Songs From Our Childhood

Dear Frederik

Another great thread

I share your liking for

Three Little Fishes, which you can hear here

I also like the New Christie Minstrel's Three Wheels On My Wagon and Peter, Paul and Mary's Puff The Magic Dragon.

However my favourite childhood song remains Ted Dicks (music) & Myles Rudge's (lyrics) A Mouse Lived in a Windmill in Old Amsterdam - Dicks & Rudge also wrote two classic songs for Bernard Cribbins: Hole in the Ground, which is already mentioned on this thread, and Right Said Fred.

The first record I heard that made me think there was more to music than old standards - never liked Sinatra, Crosby, Como, Monro {Matt, not Marilyn} et al (especially as child) - was Folk Routes, New Routes by Shirley Collins and Davey Graham. That album still remains a revalation to me - it was so much better than anything else I had heard (as an impressionable 10 year old) - then there was the Beatles and the rest is history ....

Oh course - I definitely want to put forward a vote for Freddie Phillips, the masterful musician who wrote all the songs for the Trumptonshire trilogy. We may have had Cant Conformism since 1966, but Freddie was the real star for me.

Best regards, Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:

quote:

Originally posted by erik scothron:

White horses according to wikepedia. Shame the theme tune has been lost.

Until now..... Here is the theme tune: Horses Apparently voted the best TV theme tune of all time by the BBC.

Erik

I have the Jackie Lee single in my collection, but I don't have her version of Rupert, Rupert the Bear - you can relive the wonderful Theme from White Horses here (Mac friendly version - could get your link to play right through on my Mac, not sure why). The only theme tune I prefer to White Horses is the Settler's theme from Follyfoot called the Lightning Tree which can be heard here.

Best regards, Rotf

Dear Rotf,

LOL - I nearly included the lightning tree earlier but knew if I searched for it and played it would be in my head all damn day just like that damn white horses has.....aaaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhhh! I have to play the Noggin the Nog intro to cancel it out.

Regards,

Erik

quote:

Originally posted by Stewart Cooper:
Alas Erik, the Nog diaspora seems to have been relatively limited.

Stewart

Stewart,

What a shame, however, at least you are a member of a highly exculsive club, there can't be many Nog fans in the US. Did you see the early (seemingly darker?) black and white Nogs or the later (seemingly fluffier?) colour ones. I suspect I would like the older ones better.

Erik

Noggin the Nog and Captain Pugwash - now we're on to something!

Forget ye not - the adventures of Sir Prancelot with some superb music by Alan Parker, who I think played guitar for Blue Mink.

Click here for Episode Synopsis

Of course, there was a great theme to SuperGran - it's here.

Why has nobody mentioned the Magic Roundabout, with its joyous kids on acid theme tune.

I still have bad flash backs to the days of mainlining fish fingers, crispy pancakes and other additive packed meals and then settling down to trip along to the Magic Roundabout before being taken to collect my dad off train. Oh happy days.

Another cracker from the mid '60s through to the '70s has to be Ivor the Engine.

Jono

Ivor the engine was cool...

Another of the classic 70/80s cartoons has to be the cheesy "Dogtanian and the three muskahounds", though the "Adventure game" music was cool too.

I've got tapes of both "Sparky's magic piano" AND "Puff the magic dragon" somewhere. Still regret taping over my "Sesame street" cassette in 1987 at the age of 12 though - although the new recording DID have some of Annie Nightingale's show on there - including UK Subs' "Party in Paris" so it's not all bad!

Thought of another few today!

Nellie The Elephant...

Half A Sixpense (is better than...)

House in Old Amsterdam (song about the mice in that house)

The song by Burl Ives I think abou an 'Old Woman Who Swollowed A Fly...!'

The Buzzin' of the Bees in the Cigarette Trees (or something like that, again by Burl Ives, I think).

Pricelees memories!

Fredrik

My first ever vinyl was I Wish I Was A Spaceman.. theme to Fireball XL5. Quickly followed by Aqua Marina, and the theme to Stingray!
A little later I progressed to the heights of bits n pieces the Dave Clerk 5.

Somewhere I have an original 'popcorn' on 7"

quote:

!'

The Buzzin' of the Bees in the Cigarette Trees (or something like that, again by Burl Ives, I think).


Fredrik

Sycamore tree?

quote:

. Quickly followed by Aqua Marina, and the theme to Stingray!

Oh yes, I love that.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredrik_Fiske:
Thought of another few today!

House in Old Amsterdam (song about the mice in that house)

Pricelees memories!

Fredrik

Dear Fredrik

Is that the same as A Mouse Lived in a Windmill in Old Amsterdam. if so that is without doubt my favourite childhood song. A Mouse Lived in a Windmill in Old Amsterdam by Ted Dicks (music) & Myles Rudge's (lyrics) they wrote Hole in the Ground and Right Said Fred too.

And you're absolutely right that Burl Ives sung the Rose Bonne and Alan Mills song I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.

Interestingly, Jonathan Richmann used to include some children's songs on his elpees - he used to tour on the same bill as punk rock groups in the late 70s, but complained that the other groups played too loud and hurt his ears.

A modern group that majors in the area is 'They Must Be Giants'



I find it strangely refreshing that when so much modern music is either sung with great anguish or simply manufactured for dancing, that there are groups like 'They Must Be Giants' who just write and sing songs that they hope will amuse people of all ages. Or perhaps, not to put to finer point on it, it is highly satirical and I'm not bright enough to recognise it.

All the best, Rotf

quote:

Originally posted by erik scothron:

quote:

!'

The Buzzin' of the Bees in the Cigarette Trees (or something like that, again by Burl Ives, I think).


..., In the Old Rock Candy Mountian, etc

Can anyone remember the song about the lamb and the dam. I rmemeber it as being very funny. I'll set the memory search in what is left of my brain onto that unless anyone beats me to it!

Dear Erik,

I think it was 'cigarette trees,' but the whole song was nonesense of Learesque proportions!

All the best from Fredrik

Fredrik

Sycamore tree?

Oh dear; I made a mess of that. I buried the answer in the quote. Oops!

quote:

The Buzzin' of the Bees in the Cigarette Trees (or something like that, again by Burl Ives, I think).


!

Cigarette trees it is Fredrik Candy MountainNot too many about these days presumably they are more prone to desease than Dutch Elms.

Those still searching for some of those long lost memories of their childhood could do a lot worse than check out this link TV Nostalgia. Our five a side website has had a similar discussion recently about classic themes, this site covers quite a few of them.

Regards

Nic

Who's Affraid Of The Big Bad Wolf? Hehe. Fredrik

Who's Afraid of Virginia Wade?

Lilly the Pink of course who invented that medicinal compound, most efficasious in every way.

was the main influnece that led me to a career as a pharmacist.

My Dad used to buy reprise albums in a cash and carry and played "Anne o'Neill sings" to distraction.
I can still be heard to sing occasionally
"Oh dear me,
how would it be
if I died an old maid in the garret"

I know it is not a song for children, but it still comes into my head sometimes, as does all music, and its is a damn nuisance as well on occasion:

Windmills Of My Mind...

This persued me for an hour this afternoon. Who did it, and can it be got now?

Also the song:

Say A Little Prayer For Me,

which was the first tune I picked out on my first bass [by ear to show my teacher, who was delighted!], and not anything classical, which still seems odd to me.

Again the same two questions to the wise, please!

There were some great songs in the Sixties, And I would like to try to get some of them again, just to revel in nostalgia!

All the best from Fredrik

Dear Fredrik

Windmills of My Mind was written for the original Thomas Crown Affair by Michelle LeGrande and was a hit for Rex Harrison's son Noel (Noel appeared in the Girl from Uncle on TV).

Say a Little Prayer was sung by Aretha Franklin - though the version I have is sung by Mary Black.

All the best, Rotf

Dear Rotf,

Thanks for that nice reply. I had no ideas who did them.

Another silly question is where you can find such things? I am off this weekend and could go to Birmingham perhaps? HMV has a good shop there. Would they be on the shelves do you think?

It is wierd how these old things from the age of less than eight still haunt me!

All the best to you, from Fredrik

Dear Fredrik

I'm not sure if HMV would stock the Noel Harisson record - HMV is a good shop, but when I've not found what I'm searching for they have simply told me to search www.hmv.co.uk - I did this for Noel Harrison and it returned nothing

However Amazon.co.uk does return



but Windmills of Your Mind is the only tack I've heard from it and can't vouch for any of the other songs.

HMV should stock Respect: Very Best Of Aretha Franklin, which contains I Say A Little Prayer



and lots of great tracks - full list here.

I think independent shops are finding it tough against the likes of Tesco - for me it is disappointing as the supermarkets have such a narrow selection and it is just not the friendly record shop I used to visit. I remember James Dace in Chelmsford, where I bought my first classical records, and the assistant knew an incredible amount about the recordings and could help me. Ecstasy records in Chelmsford did the same for folk and rock records and stocked music that would otherwise be hard to find (and they used to let me listen in the shop). However, that was 30 years ago and both have gone. Somehow Tesco just doesn't replace them.

I now rely a lot on Amazon and quite often they have samples that you can listen to - as does HMV's web site. I prefer the old shops, but things are changing. The service from Amazon is very good and the selection is very wide.

Hope this helps, Rotf

Dear Rotf,

I still have a superb classical shop here in Hereford, but the good one in Worcester went about two years ago, sadly.

Because we still have a splendid shop I have never got a credit card, and so I have bought anything from the net. Times are chainging, so I suppose for non-classical things I had better catch up, get a credit card, ang start hunting Amazon!

Thanks for the links from Fredrik