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I'm sure many of us have heard Muppet songs on albums before we ever saw the actual visual performances, so I wonder, did any of us really wonder what actually went on in the music performances we heard first and saw later?
When I got the album Muppet Hits, I foolishly assumed most of the photos shown with song lyrics were from the actual productions. Many were, but some weren't. There was a generic image of Scooter by "There's a New Sound" (so I thought that was the setting... It looked like he might have been conducting in that photo, making me think he was conducting), I'm Five had an image of Robin from "Halfway Down the Stairs" (so I thought that song took place on a stairway), and "We Got Us" had a group photo of Muppets (the one that was often included in print material where Miss Piggy's face was replaced with an updated picture). Of course in that case I didn't know that the performance on the show was by Dom DeLuise and the Muppets, while the album version was a rerecorded all-Muppet performance (I think I did wonder if there were two versions on the show, but didn't think much about it). I was also confused with The Rhyming Song... The image included characters not heard in the song, and vice versa.
There were two songs in Muppet Hits that I did see in earleir compilation videos that I should have known the images weren't representive of the songs: Sax and Violence (an image of Zoot wearing his hat, which he did not wear in the number) and Mr. Bassman (an image from New York State of Mind, though I didn't think it was too different from what I saw... The setting looked right, and looked like it might have been cutting off Scooter in the image, but that image did depict Zoot without his hat, which he wore in the number).
The first image in the booklet was a big group image of the Muppets, and I thought that was meant to be the ending of the theme song. Before getting the album, I saw the beginning of the season 5 opening, and was also exposed to the opening in the It's the Muppets videos. Those included a variety of clips from the show, but still showed the actual ending of the theme (replacing "The Muppet Show" logo with an "It's the Muppets!" logo and doing a repeated loop on the characters singing). But I thought the opening as seen in It's the Muppets! was made especially for the video (I can't believe I didn't realise how odd it would have been to start with archs and then end without archs on the stage).
I know I did wonder what the visuals of songs from Muppet Hits Take 2 were (there was no booklet there), but don't remember speculating on that.
As far as Fraggle Rock goes, there were many songs in Music and Magic that I didn't remember seeing on the show, but got the gist of most of them taking place somewhere in the rock. I was more curious about certain characters I wasn't familair with. I didn't know who Cantus, The Architech, or Athena were, and thought I knew who Convincing John was but wasn't 100% sure. Even after I saw "Yes I Can" I wasn't sure which doozer The Architech was (I thought it was one of the doozers standing with Cottorpin as opposed to the lead singer... I had to watch the episode a few times before I noticed him being referred to by that name).
And there are several Sesame Street songs I heard on albums (or heard about) without knowing what the visuals were. I recall speculating on these more. And songs that I was right about the settings include:
And songs I was wrong about the visual were:
And there were many songs I speculated about the setting of that as far as I know weren't made as visuals on the show (at least not with the same basic recording). Songs like Share with Ernie and Cookie Monster (I expected it to have a blue background and a brick wall), One and One Make Two (was this ever done on the show?), Kin Folk (I expected it to take place on the street), the album version of Imagination (expected it to take place out on the street during nighttime), and others.
Also, at the time I got the album "Jim Henson's Sesame Street Celebration", I remembered "My Pollywog Ways" but forgot the song and lyrics at the time, so I figured that this song was either "Tadpole" or "This Frog". Of course after I first saw the Muppet Central review of "The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street" and saw it say that This Frog was included "with original introduction" I thought that meant "This Frog" was "My Pollywog Ways" (the intro to "This Frog" is really short and not worth noting as much as the "My Pollywog Ways" intro). Ironically, after that I expected "Tadpole" to have film footage of tadpoles underwater (and I was right!).
When I got the album Muppet Hits, I foolishly assumed most of the photos shown with song lyrics were from the actual productions. Many were, but some weren't. There was a generic image of Scooter by "There's a New Sound" (so I thought that was the setting... It looked like he might have been conducting in that photo, making me think he was conducting), I'm Five had an image of Robin from "Halfway Down the Stairs" (so I thought that song took place on a stairway), and "We Got Us" had a group photo of Muppets (the one that was often included in print material where Miss Piggy's face was replaced with an updated picture). Of course in that case I didn't know that the performance on the show was by Dom DeLuise and the Muppets, while the album version was a rerecorded all-Muppet performance (I think I did wonder if there were two versions on the show, but didn't think much about it). I was also confused with The Rhyming Song... The image included characters not heard in the song, and vice versa.
There were two songs in Muppet Hits that I did see in earleir compilation videos that I should have known the images weren't representive of the songs: Sax and Violence (an image of Zoot wearing his hat, which he did not wear in the number) and Mr. Bassman (an image from New York State of Mind, though I didn't think it was too different from what I saw... The setting looked right, and looked like it might have been cutting off Scooter in the image, but that image did depict Zoot without his hat, which he wore in the number).
The first image in the booklet was a big group image of the Muppets, and I thought that was meant to be the ending of the theme song. Before getting the album, I saw the beginning of the season 5 opening, and was also exposed to the opening in the It's the Muppets videos. Those included a variety of clips from the show, but still showed the actual ending of the theme (replacing "The Muppet Show" logo with an "It's the Muppets!" logo and doing a repeated loop on the characters singing). But I thought the opening as seen in It's the Muppets! was made especially for the video (I can't believe I didn't realise how odd it would have been to start with archs and then end without archs on the stage).
I know I did wonder what the visuals of songs from Muppet Hits Take 2 were (there was no booklet there), but don't remember speculating on that.
As far as Fraggle Rock goes, there were many songs in Music and Magic that I didn't remember seeing on the show, but got the gist of most of them taking place somewhere in the rock. I was more curious about certain characters I wasn't familair with. I didn't know who Cantus, The Architech, or Athena were, and thought I knew who Convincing John was but wasn't 100% sure. Even after I saw "Yes I Can" I wasn't sure which doozer The Architech was (I thought it was one of the doozers standing with Cottorpin as opposed to the lead singer... I had to watch the episode a few times before I noticed him being referred to by that name).
And there are several Sesame Street songs I heard on albums (or heard about) without knowing what the visuals were. I recall speculating on these more. And songs that I was right about the settings include:
- Dee, Dee, Dee (though I expected it to have Bert's introduction, and didn't expect Cookie Mosnter to be there)
And songs I was wrong about the visual were:
- Born to Add (expected it to take place in the arbor)
- Proud of Me (expected it to have a plain blue background)
- Five People in My Family (expected it to take place in a living room)
And there were many songs I speculated about the setting of that as far as I know weren't made as visuals on the show (at least not with the same basic recording). Songs like Share with Ernie and Cookie Monster (I expected it to have a blue background and a brick wall), One and One Make Two (was this ever done on the show?), Kin Folk (I expected it to take place on the street), the album version of Imagination (expected it to take place out on the street during nighttime), and others.
Also, at the time I got the album "Jim Henson's Sesame Street Celebration", I remembered "My Pollywog Ways" but forgot the song and lyrics at the time, so I figured that this song was either "Tadpole" or "This Frog". Of course after I first saw the Muppet Central review of "The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street" and saw it say that This Frog was included "with original introduction" I thought that meant "This Frog" was "My Pollywog Ways" (the intro to "This Frog" is really short and not worth noting as much as the "My Pollywog Ways" intro). Ironically, after that I expected "Tadpole" to have film footage of tadpoles underwater (and I was right!).