User talk:Merrystar

Parker Brothers Records!
Hey, Wendy! I was wandering around Worldcat and some other sites, and I stumbled across something. It looks like Parker Brothers did make records and tapes in the '80's! I found some Cabbage Patch LP's, and most importantly, I've got some new data on the Muppet Babies tape we have! I have to do some more digging to see if records and tapes had different numbers, but I think I'm on to something. So if you feel like looking around, search on "Parker Brothers Records" or "Parker Brothers Music" (I've seen listings both ways, but I can't confirm what the records and tapes actually say). I'm thinking this will also give us some leads on the book and record and book and tape sets that we've also found! It's funny how many toy companies were making records during the '80's! -- Ken (talk ) 05:50, 19 March 2008 (UTC)
 * What I think is funny is that records became toys, rather than something for grownups :). I searched a bit on Parker Brothers and found a ton of Cabbage Patch Kids, and a few odd other things  -- barbershop quartet for example.  Nothing MB or SS at the moment.  I'll keep an eye out :)  -- Wendy  (talk ) 02:28, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, there's always been some overlap between children's records and toys, going back to the 1800's, when the original talking dolls had little tiny wind-up record players inside them, activated by a pull string. (That's also how the old See and Says worked.  I know because when I worked in a store and we had to destroy some damaged merchandise, I got to break one open!  I don't know if the newer ones work with chips or something else.)  If you've never been to kiddierekordking.com, that's a really cool site full of stuff to read and look at.
 * I saw that quartet record. It looks like that was a real group in the '50's that was called "The Parker Brothers".  I wonder what else they did?
 * Do we have any Parker Brothers read-along sets already on here? I keep thinking we do, but I can't find them.  Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to ask you.  I saw a Playskool tape somewhere, and I think you added it.  Do you remember what that was?
 * I'm already thinking of some rare record stores that I'll have to check sometime, because I'm pretty sure that they have a really good kids' section, and I'm hoping that the back covers of the Cabbage Patch LP's will mention the Muppet stuff! -- Ken (talk ) 02:50, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Hickory Twinkle Alphabet Song
I'll have the final answer tonight, but I just wanted to mention that we're down to the last 10 CTW 45 picture sleeves! I can't believe it! Just for fun, I'm going to see how many have been added since I joined! Thanks for finding them! -- Ken (talk ) 19:11, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Follow That EP
Hey, Wendy, can you move the picture of the EP to the place I made for it in the singles list? I can never remember if it's thumb or frame, or what size to make something when it's that small. Thanks! -- Ken (talk ) 18:31, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Hey Ken -- sorry I didn't realize you hadn't copied over the picture. It's there now :).  -- Wendy  (talk ) 23:21, 15 March 2008 (UTC)

Faded Rainbows
Hey, Wendy! Over on the Muppet Discography, there are 2 promo "Rainbow" singles right next to each other that are the exact same label. One is just really dark or faded or something. I don't know which one I like better. On one you can see the whole label, but the other one is brighter. Can you pick the one that you think is the best, and then delete the duplicate? And then I'll fix the chart to combine the information. Thanks! -- Ken (talk ) 06:45, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I like the yellowish one better; less pretty in the chart perhaps, but much clearer on a clickthrough. I deleted the other one.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 03:13, 4 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay, thanks! Now both singles from The Muppet Movie have places in the chart, and they have promo pictures in the slots. Just for trivia, Atlantic promos used to have the same song on both sides, with different colored labels.  The mono side was red and white, and the stereo side was blue.  So right now we have one of each.  If we ever find the red and black stock copies, we can replace them.  I've looked, but I can never find a good picture.  I have the reissue, so someday I'll be able to put that one up! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:41, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

cleaning house
Hey Wendy, is this something I can delete? —Scott ( talk ) 01:11, 3 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Yup. It'd been replaced. -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:21, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Promo singles
Hi, Wendy! It's great to be back on! Anyway, I don't know if we talked about this a long time ago, but I wanted to bring up how we have promo and store stock 45's listed on the Muppet Discography chart. I feel that we should only have promos listed until we can find a store stock copy, or if there was no store stock copy, like for the very last Sesame 45's. The reason I'm bringing this up is because we've got promos and stock copies of the Muppet Movie and Caper 45's, and they're the same number. The only difference is that the promo copies have the same song on both sides, even though it's the same number. I realize that in some cases we have pictures of both, and I hate to lose them, because I really love record label pictures. But if we put every promo we find, that could theoretically double the size of the single entries. I was wondering how you felt about all this, because we also have some pictures in the wrong places, and I wanted to talk to you before we figure out which ones to keep. Let me know what you think. Thanks! Happy Leap Year! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:25, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I think we don't need separate entries for sure, but perhaps just note that both a promo and a store stock copy are available where appropriate. And definitely keep the store stock picture.  Happy Leap Year to you too!  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:46, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'm going to go through them and double check everything. How about if we put the promos on the song page?  Some of them are really hard to find, and I'd hate to lose them, especially the white label "Mahna Mahna".  I have both 45's, with both B-sides, so once I'm able to put them up, I will.  And did you see that Rich found the picture sleeve?  I thought it was a UK sleeve, but that's the American number!  I wish I could find somebody at Henson to talk to about the records!  I still swear that there have got to be 45's from The Muppet Show 2, and Rocky Mountain Holiday, and Manhattan (and maybe even Follow that Bird!) -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 05:42, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Happy Anniversary!
Hey, Wendy, guess what? One year ago last night, I joined the wiki! And you were one of the people who greeted me that night. So I just wanted to say thanks for all of your help, and for your fun conversations about records and other stuff this past year. Unfortunately, my computer doesn't like the new skin, so I haven't been able to do much the last couple of nights, but I'll still be checking in from time to time (like at the library, where I am now), so I'll still be around until I can take care of my technical issues. Thanks again for everything! This wiki is a lot of fun! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 20:13, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Christmas in February
Hey, Wendy, I hope you kept pictures of those tape lots, because I just stumbled onto something. Just for fun, I typed in "Christmas on Sesame Street" (without "Eve") into Worldcat, and guess what? I was right! It turns out that that's a Columbia Special Products tape from 1986, made up of songs from all the different Sesame Christmas albums! That would make sense, since between 1985 and 1987, a bunch of other Muppet stuff was coming out on Columbia, although this is the first Sesame material I've seen that was produced on Columbia in that period. So I'm hoping there's a record of this too, and now we have another album we didn't know about! I love how finding one thing turns into finding so many other things! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:22, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Hey Ken -- that picture was very blurry and small, so I didn't really think it was worth it. However I made a page for the album based on the worldcat entry.  You can fill in the details :o).  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 14:57, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

David sings!
Hey, Wendy, next time you're on eBay, look up Northern Calloway. Apparently he made records, too, unless it's a different guy, but I can't believe 2 people would have that same name. What do you think? -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 20:07, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

PS: It's Northern J. Calloway, but that's still a very unusual name! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 20:09, 9 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah I knew about the promo -- did I never mention it to you?? But I hadn't ever seen the commercial stereo version.  The seller thinks it's David; I'm inclined to agree.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 00:04, 10 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I'm hoping there's an album for this, too!  I feel like buying one just to hear what it sounds like! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 20:28, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

A personal note
Hi, Wendy! I was checking out the various wikis that are in the spotlight column, since I figured that Danny and Scott were involved with them. Then I was surprised to find that you were involved with Cloverfield and Wallace and Gromit! I don't know how you find the time for more than one wiki. I've got a whole notebook full of things I want to do on Muppet for future projects. By the way, how can Cloverfield have a wiki for just one movie? Is there enough stuff to write about?

Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you were interested in trading e-mails, so we could chit-chat about non-Muppet music, or astronomy, or whatever. If you're interested, I'll try to give you my e-mail in a way that hopefully won't attract spam! Thanks! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 06:55, 6 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Hey Ken -- I'm not sure I do have time for more than one wiki, but there it is!
 * Cloverfield will probably never be a big wiki in terms of numbers of articles, but it's certainly popular right now with the movie out. It's hard to say what will happen in the long run with it; my guess, is that if it does well enough there will be sequels, comics, blah blah blah etc.
 * If you go to my profile you can send an email to me with your address. But I should warn you that I'm horribly inconsistent about answering my email.   I keep trying to reform and failing utterly.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:14, 8 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Hmmm. I tried to e-mail you through the wiki a long time ago, but it didn't work.  It said something like "This person is not set up for this" or something like that.  I don't know if it was referring to me or you, but I just gave up.  I'll have to run some tests with Andrew, since we have each others' real e-mails, and we can see if it works right away.  I'll try it again soon! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:16, 9 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Mine wasn't set up to allow emails until last night when I changed it. So feel free to try it.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:18, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Uploading Problem
Hey Wendy it's Kyle here. I was wondering i'm having some problems getting my pics to upload. Everytime i get one uploaded it won't let me size it or do whatever to it. Would you know what it could be the that i'm doing wrong? Please help if you can. -- <font color="Blue">Kyle (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 10:37, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Hi Kyle. Was this last night? Other people were having problems last night with image upload, but it wasn't consistent from one to the next.  Mine (for example) wouldn't show up on pages for like 10 minutes after upload.  Are the images still on the wiki? I can look at them.  Otherwise try re-uploading one.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:41, 4 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Well Wendy. It's still not working. I'm going to have a Gladys (get it?) if i can't upload anything here. I enjoy this. I'll try and explain what it looks like.

Size Your Image Use the slider to select a thumbnail size, enter a caption and click Insert Insert original full size image Insert thumbnail Thumbnail Size

With the pic that i want to upload to Ken and it won't let me size it or nothing. It's a sqished pic of what i'm trying to upload. And that's all it says. Hope this explain what i'm talking about. Sorry to bug you about this. Thanks for any of your help Wendy. Glad to always be of help and help from you too. Talk to you later. -- <font color="Blue">Kyle (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 10:35, 4 February 2008 (UTC)


 * You're not bugging me at all :o). There are problems on all the wikis with thumbnails (specifically making an image smaller) right at the moment.  Some people have it only with recent uploads and it goes away after 10-15 minutes  - that's been my experience.  Other times it seems like any thumbnail at all is an issue, even on really old images.  So it's not just you, lots of people are really frustrated by it, and they will fix it... hopefully soon!  The image has uploaded just fine; if you put a link on Ken's talkpage Image:Ssalphabetback2.JPG like that (just copy and paste it from here), he can follow it.
 * I'll let you know if I hear that it's been fixed, ok? -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:48, 5 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks Wendy. I just got through or getting another pic on to Ken's page. Thanks again. -- <font color="Blue">Kyle (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 09:58, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

Multiple album titles
One last tech question for a while. I noticed that both "The Year of Roosevelt Franklin" and "My Name is Roosevelt Franklin" show up on the category of "Sesame Street Albums", but I can't tell how the page is able to do that. I combined "Sing the Alphabet" to the bottom of "The Muppet Alphabet Album", and I want to erase the duplicated stuff, but I didn't want to touch it until I asked you. I left everything pretty much as it was on both pages, but I didn't know what to put so both titles will show up on the category page. I also wasn't sure about how to rearrange the picture layout and stuff. So if you could look at it when you have some time, I'd really appreciate it! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:42, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * You can keep both titles in the category by leaving the category tag at the bottom of Sing the Alphabet when you erase the text and change it to a redirect.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:46, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I'm not following. Is there something I can copy?  I want to do the same for the early titles on Columbia and WB that have multiple titles, too.  Thanks! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:19, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * No, it's my fault. I'm tired and I get very terse when I'm tired.  Basically, after you copy over the text, I assume you want to leave the page as a redirect to the merged page, right?  So I just edited Sing the Alphabet to look like this:
 * #REDIRECT The Muppet Alphabet Album


 * That will send anyone who clicks on it to the merged page, but also leave it in the category. Is that clearer??  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:29, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, that's great! Now that I understand what it will look like, what you said makes sense.  I just never knew that you could do that.  Gosh, I'll be here a year in a few weeks, and I'm still learning stuff!  I really want to be able to document all variant titles of records, so that people who are looking for Sesame records on the Web will be led here, and people who already have one version can learn about alternate titles and covers.  I love how my favorite little corner of the wiki is becoming the most accurate guide to Muppet-related records in the world! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 07:44, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Questions
Hi, Wendy! I was wondering how you felt about a couple of technical questions that relate to the records:

1) How do you feel about putting all known releases of an album on a song page, even if a reissue has had a title change?  I was thinking that if somebody has Welcome!, and doesn't know that it's really Sesame Mucho!, that if they see the song pages, they'll think it's missing.  Would it be redundant to list both, since they'd both go to the same page anyway?  On a related note, now that we're getting new reissues in March, should we list Elmopalooza twice on its song pages, or put something like "Elmopalooza (1998)/(2008)"?

2) As far as putting formats in the boxes, for example, The Muppet Movie, which now has pictures and numbers for the LP, tape and 8-track, should we put all 3 format names and numbers in the blue box, or just put the LP, since it's right below the picture of the LP, and just keep all other numbers in the "Other Releases" section?  I'm asking because on some of them we've got LP and cassette numbers in the box, and I was wondering if we should move them once we get a picture.

I hope this all made sense and isn't too OCD! Thanks! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 07:18, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Hey Ken. 1)  I think I like your last option "Elmopalooza (1998)/(2008)".  For the title changes, since they do go to the same place I'd use a redirect I suspect that reads something like "Welcome!(1975)/Sesame Mucho!(1976)" or whatever on the page.
 * 2) I have a tendency to put either the LP or the CD in the box if there is one since it makes a nice square picture, and I think of those as the primary formats for whatever reason. Admittedly there are a few albums that came out first on casette only, and those would go in the box in that case.   I probably shouldn't be the only person consulted, but I'm for putting everythin else into the "other releases" section.  At least as long as we're collecting all these pictures.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:50, 30 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah, that's exactly how I was thinking about both topics, but I wanted to see what you thought. Concerning albums that have been retitled, something else has been bothering me since I got here.  I don't think that Sing the Alphabet should get its own page, since aside from the format, it's just a reissue along with all of the Columbias that later came out on SS Records.  And it's going to get more complicated in March, because for the first time, we'll have 2 different CD reissues of an LP.  And if Koch (hopefully) puts out other LP's in their entirety and changes their titles, this will come up again.  So I wanted to know how you felt about merging Sing the Alphabet to the bottom of The Muppet Alphabet Album.  I think that mentioning the cut dialogue about turning the record over (which wasn't on the Golden tape either) and mentioning the added track of Elmo singing "ABC-DEF-GHI" are still significant, but I think it's easier to explain all of these differences on the same page with the original, since the LP is still 99% complete, except for some track renumberings.  I would like to do it like how we have "Born to Add", where the reissues are so far apart, we need to deal with them individually (and maybe keep bigger pictures near each section).  By the way, while SS1 has had the most variations of LP's between 1970 and 1983, Alphabet has had the most variations on different formats between 1983 and 2008! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 05:47, 30 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Oh yeah. That should be merged; I suspect it's a relic article that we just hadn't noticed as we started cleaning things up.
 * Well I think LP variations are more fun, so SS1 remains my favorite :). -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:48, 31 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Yeah, I didn't know if somebody had given Sing the Alphabet its own page on purpose, since it's the oldest LP that exists on an (almost) uncut CD. I'm so glad we're talking about upcoming CD's!  These are the first "new" CD's since the wiki opened.  I think we're seeing a resurgence of classic SS material in the video division, and on the Web Video Player.  Koch is a small but well-known label that reissues things like old movie soundtracks and Broadway cast albums, so I hope they take the same historical view with the SS stuff.  I hope people are running it who are our age, and want the old stuff back in print!  I'm going to buy Alphabet and Platinum, just to see how the whole package will be presented, and I'm going to write to Koch to thank them for their efforts, and suggest other old Sesame stuff to do!  It can't hurt! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 05:52, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

The Best of Ernie
Hi! I didn't know if you knew that there was already a picture of the cassette of The Best of Ernie on the main discography page. I saw that you put a new picture on the album page for it. I didn't know which one you thought was better, so I just wanted to let you know. -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:14, 28 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh -- I hadn't noticed; I only checked the album page. I'll delete one.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:24, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Let's Geefle and Gonk this one!
Hey, Wendy! On a lark, today I took my own advice and was looking for records under "toys" on eBay. Well, guess what? I found this! This person's selling a record player, but they're also selling 4 of the boxed set versions of the Havin' Fun 45's!  I can't make out the numbers, but the couplings agree with what we already have! I'm not sure if the pictures are usable, but can you grab them for future reference? Thanks! -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 06:30, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Good catch! I'd seen that record player but not clicked through on it. I was able to grab a bunch of them, but the others were too severely cropped/distorted.  The only number I could make out was one we already know (of course).  Oh well.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:30, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Last night I was able to put all of my data together, so everything's on the chart now, except for the ones that are still missing pictures and catalog numbers.  So we now know that they were able to go from 6 45's with one song per side, and 1 45 with 3 songs on it (for the ones sold separately), to 5 45's with 3 songs each (for the box versions) in order to cover all 15 songs!  And all these years I never knew that! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:41, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Are We There Yet? Album
Hey Wendy. It's me Kyle. I saw where you had found an album called Are We There Yet? and wanted i thought i would help you out a little of what i do know about it. But i found someone who had it asked if i could have them send me the songs through my email. I kinda of wished i would of asked for a picture of the front but never did ask but it's was an exclusive for the "Four Points Sheraton." That's all i know about it. Maybe this will help you out. -- <font color="Blue">Kyle (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 10:38, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks Kyle -- that's actually good to know. It explains why it is such a short album.  Do you know if they sold the album, or passed it out if you stayed 5 nights or anything like that?  btw, it's good to talk to you again!  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:45, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I think so not for sure. Maybe i can get what's her face to help us. She's back on Muppet Central with some more albums she's gotten ripped to her computer that i'll be getting soon. I'll see what i can do Wendy. -- <font color="Blue">Kyle (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 11:27, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

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