Pinball Number Count



The Pinball Number Count is a series of animated segments that debuted on Sesame Street in episode 0989 (broadcast on February 22, 1977). Each entry follows a pinball as it goes through an extravagant pinball machine, while the Pointer Sisters sing a counting song. The lyrics count up to the number twelve, with each segment focusing on a different number.

Animation
Animation was made for numbers two through twelve; a segment for number one was never produced.

The “Pinball Number Count” segments contain common beginning and ending sequences showing the launch of the pinball into the machine and the exit of the pinball from play, respectively. Between these two sequences are different number-specific animated narrative showing the pinball in play. This middle segment features a scene in which a number of contraptions moved the pinball about the interior of the machine. These scenes are tied to a theme, such as an amusement park, a jungle, a forest, a European medieval area, a desert, US landmarks, international landmarks, a golf course, a circus, a baseball game, and a farm.

The segments were produced and animated by Jeff Hale's Imagination Inc. The animation was directed by Hale, who also developed the concept and design for the segments. The actual animators included Ernie Fosselius. The animation recalls contemporary psychedelic and pop art styles, typified by the ornate pinball bumpers, colorful geometrical motifs, and whimsical themes and devices inside the machine.

Music
The music for Pinball Number Count was composed by Walt Kraemer, who also served as producer, and was arranged by Ed Bogas. The vocals were provided by the Pointer Sisters. The arrangements in the eleven films reflect musical idioms commonly found in 1970s urban culture, predominantly funk and jazz, though other styles including Caribbean steel drum music are also represented. The number-specific middle sections contain one of three different improvised instrumental solos over a basic progression featuring soprano saxophone, electric guitar, and steel drum. The vocals work in similar fashion with wild lines from the Pointers shouting the various numbers from 2 to 12 at different intensities each time the pinball hit a selected target.

The 2000 Sesame Street home video Let's Make Music features a segment with Elmo and Telly sitting on the stoop of 123 Sesame Street singing the song accompanied by cast members of the musical Stomp using push brooms as instruments. This led into the 12 segment, which had pinball sound effects added.

In 2003, as part of the show's 35th anniversary, Sesame Workshop and UK- and Canada-based electronica label Ninja Tune released a 12-inch vinyl record for the DJ collectors’ and beat diggers’ market titled Solid Steel Presents Sesame Street. The maxi-single included a new remix of "Pinball Number Count" combining all 11 sketches and all three versions of the solo section into one extended track. Ninja Tune also produced a video remix for the DVD ZenTV and, for a limited time, also had a 1,280-by-1,024-sized computer wallpaper available for downloading. Strictly Kev, part of DJ Food, re-edited the song for the new mix.

This reworked and remastered DJ Food edit was featured on the Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music collection; according to producer/composer Walt Kraemer, this was because a clean master track of the original recording did not exist. The remix video was released as a bonus feature on What's the Name of That Song? and Sesame Street: Old School: Volume 2.

Outside references and covers

 * A tribute song by Stephen Lynch titled "Jim Henson's Dead" was released on his 2000 album A Little Bit Special. In it, Lynch incorporates the tune and lyrics from the song into a myriad of other Henson and Muppet references.


 * The Dead Hensons, a San Francisco Bay Area band, covered "Pinball Number Count" and has performed the song in concert.


 * A cover of "Pinball Number Count" was released by the band Wicked Hemlocks on its debut album, Quill of the Mad. Stick in Your Spokes Records, 2007. NPR described it as "a brilliant and completely surprising cover."


 * The jazz-funk-rock trio Big Organ Trio recorded an instrumental cover of “Pinball Number Count.”


 * In 2004, a techno-style video-audio remix of the song, cut together with footage from the Beatles animated feature Yellow Submarine was released on the Internet by a UK group called Braces Tower.


 * The 2005 Family Guy episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz" features its own remake of the cartoon with character Stewie encased inside a plastic ball in place of the pinball.

Releases

 * Audio
 * Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music (DJ Food Re-Edit -- Special Extension by Strictly Kev)
 * Solid Steel presents Sesame Street (DJ Food Re-Edit -- Special Extension by Strictly Kev)
 * Video
 * The Great Numbers Game -- #12 segment.
 * Let's Make Music -- #12 segment.
 * What's the Name of That Song? -- DJ Food remix (as a DVD bonus segment).
 * Shalom Sesame: Passover -- #10 segment in Hebrew.
 * Sesame English: Rock On -- #5 segment
 * Old School: Volume 2 -- #2 segment included as part of episodes 1056 and 1186, and #4 segment and DJ Food remix included as season 7 classic cuts. Additionally the set includes a collectible reproduction of a Pinball Number Count animation cel.
 * Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days -- #7
 * Online
 * Sesamestreet.org -- 2 through 12 (except #5) (SS.org video playlist)
 * Hulu -- #9 and #4

Although mentioned in the packaging and promotional material for Old School: Volume 1, "Pinball Number Count" is not actually included on the set.