Share Your Nostalgia – Round 3 Wrap Up

Over the past week, I have featured some of my blogging friends in a round of Share Your Nostalgia. I always feel happy when someone tells me “Yes! I’d love to participate and write something for you.” I feel even better when those who respond are those who will write a piece that you find interesting and entertaining. This week, was no exception.

This round tapped into the childhood of my guest bloggers. I asked them to write about their favorite cartoon or cartoon character growing up. Each of them wrote a piece different from the other. Each relayed an experience that was unique to them, yet shared with you and me. I extend to each of them my sincere gratitude for taking time to participate. Thank you!

I love features like this because the contributions will sometimes be familiar and sometimes be an introduction to something new. That has been the case with each Share Your Nostalgia round. Randy, Max, Dana, Dave and Paul all wrote of familiar toons (Gumby, Underdog, Musical cartoons, Huckleberry Hound, and Top Cat). Christian introduced us to a long running German cartoon (The Show Starring the Mouse). Now, it is my turn to wrap up the topic.

Saturday mornings were such a great time for my brother and me. My mom often slept in on Saturdays (because she was watching old Kung Fu movies the night before). My dad would usually be at work. So when we got up, we’d run out to the living room and turn on the TV. Cartoons were usually on until noon and on all three of the network stations. Chris and I would be up around 8am and be in front of the TV until the toons were over.

The one that was a staple was The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Show.

This show seemed to be on all morning. It was constant Looney Tunes! We watched this a lot. We discovered other shows when we’d switch channels because Pepe LePew, Road Runner or some other character we weren’t really into came on. When we discovered that, we were really perplexed as to what to watch. Neither of us knew how to read the TV Guide, so we often stumbled on shows by accident.

I believe that is how we discovered the crazy Laff-a-lympics show, which featured many Hanna Barbera characters.

If the Super Friends was on, we’d certainly stop to watch that. Both of us were fans of the superheroes. The show paired Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman with The Wonder Twins in some seasons and Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog in others.

I seem to also remember watching all things Scooby-Doo. We’d catch the classics (Scooby-Doo Where Are You?) and The New Scooby-Doo Movies. The “movies” featured famous folks that the gang would meet (The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Batman and Robin, Don Knotts, Jonathan Winters, Sonny and Cher, Jerry Reed and even the Addams Family) and the real star (in most cases) provided their own voice.

So many cartoons! Saturday mornings were heaven for us kids!

Dave said in his piece that he tended to like the Hanna Barbera cartoons more than the others. I don’t think I’d be wrong to say that they “owned” Saturday mornings. As a matter of fact, my choice also comes from Hanna Barbera – Hong Kong Phooey.

1974. Confetti and banners appear high above a parade. We see the back of our hero riding in a convertible. Then the narrator says: “Who is this superhero? Sarge? No. Rosemary, the telephone operator? No. Penry, the mild-mannered janitor? Could be!”

Hong Kong Phooey aired from September to December. There were only 31 episodes. To me, it seemed like there were so many more. The show aired September through December of ’74 and was rerun through 1976. There were so many things that I loved about this show.

Fun Fact: Originally the show was meant to be a vehicle for Huckleberry Hound, playing Hong Kong Phooey, until it was decided to make it more original.

Our hero is kind of clumsy. Many times it is his sidekick, Spot, who is there to help him catch the villain. He sort of reminds me of the Inspector in the Pink Panther movies. He’s a bumbling, clownish character. Spot would sometimes prove to be the brains of the two, helping Hong Kong Phooey out of certain jams. The humor of the incompetence of Hong Kong Phooey is a recurring theme of each episode.

Greg Ehrbar, host of The Funtastic World of Hanna and Barbera Podcast and author of Hanna-Barbera: The Recorded History said, “Joe Barbera and the team auditioned everyone possible for the perfect Penry/Hong Kong Phooey voice. Scatman Crothers really impressed them with his talent in 1966 with his performance as the Cheshire Cat in the album version of the classic Alice In Wonderland. He voiced Meadowlark in the CBS Harlem Globetrotters series in 1971 and became the definitive Hong Kong Phooey in 1974, making him the first African American to play the lead in an animated TV series.”

I cannot imagine Hong Kong Phooey without Scatman’s voice. It was a perfect fit.

Sergeant Flint finds himself annoyed by our hero and feels that he is a hinderance to the police. The character is voice by Joe E. Ross, who many remember from Car 54, Where Are You? He even uses his “Ooo Ooo” catchphrase for this character.

Rosemary, the telephone operator is voiced by Kathy Gori. She explained in an interview how she came up with the very unique voice: “My inspiration was “Rhoda”, played by Valerie Harper, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It was a combination of Rhoda and Rhoda’s mom, played by Nancy Walker. I used to watch Rhoda all the time and thought that’ll be funny.”

Rosemary is an important character because she always answers a call about a crime and tells Sergeant Flint about it. Penry, the janitor (and HKP’s secret identity) over hears her. Then he’s off to change and fight crime. To do so he goes behind the vending machine, jumps into a filing cabinet (always getting stuck, and is freed by Spot) and once disguised, jumps on an ironing board that flattens him against the wall only to drop onto a couch that he uses to bounce into a dumpster that houses the “Phooeymobile.” The vehicle can change into other forms of transportation simply by hitting a gong!

When perplexed with a problem, he never worries about it. He simply turns his copy of The Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu, a correspondence-course martial-arts instruction handbook!

The idea of having a clumsy and incompetent character be a hero was not something new. It was the precursor to many other characters including Inspector Gadget. The premise works and fans enjoy it. Hong Kong Phooey was feared by criminals and admired by citizens, despite his clumsiness and flaws.

Over 50 years later, Hong Kong Phooey remains popular. Kathy Gori (Rosemary), says she still receives fan mail in connection with the cartoon! One guy took his love for the cartoon a bit far. In 2002, a plumber in England changed his name legally to Hong Kong Phooey out of admiration for the character. He did this without telling his wife, who only found out when utility bills addressed to Hong Kong Phooey started arriving at their house. She was not pleased.

In 2006, I saw that the entire series had been released on DVD. Naturally, I rushed out to buy it. The DVD set includes commentary on select episodes as well as a documentary of the show from its development through its legacy. The set also includes production designs, never-before-seen original artwork, and new interviews. It was worth every dime!

Finally, I couldn’t write about the “number one super guy” without playing his theme song!

Again, I thank all of the bloggers who participated this time around. Perhaps I’ll come up with another topic in the future. If you have a suggestion, please let me know. Thanks for reading!

Rocking At The Schoolhouse

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I thought about ways to tie this post into Movie Music Monday, but I really couldn’t find a way to do it. That being said, the feature will return next week. I decided to revisit one of the first topics I blogged about, as there are many new followers since 2018.

As a kid, we lived for Saturday mornings! We never slept in because we knew that all morning long we had our choice of back to back cartoons! There was Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Hong Kong Phooey, Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, The Laff-O-Lympics, The Flilntstones, The Pink Panther and many more! It was great! We’d sit and watch these shows all morning long with a big ole bowl of cereal and laugh away!

Saturday mornings, while full of explosions, anvils, and slapstick silliness, was also educational at times. I know this for a fact because one of the things that helped me in school was School House Rock. These little three minute musical features helped me learn multiplication, history, and English. I cannot tell you how many times I found myself singing those songs in school!

Schoolhouse Rock made its debut on this day in 1973. It remained a Saturday morning staple through 1985. The story of how it came about is much like that of today’s Internet sensation Miss Rachel. A caring parent wanted to help their child.

The series was the idea of David McCall, an advertising executive of McCaffrey and McCall, who noticed his young son was struggling with learning multiplication tables. He noted that his son had no issues remembering lyrics to Rolling Stones songs and thought music might help. He hired musician Bob Dorough to write a song that would teach multiplication. The song would became “Three Is a Magic Number.”

Tom Yohe, an illustrator at McCaffrey and McCall, heard the song and created visuals to accompany it. That led to Radford Stone, producer and writer at the ABC network. He suggested they pitch it as a television series, which caught the attention of Michael Eisner, then the senior vice president in charge of programming and development at ABC, and cartoon director Chuck Jones.

The first season was Multiplication Rock. Learning the times table is one of those things that ALL kids absolutely hate! God, I hated those 60 second tests where you had to write the answers to as many problems as you could. The stress of that was awful for an elementary student. School House Rock helped!

“Three is a Magic Number” was the first to air. If it truly is a magic number, what better way to illustrate it than with a magician?

Counting by twos was illustrated by Noah and the ark. The biblical account talks of Noah bringing all the animals on the ark in pairs. So throughout this number, Noah answers his son’s question of how many animals were on the ark by counting the animals two by two as the exit the boat.

What child didn’t do a bit of daydreaming in school? To remember how to multiply 8, all we had to do is think about the little school girl who daydreamed she was a figure skater. She skates her figure 8 and the song told us how.

The most memorable one for me was counting by fives. I remember when I had to help my son learn his times tables, I sang the “ready or not, here I come” song which helped you count by 5. This little song centered around a game of hide and seek, and they had to count to 100 by fives while the rest of the kids hid. To this day, when I have to count by fives – I think of this song!

The next season was called Grammar Rock. It focused on the parts of speech. Before they taught me about nouns and verbs in school, I was ahead of the game because i’d already heard of them on Schoolhouse Rock.

English was one of my best subjects. I remember being in 5th or 6th grade and going to something called the Academic Olympics. Schools within the district had these little game show like contests with teams for Math, Science, English, and History. I was chosen to be on the English team. I certainly never had an issue with the parts of speech because of Schoolhouse Rock.

Yep! Thanks to SHR, the little girl and her dog – we knew a noun was “a person, place or thing”!

What’s happening? Verb! That’s what’s happening! The coolest “action” hero? Well, I don’t know about that, but a verb shows action….and I always remember him!

Why do I remember this? Because the music was cool. The character was cool. We didn’t even know they were trying to teach us something!!! We were learning and it was cool!

And what about describing a noun? Well all you had to do was unpack some adjectives…but watch out for the scary, hairy bear!

Adjectives and adverbs were so hard for some kids to get. I could not ever understand why. I got it pretty quickly … because of a little girl and her trip. You see, her friends ask her to describe her camping trip. She said that all she had to do was unpack some adjectives.

Schoolhouse Rock’s song about adverbs was memorable because it was just a fun little song that takes place in (where else?) an adverb store! Need an adverb – shop at Lolly’s! The brilliance of this song is it is like a commercial for the store…and they really sell it! If I really needed to go buy and adverb – I would shop at Lolly’s!! After all … they are family owned!

I still remember learning about interjections for the first time. I also learned about the punctuation that followed it. This song was full of characters – the kid with the flu who needed a shot, the gal getting asked out on a date, the fans at the football game, and others who were all full of interjections!

While all of these are memorable, probably the most memorable Grammar Rock song is about three small words and a small little train conductor. The bluesy swing song with the repetitive refrain and the amazing vocal talents of Jack Sheldon makes Conjunction Junction one of the all time BEST sing a longs. Jack is one of the most memorable voices from the series.

Ask any child of the 70’s to give you a conjunction and they will spout off “and”, “but”, and “or” immediately! That’s a sure bet!!

As America headed into the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, the series created a season called America Rock. This focused on aspects of the American government and important moments in American history. Some of the biggest events in US history were brought to life in 3 minutes of musical perfection!

Interest in American History is still abounding today. A few years ago, there was an AMC series called Turn! which was about the Revolutionary War and George Washington’s spies. Then there was an HBO series on John Adams and the role he played in the Independence of America. Let’s start around there …

No More Kings was a silly little song about the colonists coming to America and being taxed for everything. This leads to the Boston Tea Party and America wanting no part of King George (who can see what’s happening through his telescope).

What followed was the Revolutionary War. Which got it’s own song called The Shot Heard Round the World, which of course is then followed by the Declaration of Independence, which got it’s own little song … and Fireworks.

Thanks to Schoolhouse Rock, today I can still recite:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
That all men are created equal
And that they are endowed by their creator
With certain inalienable rights.
That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Then, of course, after we declared our independence, we had to have a Constitution. Memorizing the Preamble of the Constitution was no problem for me in school … I had it set to music!

There have been many Amendments to the Constitution, and the 19th was a biggie! It allowed women to vote! It is hard to imagine that they didn’t have that right until 1920!! The right was referred to as Women’s Suffrage. School House Rock Tackled this historic occasion with the song “Sufferin’ Until Suffrage”.

Women were American’s too. They wanted the right to vote. The video for this song is part cartoon and part black and white pictures of women throughout history. It’s a rocking number that gets the point across and you can here the “victory” in her voice in this “gospel”-ish song.

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage,
Not a woman here could vote, no matter what age,
Then the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule.

As I stated earlier, people are still interested in history. A couple years ago, there was a movie about the battle over AC/DC current between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse as electricity was gaining use throughout the country. I am currently reading a book about that battle. This point ties in with the next song.

Throughout history, we’ve seen many inventions that have made our world a better place. “Mother Necessity” was the character who is in this song and the “mother” of the inventors of these wonderful things. We hear of the Wright Brothers and their airplane, Thomas Edison and the light bulb, Eli Whitney and the cotton gin, Samuel Morse and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone and a few others.

“Mother Necessity where would we be indeed!”

Finally, the School House Rock showed me how the legislation process happens…with our friend, Bill. Bill is just that – a bill.

How does a bill become a law? I learned how with this song. Performed again by Jack Sheldon (Conjunction Junction) perfectly, you learn about the whole process and lengths a bill goes through to be a law. Naturally, we all feel great when he finally becomes a law at the end!

In 1985, Schoolhouse Rock left the air. It was a few years later that some new songs and new seasons came out. In 1993, two new songs were made for Grammar Rock. One was about prepositions.

Then, in 1995 an entire new series called Money Rock aired until 1996. In 2003, the creators began work on two more songs to include in the 30th anniversary collection. They were about the Electoral College and How the President is elected. Finally, in 2009, a direct to DVD collection called Schoolhouse Rock: Earth was released in response to climate change.

I hope you have enjoyed this look back at one of my fondest childhood memories. Thank you School House Rock for helping me and many other children learn so much about so many things! Now, to end with an interjection….

“Darn! That’s the end…”

Celebrating Some Supers

Today is National Superhero Day! I think every child grows up exposed to superheroes. I know as I look back on my childhood there were plenty of them.

My brother and I would wake up on Saturday mornings and watch The Superfriends!

Batman and Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman were always there. Sometimes the Wonder Twins were part of the team with their ridiculous monkey and sometimes, it was the even more annoying Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog.

My brother and I were introduced to Batman long before this. We always loved the 1966 TV show.

We were also familiar with Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter was one of my first childhood crushes!

I had other superhero cartoon characters I loved just as much –

My love of rhyme may have stemmed from episodes of Underdog!

Underdog had a pretty amazing theme song, which seemed to be common with cartoon superheroes. Case in point:

I loved watching your friendly neighborhood Spiderman – and singing along with the theme song. Another example:

The number one super guy – Hong Kong Phooey! Scatman Crothers provided the perfect personality and voice for this bumbling character.

Speaking of bumbling superheroes, many won’t remember these guys –

Strong Man, Tornado Man, Rope Man, Diaper Man, and Cuckoo Man were about as crazy as they came. It was always a treat to catch them on TV.

I used to love Blue Falcon, because the great Gary Owens provided his voice!

I guess I still love superheroes even as an adult. One particular family is a favorite

I won’t lie – I hope there is a third Incredibles movie!

Today, I salute these heroes and the many real life super heroes!

Who is your favorite superhero?

Color My World!

This is some sort of new trend I guess – Adult Coloring Books! They have been around for a bit, but recently at the store, I saw an entire rack of them – FOR ADULTS! Supposedly this is a big way to reduce stress.

I used to love to color as a kid. I had plenty of coloring books with Bugs Bunny, Hong Kong Phooey, and other cartoon characters of the time. I remember going to my grandmas house and there was an end table that had a door on it. When you opened the door there was a huge stack of coloring books and a big old bucket of crayons. We colored for hours.

If you were lucky as a kid, you didn’t just get the box of 24 colors – you got the big box of 64 colors with the built in crayon sharpener!

This was the only way a kid could get the gold or silver crayons!

It’s been some time since I sat down and colored with my boys. However, now that Ella is 18 months old, we got her the box of Jumbo crayons to color with.

In order to avoid any unwanted crayon on the walls, we gave her some paper and let her draw.

She has always seemed to do things with her left hand, so I have a feeling she will be a Southpaw (which will be good when she plays softball!). She began to draw with her left hand and when she got a second crayon, she began to draw with both. The more I watch her, the more I think she may be ambidextrous.

Watching her color was just a joy! I know she is going to be so creative. I was having as much fun watching her as she was having drawing.

The door of the refrigerator is a place of honor for kids. When your artwork is placed there, you know it is special. Ella produced many “fridgeworthy” drawings the other day. This is the first completed crayon drawing:

This, one, however, will NOT go on the fridge! It will go in a frame for us to treasure for many years to come. Is she Rembrandt? No. Is she Picasso? No. Is she Van Gogh? No. Is she da Vinci? No. But maybe one day she will listed among those famous artists because of her work. I will applaud all of her creativity and encourage her to continue doing whatever she loves to do!

If I am being completely honest, her artwork is more priceless and hold more value to be than any piece of art from the “masters”.

Super Tune Top Ten

It’s been awhile since I posted a musical blog, so in a way this is overdue. In a way, it is also sort of a twist on a combination of older blogs.

What Prompted This Blog?

While I wouldn’t consider my daughter a “TV Head,” PBS Kids or Disney Channel is usually on in the background while Sam and I play with her. Sam has the PBS Kids app on her phone and every once in a while, she will watch a show on there. She knows that every time she presses a new character, the new show will play.

There are three shows on the app that are Super Hero oriented: Hero Elementary, Super Why!, and Word Girl. As Ella presses the buttons, she usually listens to the theme songs and then moves to another show. For whatever it is worth, she must have played the theme song to Word Girl about 6 times in a row the other day. I’m not gonna lie, it’s a pretty cool theme song. I love the driving bass line and horns in it! Give it a listen:

Kudos to the gal singing that! Those are some pretty difficult lyrics to sing that fast.

Anyway, that song got me to thinking about how most super heroes have cool theme songs. So I thought I would present my Top 10 Super Hero Theme Songs. I’m sure yours may differ from mine. Feel free to comment with your favorites, your top 10, or ones you feel I missed….

10. The Greatest American Hero

Probably the wimpiest Super Hero ever, I agree! However, the song went all the way up to #2 on the charts for Joey Scarbury. It also was so popular that George Constanza created his answering machine message to the tune of it…

Fun Fact – William Katt is the son of actress Barbara Hale, who played Della Street on Perry Mason.

9. Batman Movie Theme (1989)

This ominous theme song by Danny Elfman set the tone for the Batman movie starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Obviously, this is MUCH darker and more serious than the 1966 incarnation.

The Elfman score got it’s entire album. Some of the music went on to be a part of Batman: The Animated Series, and can be heard in many video games, too.

8. The Super Friends

Ok, maybe this is cheating a bit. This show contains many super heroes who will appear on this list separately with there own theme. However, this was the show that introduced me to many of them. From 1973-1986, there were 7 different versions of the Super Friends. The great Ted Knight (of Caddyshack and Too Close For Comfort fame) did the narration until 1977, when Bill Woodson took over.

As a bonus – here are all 7 intros to the show….

I never understood why the first series had Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog. They were more annoying than anything. I was never really fond of Aquaman, either, but thought Norman Alden (who voiced him) was a great actor.

7. Underdog

I saw this in reruns/syndication. It originally ran from 1964 to 1967, and again in syndication until 1973. The theme song may have been one of the first songs I learned how to sing. I loved Underdog as a kid, but never realized he spoke in rhyme until much later.

George S. Irving (the voice of Heat Miser in the Year Without a Santa Claus) was the narrator and Wally Cox voiced Underdog. Fun Fact: TV Guide ranked Underdog as number 23 on its “50 Greatest Cartoon Characters of All Time” list

6. Superman

I remember seeing this in the theater. I was probably not in band yet, but I remember the trumpet fanfare opening of this song and it really caught my attention. I will forever think of this song when I think of Superman.

This is just one of MANY great movie themes written by the great John Williams (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc…)

5. Wonder Woman

Let me be clear – the TV show Wonder Woman. Lynda Carter was one of my first celebrity crushes. She was (and still is) one of the most beautiful women. The theme for the show is just “funky.” “In your satin tights, fighting for your rights, and the ole red white and blue….” The running bass line throughout the song and 70’s “gospel-ish” singers singing her name – what’s not to love?

Fun fact: Lyle Waggoner, who plays Steve Trevor, once did a screen test to play TV’s Batman!

4. The Incredibles

Yes, the entire family has a theme song – and it is awesome! The film score was composed by Michael Giacchino. The film’s director, Brad Bird, was looking for a specific sound as inspired by the film’s design — the future as seen from the 1960s. It truly is a musical masterpiece.

Full Credits Score is here – The horns in this are just amazing!!

3. Hong Kong Phooey

How can a theme song sung by the legendary Scatman Crothers not make the list? Ok, to be fair, I might be a little biased. This show only aired in 1974 (and in syndication until 1976), and it is technically only 40 seconds long, but it’s cool! It’s “groovy!” The “number one super guy” had to be on my list ….

Fun Fact: The band Subline covered this song in 1995.

2. Batman (1966)

In 1966, the campiness of Batman took the TV world by storm! Adam West was Batman, Burt Ward was Robin and the celebrity villains were larger than life. The theme song for Batman was created by Neal Hefti. The guitar riff is instantly recognizable. The song was a top 20 hit for him, despite the fact that the lyrics consisted of repeating “Batman” over and over and over….

Here is the “hit” version:

The TV version:

The Marketts also scored a top 20 hit with their version:

Fun Fact: Give the Beatles “Taxman” a listen and see if you can hear a Batman influence. George Harrison based the music for that song on the Batman theme. He was a big fan of the show.

and…..

#1 Spiderman

No surprise to anyone who knows me. This is one of the “baddest” and “coolest” theme songs. While I think there are other super heroes who are cooler than Spidey, he certainly has my favorite theme song! “Is he strong, listen bud, he’s got radioactive blood” – what a great line!!!

The original theme is cool, and then Michael Buble’ comes along and throws an amazing Big Band arrangement of it….. I absolutely love this! I wish I had the sheet music for this. Check out his cover:

Fun fact: The Ramones covered this, too, in 1995.

Ok, so what ones did I miss?

Father’s Day Reflections -2019

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As Father’s Day approached, I found a few minutes to reflect. In a world where you hear constantly about “deadbeat dads”, I am lucky enough to have a dad who played a HUGE part in my life in SO many ways. I have blogged about his musical influences on me (Which you can read here: https://nostalgicitalian.com/2018/03/30/my-biggest-musical-influence-dad/) and wrote a blog for him on his birthday (which you can read here: https://nostalgicitalian.com/2018/11/01/birthday-tribute-to-fred/). I was truly blessed with a great dad.

One of the hardest jobs in the world is being a parent, I’ll be the first to admit that. I will also say, though, that while it is a difficult job, it is also one of the most amazing things a man can do! As I look at my two sons, I consider myself blessed. Being a father is one of the most satisfying, frustrating, fulfilling, and life-affirming things I have ever done! I have been a dad for almost 18 years, and as I thought about my boys, I began to make a list of the things I love about being a dad. I thought I would share that list with you. Perhaps you can add to it or relate to mine.

Things I Love About Being a Dad

Your kids think you know it all.
- If I had a dollar for every time my kids have asked me a question about something…LOL. Many times, you know the answer, but sometimes, they ask you something that throws you for a loop! They truly believe you are the smartest person alive!
Playing catch.
- One of my favorite memories of my dad and I was playing catch in front of our house. I remember the first time he threw his “submarine” pitch to me and how much my hand stung when it hit the mitt! Throwing the ball around with my sons is something I will never get tired of doing!
Coaching – Sports.
- I was lucky enough to coach both of my sons in T-ball and baseball. I truly wish they had both continued to play ball, but as they grew older, they lost interest. I also helped the coaches out when my oldest son was on the bowling team in middle school. I loved watching them play soccer and taking them to the driving range to hit golf balls, too. I only got to really go fishing with them a couple times, but I hope that it happens more in the years ahead.
Throwing them around in the pool.
- We lived at one place that had a huge pool. One of the thing I never got tired of was picking the boys up and tossing them back into the water in the summer. I also loved letting them push me in the pool, thinking they had surprised me, when all along I was waiting for them to do it. My oldest is as big as me now, and he still wants me to throw him around! Pool fun is always great as a dad!
Your kids think you are the strongest person!
- I remember arm wrestling with my dad and being amazed at how strong he was. I remember “helping” my dad move things and struggling with my end of it because it was so heavy. Dad wasn’t phased at all, though. As kids, we are always amazed at how strong dad is!
Rocking and singing them to sleep.
- Whether it is at the beginning of the night or in the middle of the night, I never grew tired of rocking my kids to sleep. Holding them with their head on my shoulder and singing Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra songs is forever etched in my memory! The songs changed from son to son, but some remained the same. I used to sing “Bouna Sera,” “On An Evening in Roma,” “Watching the World Go By,” “Vieni Su,” “Cruising Down the River,” and other songs. I used to love when they would sing them to me, too!
You become aware of your bad habits.
- My dad used to smoke. He used to say, “Don’t ever let me catch you doing this!” He eventually quit cold turkey, whether or not it was because of my brother and I, I don’t know. I do know that you are extra cautious about doing things or saying things you don’t want your kids repeating. My dad always tells the story of driving while I was in the car seat behind him Someone cut him off and he yelled, “You stupid prick!” and I said, “What did those pricks do, daddy?!” “Sticks – there were sticks in the road!” was his response. HA!
Play time and using your imagination.
- I remember my dad coming into the bedroom and pretending to be a bear while my brother and I were under the covers. I remember him pretending to be a wrestler and bouncing us on the mattress. I remember pretending that way with my sons, too. I remember playing superheroes with towels tied around our necks for capes! So much fun!!!
Embarrassing them.
- This gets more fun as they get older. My dad did it to me. I do it with my kids. Just recently, we were walking down the street to go to the city fair. On the walk I started skipping and both kids were like, “Dad! Stop it!” This one car was playing some song with a really loud bass, so I started dancing. Again, “Stop it!” When the petting zoo came into view I screamed, “Oooo! Look at the baby goats” and started running toward them. They were so embarrassed! It’s what dads do!!
Introducing them to things from your childhood.
- For me, dad introduced me to a lot of music and such. For my sons, I shared movies and music, but thanks to technology, I was able to share with them the Atari 2600! They had some retro Atari that was loaded with 200 games or something one Christmas. My oldest loved it. He was always playing Maze Craze! We used to hit the thrift shops and I would love when there was some old toy from my childhood there! Of course, I passed down the Three Stooges to them! I also introduced them to the Classic Scooby Doo cartoons, Hong Kong Phooey, and the Muppets.
True and unconditional love.
- It’s a mutual thing. I have never felt such an unconditional love for someone or from someone, until I became a dad. Holding each of my boys for the first time, you melt! The love just gushes out from you. It is an amazing thing.
Hearing “I love you” from them.
- This kind of goes with the above item. As if you can’t love them any more, the minute they tell you “I love you” is just an amazing, emotional, and wonderful thing that you will never forget. I still have voicemails from both boys as toddlers on my phone. I need to find a way to get them into an MP3 or something. I never want to lose those!
Halloween
- There were a few years I worked nights and missed out on taking them out trick or treating. I was able to be at all of their Halloween parades at school. I loved being able to help pick out costumes with them. Pulling them around the neighborhood as babies was something very fun.
Gibberish talk.
- As parents, we all do this. Especially when they are babies. I wish I could remember all the things I said to my kids, I don’t. I know there were gibberish phrases that I used for each boy, though. I used to love saying them to make them smile.
Making them laugh.
- My kids were always my best audience. “Do it again, Daddy!” There is nothing like making your child laugh. Their laughter is like music! Even as they grow up, I still love listening to them laugh. They may not laugh at it everything like they used to, but that’s ok. It’s still fun to make them laugh.
Roughhousing.
- It’s a bit different now that they are older, and have the potential of kicking my butt! I love when they want to rough house! I remember my mom yelling at my dad, “Stop that rough housing!” Why?! It was fun for all of us!
Being silly.
- Adulting sucks. Sometimes, you just have to be silly! Being a dad allows you to be silly. Silly is good. Sometimes, you have to break away from the serious and embrace the silly!
Letting them win.
- Oh how many games of cribbage did my dad let me win?! With Uno, he wasn’t so nice. I think he used to love putting down that Draw 4 card – much like I do with my kids today! Sure, I have let them win occasionally, and there is some satisfaction in watching him and his brother brag about how they beat dad at the game. Every once in awhile, though, you gotta show them you can beat them at it too!
“Caving” at the store.
- I don’t do this as much now, but I used to. You know how it is – you go to the store and there is that “can we get this?” or “I need this!” All too often, I would cave and buy whatever it was. Now that they are older, they understand a bit more when you tell them you don’t have the money to buy that right now. they younger they are, the easier it is for dads to cave!
Getting beat at video games.
- I love spending time with my boys. They love their video games. They have this one called Super Smash Brothers. I really don’t understand it, but the gist is that you are a character (there are many) and you beat each other up until someone wins. They kept asking me to play, so I did. They wiped the floor with me. Both of them were laughing as they beat the snot out of my character. I was just pushing buttons trying to make it hit or whatever. All of a sudden, my character started to light up and did this crazy punch/kick thing! My youngest said, “Dad, you figured out how to use the special!” There was some special move – every character has one! They just neglected to tell me about it and let me lose! LOL! Smart boys!! I don’t care whether I win or not, I just enjoy the time with them.
Carrying them on my shoulders
- I remember as a kid, loving when my dad carried me on his shoulders. I used to hold on to his hair! My boys did the same thing! I would give anything to be able to carry my sons again on my shoulders. I used to love walking through the store with them up there. I loved taking walks in the park with them up there. I wish I had more pictures of them up there.
Snuggling/Hugs
- I have always been a hugger. I love hugging my kids. I miss the days of snuggling up next to them for a nap. I miss holding them while we watch TV. I remember many times trying to get up from the couch, trying not to wake them because they fell asleep. Those moments are so special for a dad. I love when they come up and hug me for no reason. It is still an amazing thing.
“Pull my finger”
- This is probably the one thing that is exclusive to dads. Not many moms do this! Farts, dads, and kids mean laughs. It’s probably such a huge annoyance for moms. Dads fart. Kids laugh at farts. I remember one time my friend and I were outside in the front yard playing with Matchbox cars. Dad came home from work and as he was walking in the house he made the “finger gun” with his hand and “shot” it as he farted. We still laugh about that! The fart will always be a funny thing that dads and kids both laugh at together.
Looking at your relationship with your kids and being able to connect it to memories you shared with your dad.
- Go back and read how many times I mention something I love about doing with my sons, and how many times I can connect them with something my dad and I shared!
The “bond” that is eternal.
- There will never be anything that can come between me and my kids. I love my sons with all that I am. They are my flesh and blood and will forever be my little boys.
The firsts and lasts
- Those firsts stay with you forever. The first steps. The first words. The first day of school. The first concert. Both of my sons are still in school, but if social media is an indicator, the last day of school is just as emotional as the first! Watching each of my sons get on the bus for the first time was very emotional for me. Big days – big emotions.
Artwork
- Back when I had an office at work, I used to have countless drawings that they did in school. I used to have a macaroni bee that my oldest son made. The noodles eventually broke on it. I still have some paintings they did and the coffee mug coasters that each boy made me for Father’s Day in kindergarten or first grade. Those little things hold special meaning for me.
Bedtime Stories
- It starts as you reading to them. I don’t know how many times I read “Goodnight Moon” or “I’m Thankful Each Day” to my sons, but I enjoyed it every time. I am sure there were other books, too. “Snowmen at Night” was a favorite, too. I used to love when they would read to me! I wish the video games weren’t so accessible, because I really wish they would find more time to read. I loved when they would tell me about a story of book they read in school.
The emotions that they make me feel.
- They make me proud. They make me happy. They make me cry (both happy and sad tears). They make me worry. They make me thankful. They make me feel a never ending love for each of them. I am not ashamed to admit how emotional I have gotten watching them in a play, a band concert, a baseball game, or during an awards ceremony. God help me, when they graduate, get married, and have children – I can barely hold it together now!!

I am sure if I had a few more minutes, I could add many more items to this list. Being a dad is the greatest thing I have ever had to do. My sons have been tremendous blessings to me and fill my heart with joy and laughter. I love them so much. If and when I am blessed with another child, I will look forward to reliving some of the things mentioned and creating new memories with that child, because being a dad is one of the coolest, most special, and fulfilling things I have ever done, or will ever do in my lifetime.

Happy Father’s Day!

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Toon Tunes …

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As I stated at the end of yesterday’s blog – I could easily write an entire blog about Cartoon Theme songs. Some readers messaged privately with suggestions, while others commented on Facebook. So, I sat down and gathered some thoughts and have come up with a list of some of my favorites. In doing so, I noticed that some cartoons were great cartoons, but their theme songs were just not that memorable to me. Those I will omit. Perhaps they are some of your favorites, and again, feel free to add them to my initial list.

The Classics

“Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, the night of nights.

No more rehearsing and nursing a part, We know every part by heart

Overture, curtains, lights. This is it, you’ll hit the heights

And oh what heights we’ll hit … On with the show, this is it!”

Every Saturday morning, we’d sit in front of the television and hear Bugs Bunny and his cartoon pals sing this song as the Bugs Bunny Show began. Cartoon after cartoon kicked off with the Merrie Melodies or Looney Tunes theme. We watched Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester and Tweety, The Roadrunner, Wile E Coyote, and countless others make us laugh with sticks of dynamite and anvils. Oh, what a time to be a kid!

Outside of the Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera churned out a lot of the classic cartoons we all have come to love. In 1958, kids were introduced to Yogi Bear and his pal Boo Boo. The theme song told us that he was “smarter than the average bear”, and he was! No Pic-a-nic basket was safe! Yogi was a take off of Art Carney’s Honeymooners character Ed Norton. Daws Butler nails the voice perfectly. From opening theme, you know you are in for some great fun with Yogi trying to outsmart Ranger Smith.

Speaking of the Honeymooners – Hanna Barbera literally stole the entire show idea and just set it in the stone age. That’s right, The Flintstones was a direct rip off of the show. It worked. It was the first prime time cartoon show and it did very well. The adventures of Fred and Barney commence after we are introduced to them via the theme song “Flintstones! Meet the Flintstones, they’re the modern stone age family!” Fred and Barney also would up on Saturday morning cartoons with newer versions and varieties of the 1960’s show including a cartoon about their grown up kids Pebbles and Bamm Bamm.

My buddy Vince immediately mentioned the theme song to Jonny Quest in response to my last blog. As far as theme songs, this one is awesome. Quest first appeared on TV in 1964 and from the moment it starts you get the feeling something big is coming. There is a sense of urgency in it. You are joining him on an adventure! In my 30 years of radio, I have heard this theme song as background music for contests, traffic reports, and more. Why? Because it is one cool theme song!

In 1962, Hanna Barbera took us on another travel through time. This time is was the future. “Meet George Jetson” … the theme starts by introducing us to each member of the family. We are wowed with flying cars, tubes that allow people to travel from one place to the other, folding cars, and more. The Jetsons lacked some of the luster of the Flintstones, but it still was a success and a favorite of kids my age.

There were MANY incarnations of Scooby-Doo. The best one in my opinion was Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Some cool teenagers and their dog always seem to stumble on a mystery – and solve it! So many bad guys would have gotten away with it, “If it hadn’t been for those meddling kids”! “Scooby doobie doo – Where are you? We got some work to do now…”. Not only did they have a cool theme, they often had another song that would play during a chase scene!

I want to mention a couple more 60’s cartoons to mention before moving on. I mentioned Henry Mancini in my blog yesterday, he is responsible for one of the all time greatest cartoon themes: The Pink Panther. It was the theme to the 1963 movie, and also used for the cartoon starting in 1964. There are so many things that make it such a magnificent piece, but the one that stands out is the tenor sax solo. It is perfection! The song was released as a single and was a top 10 hit.

Part of the Pink Panther show was the Ant and the Aardvark. It is a very Tom and Jerry/Cat and Mouse type cartoon. John Byner does the voices for the cartoons and his choices were to do the ant in a Dean Martin-ish voice, while doing the aardvark in a Jackie Mason-ish one. The theme reminds me of a Dixieland-swing song. The theme song basically plays as an underscore throughout all 17 of the series cartoons, and you will be humming it for a few hours after you’re done watching!

In 1967, Hanna Barbera offered up The Abbott and Costello Cartoon show. These cartoons were unique in that Bud Abbott provides the voice for himself. Costello had passed away in 1959, and his voice was provided by Stan Irwin. I don’t recall the cartoon itself much, but I can recall the opening sequence and the music of the theme. The only words spoken …..well, yelled, during the theme are “Hey Abbott!” by Costello.

The Super Heroes

What kid doesn’t want to be a super hero? I know we did. We spent Saturdays after cartoons were done pretending to be Batman, Superman, etc… We could watch them on the Superfriends show. Very heroic music would play as actor Ted Knight (of Caddyshack and the Mary Tyler Moore Show) introduced us to each of them. There were a few different Superfriends shows – one featured Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog, another featured The Wonder Twins, and another featured some of the lesser known heroes.

The Super Heroes had some of the best theme songs. Underdog’s theme was one I can still sing to this day: “When criminals in this world appear, and break the laws that they should fear, the cry goes up both far and near for Underdog!”. Wally Cox voiced Underdog and spoke entirely in rhyme. He was always trying to save Sweet Polly Purebread from Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff. George S. Irving was the narrator of the show – he is known for playing The Heat Miser in the holiday special The Year Without a Santa Claus. It is one of my favorite theme songs.

Who was your number 1 super guy? Well, Hong Kong Phooey, of course! He tells us so in the theme song! It’s another Hanna Barbera classic! The theme is sung by Scatman Crothers, who many may know from the Shining, Sanford and Son, and other films. He plays Penrod “Penry” Pooch, a janitor who is a Kung Fu Master, thanks to his Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu. The theme reminds us that he is quicker than the human eye, and he’s got a groovy style – ah, the 70’s!!!

The all time best super hero cartoon theme song has got to be, hands down, Spiderman! We all know the story of Spiderman – Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider and gets his super powers. I love that this is referenced in the theme song: “Is he strong? Listen, bud, he’s got radioactive blood!” That is brilliant writing right there! We all love Spidey, and we know that he’s got our backs…..after all, he is our “friendly neighborhood Spiderman”. There is only one version of the theme that is as cool as the original – be sure to check out Michael Buble’s version of the theme song! It’s pretty sweet!

One Full Musical Toon

I have got to give praise to a cartoon that is entirely musical. This is a cartoon that has been referenced by friends I grew up with as well as my kids. That cartoon is “The Three Little Bops”. It’s a modern day take on the Three Little Pigs.

What makes this cartoon so memorable is that these three pigs are now a musical trio playing jazz for clubs (House of Straw, House of Sticks, and finally, the House of Bricks). The Big Bad Wolf is also a musician….but not a very good one. He keeps trying to join the pigs and they keep telling him to beat it because his playing is awful. The crowds don’t like his playing either. At first, he is kicked out of the house of straw, so he “huffs and puffs” and blows the place down. He does the same for the house of sticks. The house of bricks, however, is a bit more of a challenge. “I’ll show those pigs that I’m not stuck, if I can’t blow it down, I’ll blow it up”. He attempts to light the fuse on a big tub of TNT, and the fuse is blown out. He moves farther away from the target and lights it again, but he’s too far from the building and as he is carrying it back, the TNT explodes – and takes him with it.

The narrator states, “The Big Bad Wolf was really gone and with him went his corny horn. Went out of this world without a trace, didn’t go to heaven, was the other place”. We then see the wolf down there playing his horn brilliantly. One pig notes, “The Big Bad Wolf, he learned the rule – you gotta get hot to play real cool!” The wolf’s spirit, with his horn float up through the floor and join the pigs on the end of the song. The pigs lobby card now reads “The Three Little Bops Plus One”.

The music for the cartoon is done by the great Shorty Rogers who was a jazz composer and trumpeter. The vocal is done by the one and only Stan Freberg. This cartoon is fun, jazzy, hip, and so well written! Another thing that makes this cartoon unique is that Mel Blanc was under contract with Warner Brothers during this time and his voice is not used in the cartoon at all (at least according to all the sources I checked).

Now it’s your turn. Which cartoon theme songs were your favorites?

That’s all folks….