Random Coloring Page of the Week

Here's this week's random coloring page. This time around it's from The Six Million Dollar Man coloring book. It's a great picture of the one and only, Oscar Goldman. What kid didn't want to color him?!

Jaimie Summers Sings

Well, not really. Instead we offer you this Power Records version of The Bionic Woman. Though not as successful as the Six Million Dollar Man Power Records, this album still stands up in terms of entertainment. As with the other Power Records, the original cast from the television show is not here. Instead a highly trained group of voice actors (many of whom appear on most other Power Records) take the task of telling the heroic stories of the Bionic Woman. Here it is for your listening enjoyment! Enjoy! Power Records - The Bionic Woman

The Best of The World of Wonder:The TV Guide Fall Preview circa 1978

There was a time when the first days of the fall were looked upon with eageriness in the world of television. TV Guide usually came out with their Fall Preview Issue and that was all a television junkie needed to keep themselves occupied for the next month. The fall preview showcased all of the new and returning shows on all three networks (remember, these were the great days of only ABC, CBS and NBC. All other channels were just reruns and old movie). Each show got its own page complete with a synopsis, promo photo and air dates. It was beautiful!
Which brings me to today's sharity.Here for you now, from the golden decade of the 70s comes the Peter Pan Records' "Themes From Hit TV Shows". This was a favorite album of mine then and now. It features studio musicians doing their versions of the popular themes of the day including Welcome Back Kotter, Happy Days, MASH, Chico and The Man, SWAT, Laverne & Shirley and Baretta among others. I present it for you now in all of it's original glory! Enjoy!

Themes From Hit TV Shows

Jeff Wayne's Musical Trek

Continuing on with my Star Trek related posts, I re-upped one of my favorite albums of all time. Way back in the early days of the World of Wonder, I posted this album with this description:

This was one of my favorite albums as a kid and it still holds a giant place in my heart today! It's Jeff Wayne's Space Shuttle playing The Theme From Star Trek and The Planet of The Apes. It features funky versions of these tunes as well as the themes from Batman and Superman and a few original tunes that have titles such as "The Ape Planet" and "Beyond The Outer Limits".

As a kid, this was constantly on my turntable and whenever I put it on to this day, it makes me smile. Here it is for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Jeff Wayne's Space Shuttle - The Theme From Star Trek and the Planet of the Apes

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 14

After hearing El Vez sing about Poncho Claus yesterday, we settle down for an older treat today. Open the flap and see what's behind door #14. Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 14

Safety Lessons From Our Favorite HB Characters

I feel like I am a little late in posting this after hearing about all of the horrors that went on on Black Friday. But back in 1973, Hanna Barbera released a record with tips from many of their characters on how to be safe. The original album came with a coloring book and a poster. While I have neither the coloring book or the poster, I do have the album and it's pretty cool. All together there are 36 lessons to be learned from the likes of Wilma Flintstone, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, Snagglepuss, Peter Potamus, Barney Rubble, Touche Turtle, Magilla Gorilla, Wally Gator, Dixie, Fred Flintstone, Huckleberry Hound, Boo Boo Bear, Riccochet Rabbit, Augie Doggie, Elroy Jetson and more. So take their advice and stay safe. Here is "Hanna Barbera presents Hear See Do". Enjoy!

Hanna Barbera Presents HEAR SEE DO

“Now Here’s Something We Hope You’ll Really Like…”

There have been a number of children’s records based on cartoons. Today we share one that features Bill Scott, June Foray, Paul Frees and all the rest performing the voices of Rocky, Bullwinkle and the other characters we’ve come to know and love. This tells the story of how Rocky and his friends put this record together by way of original songs and audio from a few of the old cartoons themselves. This one popped up on the ol' playlist in the car the other day and my son thought it was great. In fact, he kept having me repeat the first track over and over because he loved it so much. As a result, I share it with you today. Here is "Rocky & His Friends". Enjoy!

Rocky & His Friends

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2011!!!

Halloween-A-Thon 2011: A Monster of a Good Time!

It's not exactly the perfect Halloween weekend here in CT since we were hit with a freak snow storm yesterday. However, that doesn't mean the fun can't continue here at the World of Wonder. Today we have a triple dose of fun for you all. Monsters in print, monsters in song and monsters in breakfast cereal! First up is a great issue of the classic magazine, "Famous Monsters of Flmland". I have a few issues of this great magazine but the reason I chose this one to share is the super cool cover! Next up is a Dickie Goodman album entitled, "The Monster Album in Stereo". Goodman was most famous for a series of "break-in" records he created from 1956 to 1986. His two biggest hits were "The Flying Saucer" and "Mr. Jaws". In between, in 1964, he managed to deviate from his formula and put together this collection of ditties. And finally, fans of the 1970s cereal monsters can rejoice in the sounds of their favorites, Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry as they listen to their adventures. These are from two cardboard records that came on the backs of the cereal back in the 70s. Enjoy!


Famous Monsters of Filmland Issue #3

Dickie Goodman - The Monster Album in Stereo

Cereal Monsters Cardboard Records

Halloween-A-Thon 2011: A Double Shot of The Addams Family in Print

You can't celebrate Halloween without the Addams Family. Whether you are a fan of the TV show, the original Charles Addams comics, the movies, the cartoon or the Broadway show, you have to include them somehow. I've been watching the first season of the tv show all month and am loving it. To me, that's the true Addams Family. I love the original comics but have no time for the films. I originally wanted to see the Broadway show but the more I hear about it, the less I want to go. (if you want to go, you should go soon. It's closing at the end of the year). Today I bring you the original television line-up in an article from Monster World Magazine. It's from 1966 and features a great cover story on the show. It also features an awesome photo-comic version of the Hammer "Horror of Dracula" (that's better than the story on the Addams Family in my opinion). In addition, you get the 80s sticker book from the cartoon of the Addams Family. Though I was never a big fan of the cartoon, this is a pretty cool sticker book. It comes complete with paper dolls of Wednesday and Pugsly. It has the original look of the family from the Charles Addams' comic. Here they are for you as part of Halloween-A-Thon 2011. Enjoy!

Monster World Issue #9

The Addams Family Sticker Book

Halloween-A-Thon 2011: Scrappy's Ghost Story

Halloween-A-Thon 2011: The Voices of Horror (re-up)

As a kid, I was drawn to story albums and spoken word recordings. As you can tell by a lot of my posts, I still am. One of the ones that always caught my eye as a kid was a 1963 Wonderland Records release entitled, "Famous Monsters Speak". I would see it at the store and in ads in my comic books but alas, never obtained it in my youth. It would take me until the 21st Century (2003 to be exact) to obtain a copy for myself. It was well worth the wait! Voiced by former Dead End Kid, Gabriel Dell, the album consists of two tracks. The first (side 1) deals with the invention of a recording device that allows us to hear the thoughts of Frankenstein's Monster and the second (side 2) tells the tale of a reporter who has been entrapped in Dracula's Castle. The stories are real works of art in that they maintain an integrity not often found in children's records. They hold up well to this day and actually give great side stories to the original film versions of both characters. The Frankenstein story is very interesting in that it deals with the Monster's feelings towards his creator and his life, a side of the story that was included in the original Mary Shelley novel, but not portrayed in the Universal film version. I can't say enough great things about this album so I'll just say, here it is for your fright filled October enjoyment! Here's "Famous Monsters Speak". Enjoy!

Famous Monsters Speak

Bake The Hall In The Candle of Her Brain

Yesterday, my son and I were out driving around listening to "The Muppets Present: The Frog Prince." It captured my little two year old's ear and he eagerly awaited every new track. Just to be sure that I wasn't imagining him paying attention to the story, I asked him about it later on in the day and he recounted the whole plot and even a few items that I had forgotten. It brought a smile to my face to know that he was enjoying what was coming over the sound system. It also furthered my happiness in knowing that we have the old fashioned audio stories to listen to rather than having a DVD player in the car. Here is that same audio that we listened to yesterday (that he is still talking about today). It's a combination of the original soundtrack album and the soundtrack from the actual television special from 1971. Here is "The Muppets Present: The Frog Prince". Enjoy!

Jim Henson's Muppets Present: The Frog Prince

I Have Pooh On My Blog

In the last half of the 90s I worked in a high school as a Resource Room Tutor. One day I happened to be walking down the hall wearing a shirt with Winnie The Pooh on the upper right hand corner. The teacher on hall duty saw me and said "You have Pooh on your shirt" to which I replied, "Oh jeez, I thought I had washed all of it off!" The joys of double entendre! Anyway, I told you that to tell you this; Winnie The Pooh was a favorite character of mine as a child and I couldn't go to bed without my stuffed Pooh Bear. I am happy to say that my son now shares this love of the character and it gave me a reason to digitize some of my Disney records so that I could put them on his i-pod and listen to them with him. One of those records I share with you today. It's the story of "Winnie The Pooh and Tigger, Too!" Like "The Story of Star Wars" and others, this is a story with the dialogue and music taken right from the soundtrack to the film. Before VHS, DVD and On-Demand, this was the only way to relive the films or tv shows at home over and over again. I share this with you in hopes that you not only enjoy it, but that you share it with your little ones. Here is "Winnie The Pooh and Tigger, Too". Enjoy!

Winnie The Pooh and Tigger, Too

Pirates, Captain Flint! Pirates!

As a kid, I loved going to the library. I loved reading but I also loved checking out records. The library in the town I grew up in had an amazing record selection and my favorite section was the spoken word section. Not so much for the records where someone famous was reading some famous author's works but because this section housed all the old time radio records and story records. One record that I checked out repeatedly was the story record to the Disney classic, "Treasure Island". I had seen the film on "The Wonderful World of Disney" and fell in love with it. Since this was long before the DVD or even the VHS tape, the only way I could enjoy the film over and over again at my leisure was to check out this record whenever I wanted to relive the classic story of Treasure Island. For years I looked for the record and could not find hide or hair of it until I was in a really cool record store in Seattle a few years back. As with all things of this nature, I now see it everywhere. Of course, it doesn't matter now that I own it. I present it for you now. Here is "Treasure Island." Enjoy!

The Story of Disney's Treasure Island

Classic Television Episode of The Month: Danger Mouse

Enjoy!

Happy Fathers Day From The Love Daddy!

I was in a record store a while back and happened upon a children's record by Red Buttons. The first thing to hit me when I saw the cover was that it was titled, "Love Daddy". What made it even creepier was the fact that it had a picture of Red looking into a little girl's eyes. Upon further inspection, I realized that it was meant to say "Love, Daddy" as it was a collection of poems Red had written for his little girl. Why they left out the comma is beyond me. I know in 1974, when this was released, the term "Love Daddy" had no other connotations but over the years that has changed. Even the back cover reads "Red Buttons: Love Daddy". The next thing I noticed about the cover was the sub-text, which reads "Poems for my daughter and other little people." Again, in 1974, "little people" referred to children. However, 37 years later . . . you know what I'm getting at. Anyway, the album is actually a nice collection of silly rhymes set to corny music that tends to be quite entertaining. I'm waiting to play it for my "little person" but I strongly encourage you to play it for yours. Because of the way the album is set up, there really are no tracks so I ripped it as side one and side two. Here, for your listening pleasure, is "Red Buttons: Love Daddy".

Red Buttons - Love Daddy

The Best of the World of Wonder: Hippety Hoppity Easter's On Its Way!

And what better way to celebrate than with the only Easter album I've ever owned, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail". This ditty came out in 1975 on the Mr. Pickwick label. It features the Mr. Pickwick players and singers. In addition to the title track, there are plenty of fun time tunes about Easter and all of the great things that are associated with it and even features a little "acting" in the form of the story of Peter Rabbit, the Ugly Duckling and The Little White Duck. The back cover tells of how Easter is celebrated all over the world! A true gem! This is the original release straight from my childhood! Happy Easter!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

And The Accordion As Bob Janitor!

I am not afraid to admit that I am a Weird Al fan. Not that you couldn't guess that but I have been a true fan of Al's ever since he first came to fame in the early 80s. I was, at one time, an incredibly rabid fan of everything he did. Over the years, I have still been a fan but not to the extent that I used to be. Not to say that he isn't as good as he used to be, it's just that I have kind of lost touch with what he is doing these days. There was a time when Weird Al was as big as Madonna. MTV gave his career a gigantic boost and he in turn raised the bar for music video. It was during this time that he released what I like to call, the long lost Al project. It was a classical album. You heard me. A classical album. Actually, it was a classical album aimed at kids. It was Al doing "Peter and The Wolf". Well, it was Al narrating Peter and The Wolf. The amazing Wendy Carlos (who was at one time Walter Carlos) provided the music. Well, most of the music. There is a slight bit of Al playing accordion on the record. You would expect a parody version but for the most part, Al plays it straight. There are a few jokes thrown in here and there and, as I said, an accordion part that was not in the original piece, but mostly it sticks to the original story. It's a great treasure that kind of went by unnoticed. I present it for you now. Here is Weird Al and Wendy Carlos with "Peter And The Wolf". (they also tackle "Carnival of the Animals!) Enjoy!

"Weird Al" Yankovic & Wendy Carlos-Peter And The Wolf

BONUS:
Here's the fake trailer for the Weird Al bio pic courtesy of funnyordie.com!

"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" from Aaron Paul

Disney's Trick or Treat