Children’s

December 26, 2022

# 86

Kohl's Cares For Kids
Mickey Mouse & Friends - Christmas Favorites
2014

Back

This compilation (P) 2014 Walt Disney Records © Disney
This special edition was produced and manufactured for Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc. (for distribution on behalf of Kohl’s Cares®, LLC, it’s wholly owned subsidiary) by Bensussen Deutsch & Assoc. Inc.
SKU: 95372335

Genre : Children’s

This is a special edition of a Walt Disney Christmas CD that was produced specifically for Kohl’s to sell in their stores at Christmas time with 100% of the net profits going to benefit Kohl’s Cares®, Inc.  This was the 2014 edition.  I have collected all the annual Kohl’s Cares®, Inc. Christmas CDs since they started releasing them in 2000.  As I’ve stated in earlier reviews of Kohl’s Cares®, Inc. Christmas CDs, I think I have them all.  The most recent CD I have is dated 2015.  They have varied throughout the years.  In the early years, they were compilation CDs of Various Artists, then they started releasing Christmas CDs that featured two Classic Christmas recording artists.  Then, they started releasing special editions of Christmas albums recorded by a single artist.

I must apologize, when choosing the next CD to review, I usually close my eyes and pick 5 off the shelf, so as not to be influenced by my own musical tastes.  It occurs to me that this is the third Khol’s Christmas CD I am reviewing, but that’s how they came off the shelf.

This is a Children’s Christmas CD.  I don’t know any adult that would go out of their way to listen to this from start to finish without playing it for at least one child…except maybe, me.

The cover artwork is very pleasant.  I have many Disney Christmas CDs, and they’re all decorated with great artwork.  All our favorite Disney characters are on the cover, dressed in Santa hats and red scarves.  Donald Duck and Goofy are holding caroling books and all are looking directly at us, wishing us all a Merry Christmas.  The group is pictured standing in front of a crudely drawn pencil outline of a house that is decorated with a wreath and garland.  All is presented against a light blue background.  The CD title appears at the top, “Mickey Mouse & Friends” in blue, and “Christmas Favorites” in red.  The Kohl’s Cares®, Inc. logo sits at the bottom left.

The back of the CD features a numerical track listing with performing artist credits centered in a white cloud.  Below is the Kohl’s Cares®, Inc. logo and an endorsement about the charity.  It reads, “Thank you for supporting Kohl’s Cares® – 100% of the net profit from the sale of this item will be donated to support kids’ health and education initiatives in communities nationwide”.  All is presented against the same light blue background as found on the front, and is decorated with dark blue and white snowflakes.  At the bottom are typical copywrite notices in a dark blue box.

The CD cover comes out and opens along a single fold-out.  Most of the interior is taken up with a more detailed track listing that includes performing artists, writer credits, and in some cases, publishing credits.  On the bottom half of the right side are production credits for this CD, followed by copywrite notices.  To the right sits the same image of Pluto as he is on the front cover.  Both sides of the inside are decorated with snowflakes of different sizes and shades of blue.

The back of the CD cover is the same light blue as the background on the front.  The only graphics shown are the words “Thank You!”, appearing in dark blue letters in the center.  The back of the cover is once again decorated with snowflakes.

In the copywrite notices it mentions “This special edition was produced and manufactured for Kohl’s Department Stores, Inc.”, and I don’t think you can buy this CD under this title outside of this Kohl’s CD.  Meaning, I don’t think this CD was made available under this title through Disney’s marketplace.  I should check my other Disney CDs to see if this may be a duplicate of something else under a different title.

There are only 10 Christmas songs on here.  That is typical of Christmas CDs, and in this case, that’s probably a good thing because I don’t think I could take 15 of these in a row.  😊  The whole CD clocks in at less than 30 minutes.

All the songs are secular in nature.  None are traditional Christmas hymns.  All but three are from the 20th century.  The other three are 19th century English carols.  All songs are familiar Christmas songs.  What you would hope to find in a Children’s Christmas CD is all here.  Rudolph, Frosty and Santa Claus are all well represented.

The songs are performed by individual Disney characters, mostly in duets.  Goofy is the only featured solo performer and he has two songs all by himself.

The first song has Mickey and the Gang singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas.  I think there were only a couple of musicians who took part in the recording of the music.  The CD liner notes mention only three names: an arranger / producer, a guitarist / bass player and a drummer.  If you take the Disney voices off, this could easily be a common Christmas CD that any studio could have produced.  All you need to do is replace the cartoon voices with adult voices.  Meaning that all the music is top notch, Contemporary studio recordings of familiar Christmas songs.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas is a group effort.  There is a little playful banter between the characters during the song that gives it more cuteness.

The 2nd song, Deck The Halls, is sung by Donald and Goofy.  It opens with a celesta that is joined by a Hard Rock guitar intro.  The Rock guitar leaves, and the arrangement turns into a lush, festive melody that is still Contemporary.  Throughout the CD, there is a wonderful adult chorus that provides terrific harmony.  Once again, remove the cartoon voices, and you have a pretty normal Christmas CD.

The 3rd song, Jingle Bells, features Donald and Daisy in the first of two duets they share.  The Jazzy arrangement is nice.  The band really swings on this one.  Okay, it is very apparent with this song that there are more than three guys playing.  There is a xylophone, saxophone, trumpets, and other such instruments.  I actually give credit in my library to Marco Marinangeli.  He is the producer, principle arranger, recording engineer and final mixer, so he probably relied on a full studio orchestra to fill in the melody.  And of course, all the instruments could be played by only three people as long as they double-tracked them.

Goofy takes it all by himself on the song Toyland.  The arrangement is soft, lush and loaded with strings.  Adult choral voices add softness to Goofy’s heartfelt vocals.

The 5th song, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, features Mickey, Goofy and Donald sharing the vocals equally.  The song has a Country / Rock swing to it.  The lead guitar carries the arrangement while the adult chorus provides Doo Wop style harmonies.

The 6th song, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, featuring Donald and Goofy, begins with the celesta and piano playing in unison.  It’s really a nice intro.  As Donald and Goofy introduce the song, they trade verses, with the other echoing the school yard counterpoints all children are used to. They share the vocals in the chorus.  The melody is a full orchestral arrangement.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! features a sweet duet between Donald and Daisy.  The arrangement features a Big Band.  It is interesting, we all know how Donald Duck talks.  Well, he sings the same way, obviously.  But Daisy Duck sings in a sweet alto reminiscent of the girl singers in 1940s Big Bands.  She provides a little maturity to Donald’s part.  Daisy Duck has the best voice of all the characters.  I need to find out who all these voices belong to.  It’d be nice to hear their other recorded output.  Some are probably great Pop singers.

The 8th song is a sweet Children’s Christmas song.  It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas features Mickey and Minnie in the first of their two duets.  The melody is lush, soft and straight out of the 1950s.  It begins with a Country flavored lead guitar but quickly turns into an orchestral delight.  Mickey does a great job on his part.  Minnie does a great job too, but it is in the most childlike voice I can imagine an adult could produce.

We can all agree that real adults are singing these songs, right?  I mean, cartoon characters aren’t real, are they?  I say this in jest because Disney has pulled out all the stops with the music.  All the arrangements are produced with full orchestration, or sometimes small Rock combos, whatever the song requires.  But the vocals are provided by adults who sing in cartoon voices.  As with all singers, who are always real people, there are different styles and ranges.  So it is with this CD.  Some Disney characters are better singers than others solely because of how their speaking voices are made to sound cartoonish.  I have a Warner’s Bros. LP where Mel Blanc sings all the Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Foghorn Leghorn parts.  It’s a hoot.

Frosty The Snowman is Goofy’s other shot at solo stardom.  No need to worry.  He does a pretty good job on this one.  The chorus that sounds like they’re right out of a 1940s studio, provides sophistication to Goofy’s vocals.  The arrangement is orchestral, but the refrains feature a Western Swing influenced lead guitar.

The CD closes with It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, the other duet Mickey and Minnie share.  As with all the other songs before this, the arrangement features a full orchestra.  Mickey and Minnie are a cute couple.  They are absolutely irresistible.  They trade banter during the song that is just adorable before coming back for the finish.  The two Mickey and Minnie duets are the best songs on here and I can see how children could like them.

I’ve tried to give this CD the same respect I have in all my other reviews.  After all, there are many different kinds of Christmas records out there and I have many strange ones.  Stick around with this blog for a while and I will get to them all eventually.

The orchestrations and arrangements are terrific.  The chorus, even by themselves, is top notch.  This is a great Christmas CD.  And here it finally comes…, EXCEPT for the cartoon voices.  It is one thing to watch an 8-minute cartoon, and the movies are tolerable, but singing Christmas songs may not be their thing.

I’m just kidding.  I like to review my Christmas CDs and LPs for what they are.  For what they’re meant to be and taking into account who the audience the record is targeted at.  This is a Children’s Christmas CD.  If your child likes classic Disney characters, and may even have their favorites, they would probably love this!

If you’re in the car running errands during the Christmas season and the kids are getting ancy, put this in the CD player and it should calm them down.  It’s less than 30 minutes, so it can be tolerated for a little while.  Children like to be included in events around them and feel like their presence means something.  Play this for the kids during the Holiday, whether decorating the tree, running errands or spending quality time crafting.  They will appreciate it.

The greatest thing about this CD is that the music itself is terrific.  I know I’ve said that numerous times, but it is the best thing about this CD.  That’s two reasons to own this; one for you and one for the kids.  I have 5 or 6 other Disney CDs and LPs, and I hope they’re all this well produced.  I bet they are.  Even the ones from the late 50’s should sound great.  This was the most fun CD for me so far.  I really had a great time with this one.

I give this CD :

****

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December 4, 2022

# 74

Howdy Doody
Howdy Doody's Christmas Party
1951

Insert

RCA Victor Division, Radio Corporation of America
RCA Victor-RCA Monogram-Dog And Phonograph-“His Master’s Voice”-“Red Seal”, Reg. U.S. Patent Off.-Marcas Registradas

# 8 – 1951 – Billboard Kids

Genre : Children’s

First off, let me say, this is a great Christmas record!  There are better Christmas records, but there is not a better Children’s Christmas record.  This is a Children’s Christmas record, (it came out as a 45 rpm EP, or a 2 disc set of 78 rpm records) recorded in 1951 featuring America’s first beloved marionette, Howdy Doody, and his creator Bob Smith.  Norman Leyden & his Orchestra provide the music.

Howdy Doody was at first just a voice.  It was a character voice Bob Smith would use on the air as a radio announcer at WNBC in New York.  In 1947, Bob Smith appeared in Puppet Playhouse, a locally produced children’s show.  After several appearances on Puppet Playhouse, there was a request to put a face to the voice, and Howdy Doody, the marionette puppet we all know and love, was born.  Originally, Howdy Doody was a crudely made marionette.  He wasn’t very attractive, almost downright scary in fact.

After a split with his previous colleague, Bob Smith hired Mel Shaw, a Disney animator, to come up with a better Howdy Doody.  He and Velma Wayne Dawson created the marionette we know today.  Through many cosmetic repairs, no changes have been made to Howdy Doody throughout the years.  Bob Smith was the original voice of Howdy Doody.

The Howdy Doody Show went on the air, live, in 1947, and stayed on the air until 1960.  The show was an instant success.  It featured a Western theme and Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody wore Western outfits.  Originally, the show accommodated about 16 children on a small set of bleachers.  Over the years that was expanded to be able to include up to 40 children.  The show featured skits between cast members, other marionettes, and Howdy Doody, as well as interactive games with the children.  And songs.  Lots of songs.

Other characters on the show included J. Cornelius Cobb, Sir Archibald, Chief Thunderthud, Princess Summerfall Winterspring and of course Clarabell the Clown.  Clarabell never spoke on the show.  He communicated only with a horn.  It wasn’t until the closing credits on the very last show that Clarabell spoke.  As the camera moved in, he whispered “Goodbye, kids”.  The original Clarabell the Clown was played by Bob Keeshan, better known as Capt. Kangaroo.  (Look for a review of Capt. Kangaroo’s Christmas CD in this blog’s future).

Everyone involved with the show was dedicated to producing the best children’s show anyone could.  All were dedicated to the characters they portrayed and most stayed with the show a long time.  Bob Smith was the most dedicated, continuing to appear with Howdy Doody well into the 1990s.  They even made an appearance on ABC’s Happy Days television show in 1975.

The 45 rpm record itself is bright yellow.  The front of the record sleeve features a picture of Howdy Doody with Buffalo Bob Smith and Clarabell the Clown on either side of him.  The background is light green and Howdy Doody is holding up a strand of green garland decorated with Christmas ornaments.  Howdy Doody’s name appears at the top and the words “Christmas Party” in red letters appears in a white banner below.

The back of the record sleeve features the same green background as on the front and features an advertisement for a couple of previous Howdy Doody 45s.  There are a couple of playful puppies running around as well.  Towards the bottom, in large letters, is the RCA Victor name.  Below are performing artist and production credits.  This is a big help to me.  It gives me more information about the record itself.

Included with the original release of the 45 is an insert that opens and features cartoon drawings of all the characters that appear on the record.

The 45 features 2 songs on each side, and the set of 78s comes with two discs with one song on each side.  Altogether, it’s 15 minutes of a Howdy Doody Christmas special.  Norman Leyden & his Orchestra provide the music.  The small orchestra features all the instruments you would expect to find in an orchestra, and they all make an appearance in the arrangements.  Because of that, this record has all the hallmarks of a top-notch production.

The record begins as the show would, but in the beginning of the show, the Peanut Gallery, as the children’s bleachers area was called, would be greeted with “Howdy doody boys and girls, do you know what time it is?”  They would shout back, “It’s Howdy Doody Time!”  Then everyone would sing the opening theme song.  That doesn’t happen here.  After the “Howdy doody, boys and girls”, the children are welcomed to the Howdy Doody Christmas Party.

There are a couple of short songs featured, and the show’s characters interact with each other and other marionettes.  A Howdy Doody Christmas and I Love To Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop Popcorn are both included in the 1st act.  Trust me, these songs feature wonderful, elaborate arrangements that could only come from 1951.

As the story goes on, the problem is with Phineas T. Bluster, the shows’ antagonist, as well as the mayor of Doodyville.  His refusal to say “Merry Christmas” gets the rest of the gang motivated to get him in the Christmas spirit.  There are two or three short songs featured in each act.  Most are performed by the marionette puppets that live in Doodyville.

The 3rd act is almost all songs.  The best feature is a great rendition of Jingle Bells by the entire cast, as Clarabell leads the melody with his horn.

The 4th act opens with Buffalo Bob making his first appearance as he announces that Santa Claus is right outside the door.  But he won’t come in and deliver the toys until Mr. Bluster says, “Merry Christmas” and he must mean it.  I won’t spoil the ending.

This is fun Children’s Christmas music.  The short song lyrics include references that most children could relate to on any day of their life.  It uses the daily experiences of children to help the story along as the moral message is subtly delivered.

Regular readers of this blog would know that I absolutely love this.  It was well worth the $20.00 for a near mint copy.  It’s 1951 and the music is excellent.  Christmas is for children, or at least that’s what many Christmas songs say, and this Children’s Christmas record says it the best.

This was perhaps not the best children’s TV show ever.  After all, it WAS 1951.  As time moved on, Bozo would come along, and most cities had their own local Children’s shows as well.  On a national level, The Generation Y’s had H. R. Pufnstuf, The Millennials had Barney and the Gen Z’s had Blue’s Clues (which I thought was terrific in itself), but Howdy Doody was one of the first nationally televised interactive children’s shows.  And it was live.

This is going to be a difficult record to obtain.  Not really, you just have to search for a good copy on the internet.  Perhaps a yard sale would turn one up.  If you see one at a yard sale, buy it.  (Honestly, if the record is in poor shape, it won’t be worth owning.)  If you don’t want to keep it for yourself, you could take it to a record show and resell it.  But you should keep it.

As far as I know, this has never been released on CD.  There is a CD by Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody on Amazon, but it’s rather inexpensive (hint, hint) and I don’t know what’s on it.  There are other Howdy Doody LPs available on Amazon.  One is asking upwards of $200.00 and there is Howdy Doody’s other Christmas 45 from 1953 and they’re asking upwards of $200.00 for it.  That’s for a 45 rpm record!  It’s an EP, just like this one, so it has double the amount of music on it than a regular 45 rpm record would, but still…  I have a copy of it, but I didn’t pay anywhere near that, and it’s in mint condition.

I give this 45 EP :

*****

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