, since these are the album versions) on their respective shows. And I'm not absolutely sure, but I have a vague memory of seeing clips of Jackie Gleason & Art Carney performing these songs on some incarnation of one of the Jackie Gleason shows.

And normally I wouldn't have put so many songs from the same show (The Simpsons) on the comp, but so many of the songs seemed to fit where I placed them, so I ultimately left them in.
And if you were wondering why the comp seems to skew towards older shows, it's because you hardly find actors from CSI or Law and Order, for instance, singing about fingerprinting, the morgue, or the travails of the justice system on novelty records anymore. Although, I'd love to hear, 'Sam Waterston, Sam Waterston, lend me your comb' or William Petersen doing a remake of 'Highly illogical'. Wouldn't that be fantastic? (but I'm not holding my breath).

The shows that seem to do it the most nowadays are animated shows. I put a few more of those in other volumes; Volume 2 is in a bit more of a state of flux than Volume 1; I may change a few things on that one before I ever put that one up. Though I think Volume 3 is pretty well set, so I may put that one up someday (if anybody actually turns out to be interested).

On these kinds of digital compilations, it always takes me a long time to finish them - I'm always changing them, moving around the order, taking out things I don't like, etc., so these things tend to be a work in process. If I get better versions of things, for instance, I may change it. Like the Odd Couple tracks.....I don't have the best sounding files for these, but rather than wait, I thought I'd put up the post anyway. Maybe if some kind soul out there has better copies, they can let me know. MisterLesterKeen at http://misterlesterkeen.blogspot.com/ on the late, lamented Lost And Found Albums site, said he might put up 'The Odd Couple Sings' album some day, but he put a note on his site about not having a lot of time or disk space to do anything right now (boy, can we all relate to that!), so I thought rather than wait, I'd put it up anyway. And for my own tastes, I don't mind the scratches on LP tracks (as long as they're not too bad), so for my own listening pleasure, I don't have a problem with its sound, but if anyone has better sounding versions, I'd be happy (and grateful) to put them up! Also, now that I think about, if anybody has any suggestions for other volumes, corrections or additions, or has any albums or songs they'd like to put up, please let me know. I don't have 'The Urkel Dance' for instance, so if anybody has that, I'd appreciate it. (And I never thought in a million years, I'd be asking someone for that, but you never know what life (& insanity) will bring.)

For years, on 2 of these tracks (the Michael McKean & David L. Lander one and the Carroll O'Connor & Jean Stapleton one), I had so-so sounding copies I taped off the radio a long time ago. The 'All in the Family' track was even missing the very beginning of the song! But I put in a request at the now defunct Lost And Found Albums site and another kind person (Andy The Count at http://andythecount.blogspot.com/) fulfilled the request for those albums and those are the versions you hear here (edited from the album tracks). Since the Lost And Found site was hacked, I never got the chance to properly thank those two gentlemen (I assume they're both male with Mister & Andy in their names), so I'd like to formally thank them here. I appreciated the time and effort it took to respond to those requests, and it was a shame that I never got to thank them on that site. That was another reason I wanted to start a blog, actually. It's easier to put stuff up here than to put individual comments on all the sites of people I wanted to thank for all the great music or the interesting information they've given me in the past.

That does seem to be a problem. By the time you download some music and listen to it, you feel funny about leaving a comment on an entry that's a couple of weeks (or months) old and you even wonder if the bloggers are going to read it. Judging by how quickly the comments seem to taper off on blog entries on people's sites, I'm guessing people don't make any comments after maybe about a week. I've always found this strange though. With archives, it's possible to comment on some blog entry a year later and still have the chance that someone (the blogger or some other reader) is going to read it, so why wouldn't people comment more? I suppose if they're like me, they probably feel a little like it's shouting into the wind. They probably don't want to leave a comment if they don't think anybody's going to read it. Or they barely have time to read the blog and get some music, let alone leave a comment.

That's what happens to me. I always keep meaning to leave more comments telling bloggers what a great job they're doing or how much I appreciate the music, but I hardly ever do. So, if any of those guys & gals out there whose blogs I've visted and enjoyed in the past are reading this, let me say once again a big THANK YOU for all the enjoyment you've given us all!!! (I doubt any of them will stop by here, but never let it be said that I didn't at least say it.:)) )
I hope to talk more specifically and at length about some of my favorite bloggers in the future (if you can't provide music, at least you can talk about people who do!).

Also, I encourage people to purchase any of the albums that are still in print of any of these tracks. It's great music. You won't be sorry. Though on this particular compilation, that isn't as much of an issue, but I hope if nothing else, this has piqued somebody's interest in seeking out more music (directed at the one or two of you who are actually reading this.....he says optimistically).

// posted by nomwl1 @ 2:33 PM