[.ca] Muppet Show: 25th Anniversary

From Amazon.com:
Those who spent (or are spending) their formative years watching Kermit and Miss Piggy dance their special interspecies dance will revel in this spectacular, positively historic new Muppets CD, released just in time for the 25th anniversary of Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. A 20-page insert booklet, complete with color photos, details the fascinating history of Muppet music. Remember when Sesame Street's rendition of Jeff Moss's "Rubber Duckie" hit the kiddie pop charts? This 27-song CD harvests favorite and lesser-known recordings from feature films and from the original The Muppet Show, stringing songs ranging from Piero Umiliani's "Mahna Mahna" to Tony Burrello's "There's a New Sound" (the sound that's made by worms) together with skits and grand pronouncements and goofy sound effects like an old-time vaudeville show. A stunning variety of musical styles are showcased in this witty, wonderful collection that reminds us that a world without Fozzie Bear and Gonzo and Kermit and Miss Piggy would be less fuzzy indeed. --Karin Snelson

Get away from it all... WITH THE MUPPETS!:
I can come home from after a bad day at work, and pop this CD in while I'm cooking dinner. All of a sudden I'm whisked away to the muppet stage, or movie theater! Stesses magically are gone. You can't help but smile and hum along, even dance a bit, especially to favorites like, Mahna Mahna and Happy Feet. For all muppet fans, this CD is a MUST. I found it hard to find a CD with my favorite song of all time, but this CD has it-- THE RAINBOW CONNECTION. Muppet Fans rejoice, finally there is a collection that is just perfect.

Sure to please the kids and the kids-at-heart:
This wonderful CD has 27 tracks, all containing great memories from the Muppet Show, and the subsequent movies. Fourteen of the tracks are from the show, four from The Muppet Movie (Rainbow Connects, Movin' Right Along and Can You Picture That? - three of my all-time favorites!), three from The Great Muppet Caper, three from The Muppets Take Manhattan, one from The Muppet Christmas Carol, one from Muppet Treasure Island, and one from Muppets From Space. As you can see, this CD has a lot of great songs, and a lot of great Muppet memories. The paperwork has a bunch of great color pictures, plus the story of Muppet music. This is a great CD, one sure to please the kids and the kids-at-heart (like me)! Buy it!

The Muppets Rule!:
This collection brings back many memories of watching the Muppet show when I was a kid with my father. The best part of the Muppets is they are still just as funny now, looking back, as they were then. They didn't dumb themselves down a la Barney to entertain kids. Parents could also be entertained. When Jim Henson tragically died on my birthday in 1990, the world lost a genius. The Muppets now a days aren't as funny as they used to be, and Jim Henson's loss is the reason for this. I put this on in my car as soon as I got it.. I think I got some odd looks from other drivers for singing "Mahna, Mahna!" but it's worth it. Pick this up, and have fun!

It could have been so much better.:
I grew up watching Sesame Street and the Muppet Show. (That may sound like a paradoxical statement to some.) I loved the first few Muppet motion pictures as a kid and now as an adult. I know there are thousands, perhaps millions, just like me. For myself and for them I make the following statement concerning this CD: We deserved much better. I know there are some good songs on here. Among them, "It's Not Easy Bein' Green," "Wishing Song," "He'll Make Me Happy," "Can You Picture That," and "Happiness Hotel" along with a few others. Those great classics speak for themselves, so I don't feel the need to elaborate on how good they are. But Scooter's song, "There's a New Sound" is the most redundant song I've ever heard. If I were hearing that song as a 6-year-old child, I still wouldn't like it. There's no variation and no creativity in it. Creativity has always been a Muppet trademark. Also, I couldn't believe that they did not include the classic song "Saying Goodbye." I remember this heartfelt song being played on Entertainment Tonight as a tribute the day Jim Henson died. Also missing from THE MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN soundtrack was the catchy tune on their Broadway show, "Somebody's Getting Married." The remixing of Gonzo's wonderful song, "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday," was the salt on an open wound. I listened to that and thought, "Of all the songs, why in the world did they have to alter that one?" Would I recommend this CD (to another Muppet fan)? The answer is yes but only because there are currently no alternatives out there. Perhaps what would be most pleasing to all the Muppet fans is if the actual motion picture soundtracks were remastered and released. That way, everyone could have the original recordings of their favorite songs as they remembered them. This rating system won't allow me to give it 2.5 stars, so I'll cut the CD some slack and round it up to 3 stars.

A wonderful trip down memory lane:
I adore the Muppets. I grew up on "The Muppet Show" in the mid to late '70s (as well as the '80s). I still love The Muppets in whatever their latest incarnation is. I was fortunate enough to find a used copy of "The Muppet Show: Music Mayhem & More" in the used cd bins at my favorite record store. The cd has all my favorite songs from "The Muppet Show" as well as from the movies that Jim Henson and co. made through out the past two decades. There were quite a few songs that I almost completely forgot about such as "Wishing Song" sung by the Great Gonzo, a plaintive ballad and "There's a New Sound" featuring nerdy muppet Scooter. Of course it wouldn't be a Muppet compilation without the immortal classic "Bein' Green" and "Rainbow Connection" (from "The Muppet Movie"). Those two songs are timeless without a doubt. They still hold up well twenty years later. As far as monologues goes, my particular favorite is the monolgue between Fozzie Bear and Kermit the frog. That just cracked me up. I also loved the occasional wisecrack from the two guys in the balcony who always puts down the show. I also love the songs from The Muppet movies especially from "The Great Muppet Caper". I love "The First Time It Happens" and "Together Again". All the songs and the occasional monologue on the cd is excellent. Listening to it brings back memories of when I watched "The Muppet Show" on Saturday nights as a child.

• The Muppet Show Theme - featuring The Muppets
• Mahna Mahna/Lullaby Of Birdland - featuring Mahna Mahna & The Two Snowths
• There's A New Sound - featuring Scooter
• The Amazing Marvin Suggs And His Muppaphone Play "Lady Of Spain" - featuring Marvin Suggs & His Muppaphone
• Trees - featuring Wayne & Wanda
• A Monologue By Fozzie Bear - featuring Fozzie Bear & Kermit The Frog
• Bein' Green - featuring Kermit The Frog
• Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear - featuring Scooter & Fozzie Bear
• Tenderly - featuring Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
• Wishing Song - featuring The Great Gonzo
• What Now My Love? - featuring Miss Piggy
• Happy Feet - featuring Kermit The Frog & Frog Chorus
• We Got Us - featuring The Muppets
• Closing Theme (instrumental)
• Rainbow Connection - featuring Kermit The Frog
• Movin' Right Along - featuring Kermit The Frog & Fozzie Bear
• Can You Picture That? - featuring Dr. Teeth & The Electric Mayhem
• Finale: The Magic Store - featuring The Muppets
• Hey A Movie! - featuring Kermit The Frog, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo & Muppets
• Happiness Hotel - featuring The Muppets
• The First Time It Happens - featuring Kermit The Frog & Miss Piggy
• Together Again - featuring Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear & Muppets
• I'm Gonna Always Love You - featuring Miss Piggy, Kermit The Frog, Fozzie Bear, Rowlf, Scooter & The Great Gonzo
• He'll Make Me Happy - featuring Miss Piggy & Kermit The Frog
• One More Sleep 'Til Christmas - featuring Kermit The Frog
• Love Led Us Here (Muppets version) - featuring Kermit The Frog & Miss Piggy
• I'm Going To Go Back There Someday (Muppets From Space version) - featuring The Great Gonzo