Changes: Sesame Street discography

Revision as of 18:01, 3 June 2020

From its earliest planning stages, Sesame Street was designed to be a show that would use music and singing as a part of the material being taught. So it was only natural to release the musical content on records, not only to reinforce the curriculum lessons for children when they weren't watching the show, but also so that Sesame Street music could be enjoyed just for its own sake.

The Early Albums

The first six albums were released by Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records, both well-established major labels. These were deluxe albums, issued in colorful gatefold covers, usually with bonus material such as posters, lyric booklets, and photos and drawings of the show's characters. This arrangement lasted for the first five years of the show.

The Sesame Street Book & Record1970 Columbia Records

The Year of Roosevelt Franklin1971 Columbia Records

The Muppet Alphabet Album1971 Columbia Records

The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album1971 Warner Bros. Records

Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert1972 Columbia Records

Sesame Street LIVE!1973 Columbia Records

Other 1970s Albums

During the summer of 1970, as The Sesame Street Book & Record became a best seller, Bob McGrath and Loretta Long also released their own children's albums. While not part of the Sesame Street canon (even though they both mention Sesame Street on their covers), they also became well-known albums because of the show's huge popularity.

In 1975, K-Tel Records, known for their mail-order records of hits by various artists, became the first outside label to release an LP of songs from Sesame Street, drawn from previous albums.

Bob McGrath from Sesame Street1970 Affinity Records

Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street1970 Scepter Records

Sesame Street Records

In 1974, Sesame Street created its own series of records, on an independent label that was called Sesame Street Records, with a custom record label logo of the Sesame Street sign. These albums were manufactured by Children's Records of America from 1974 to 1976, and by Distinguished Productions from 1977 to 1984. Over 70 titles were produced over the ten-year run of the label. The catalog included reissues of all of the previous Columbia and Warner Bros. albums, although in less lavish packages than their original editions. At first, titles were only issued on vinyl, but over the years, they were also produced on cassettes and 8-track tapes. The Sesame Street Records label was shut down around 1984.

My Name is Roosevelt Franklin1974 reissue of The Year of Roosevelt Franklin

Pete Seeger & Brother Kirk Visit Sesame Street1974

Sesame Street 11974 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record

Sesame Street 21975 reissue of The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album

60 Favorite Songs from Sesame Street1975

Concert: On Stage - Live!1977 reissue of Sesame Street LIVE!

Letters, Numbers and Signs1977 reissue of The Muppet Alphabet Album, Numbers! and Signs!

Sesame Street Gold!1977 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record and The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album

On the Street Where We Live - Block Party!1978

Anne Murray Sings for the Sesame Street Generation1979

Somebody Come and Play on a Rainy Day1979

Bert & Ernie: Side By Side1981 reissue of Bert's Blockbusters and Ernie's Hits

The Count Presents Numbers1981 reissue of The Count Counts and Numbers!

Big Bird presents Hans Christian Andersen1982

Just Friends1982 reissue of Big Bird Sings! and Let a Frown Be Your Umbrella

Just the Two of Us1982 reissue of C is for Cookie and Grover Sings the Blues

Other 1980s albums

In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record1980 Warner Bros. Records

Sesame Street Treasury1980 Columbia House

Camping in Canada1981 (Released in Canada only) Kids' Records

Christmas on Sesame Street1986 CBS Special Products

Favorite Songs From Jim Henson's Muppets1986 Magic Video Publishing Company

Sight & Sound

Sometime after the Sesame Street Records label closed, many Sesame Street titles began to be reissued on cassettes by an educational company called Sight & Sound. While some tapes used the original cover pictures, others had new cover pictures. An important historical footnote during this period is that in 1987, the very first Sesame Street CD was produced, called The Best of Sesame Street, and it would be the only CD produced until the early 1990s.

What Time Is It on Sesame Street?reissue

Happy Birthday from Sesame Streetreissue

Golden Music

In 1990, titles began to appear on Golden Music, which was the music division of Golden Books. A mix of new titles appeared, beginning with tributes to Jim Henson and Joe Raposo, along with reissues of older titles. Golden's license lasted until 1994.

Cookie Monster and Grover: True Blue1990

Sleepytime on Sesame Street1990 reissue of Sleepytime Bird

The Sesame Street Alphabet Album1990 reissue of The Muppet Alphabet Album

Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration1991

Happy Birthday from Sesame Street1992 reissue

Merry Christmas: A Sesame Street Sing-Along1993 reissue of Sesame Street Christmas Sing-Along

A Sesame Street Sing-Along1993 reissue of Sesame Street Sing-Along!

Other 1990s albums

Bob's Favorite Street Songs1991 A&M Records

Sony Wonder

In 1995, Sony Wonder began issuing a new series of titles. This was looked on with interest by some Sesame collectors, since Sony owns the back catalog of Columbia Records, who put out the very first Sesame Street LP in 1970. While that album was not reissued on CD by Sony Wonder, the third Columbia album, The Muppet Alphabet Album, was reissued as Sing the Alphabet. However, one section of dialogue was cut which referred to turning the record over, which wouldn't make any sense to CD listeners.

The Sony Wonder years culminated with Songs from the Street, an elaborate 3-CD boxed set produced in association with Sony Music's Legacy Recordings. This set was full of classic and rare tracks both from records and from live performances on the show. It also contained a detailed booklet about the history of the show, written by Christopher Cerf. It was the first time Sesame Street had received the boxed-set treatment from a major label, although several multi-LP boxed sets had been released over the years on Sesame Street Records.

Sony Wonder continued to release new titles until 2004.

"C" Is for Cookie: Cookie's Favorite Songs1995

Monster Melodies1996 edited reissue of The Sesame Street Monsters!

Sing the Alphabet1996 edited reissue of The Muppet Alphabet Album

Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites1998

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland1999

Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music2003 Legacy/Sony Wonder

Happy Birthday from Sesame Street2004 reissue

Other 2000s albums

Are We There Yet?2004 Sony Special Products

Koch Records

In 2007, Koch Records announced that it would begin distributing Sesame Street titles. The first titles began to appear in 2008, with reissues of albums that had previously been released on Sony Wonder. In 2010, Koch Records, now renamed E1 Music, finally reissued The Sesame Street Book & Record as part of Old School: Volume 1, a collection of long-out-of-print early Sesame Street albums.

Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites2008 reissue

Old School: Volume 12010 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record, Big Bird Sings! and Bert and Ernie Sing-Along

Old School: Volume 22010 reissue of The Year of Roosevelt Franklin, Grover Sings the Blues and The Count Counts

Download-only Albums

Beginning in 2010, Sesame Street began to offer their back catalog of albums as downloads through Amazon.com and The iTunes Store. They also released the following new compilations.

Arts Music

In 2018, Sesame Workshop announced that Arts Music, a division of Warner Music (the company that also owns Warner Bros. Records), would begin to release new Sesame albums. The initial announcement stated they would be released on vinyl, CDs, and streaming services. Some of the initial compilations put out in fall 2018 were released as CDs but the majority of these compilations are only available via digital downloads and streaming, those are noted as such below. In 2019, Arts Music released What's The Number?, the first time newly-released music from Sesame in album form has been put out since 2004.

Other 2010s albums

A Special Sesame Street Christmas2012 Legend Group Records

Platinum All-Time Favorites2015 Entertainment One MusicVinyl reissue

Sesame Road2016 Entertainment One MusicVinyl reissue

In addition to the main library of Sesame Street music, over the years, original cast albums have been sold at the Sesame Street Live shows. See Sesame Street Live Discography for a chronological list of titles.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
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@@ Line 129: / Line 129: @@
 Image:SomebodyComePlayRainySet.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Somebody Come and Play on a Rainy Day]]''|1979}}|link=Somebody Come and Play on a Rainy Day
-Image:StarsLP.jpg|{{GNH|''[[The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street]]''|1979''}}|link=The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street
+Image:StarsLP.jpg|{{GNH|''[[The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street]]''|1979}}|link=The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street
 Image:SesameStreetWelcome.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Welcome!]]''|1979<br>reissue of ''¡Sesame Mucho!''}}|link=Welcome!
@@ Line 143: / Line 143: @@
 Image:BertAndErnieSideBySide.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Bert & Ernie: Side By Side]]''|1981<br>reissue of ''Bert's Blockbusters'' and ''Ernie's Hits''}}|link=Bert & Ernie: Side By Side
-Image:Album.bigbirdorchestra.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra]]''|1981''}}|link=Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra
+Image:Album.bigbirdorchestra.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra]]''|1981}}|link=Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra
 Image:CountPresentsNumbers.jpg|{{GNH|''[[The Count Presents Numbers]]''|1981<br>reissue of ''The Count Counts'' and ''Numbers!''}}|link=The Count Presents Numbers
@@ Line 420: / Line 420: @@
 ==Arts Music==
-In 2018, Sesame Workshop announced that [[Arts Music]], a division of Warner Music (the company that also owns [[Warner Bros. Records]]), would begin to make new Sesame albums on vinyl and CD's, and also make them available on streaming services, and as downloads.  These were the first new compilations of existing ''Sesame'' music since 2004. All of the songs are from previously released material, but some are on CD for the first time.
+In 2018, Sesame Workshop announced that [[Arts Music]], a division of Warner Music (the company that also owns [[Warner Bros. Records]]), would begin to release new ''Sesame'' albums. The initial announcement stated they would be released on vinyl, CDs, and streaming services. Some of the initial compilations put out in fall 2018 were released as CDs but the majority of these compilations are only available via digital downloads and streaming, those are noted as such below. In 2019, Arts Music released ''[[What's The Number?]]'', the first time newly-released music from ''Sesame'' in album form has been put out since 2004.
 <gallery widths=200 spacing=small navigation="true">
@@ Line 433: / Line 433: @@
 Image:Album-ChristmasTime.jpg|{{GNH|''[[It%27s Christmas Time! (album)|It's Christmas Time!]]''|2018}}|link=It%27s_Christmas_Time!_(album)
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-D is for Dance.jpg|{{GNH|''[[D is for Dance!]]''|2019}}|link=D is for Dance!
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-L is for Love album.png|{{GNH|''[[L is for Love!]]''|2019}}|link=L is for Love!
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-M is for Me.jpg|{{GNH|''[[M is for Me!]]''|2019}}|link=M is for Me!
+D is for Dance.jpg|{{GNH|''[[D is for Dance!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=D is for Dance!
-Album-SforSing.jpg|{{GNH|''[[S is for Sing!]]''|2019}}|link=S is for Sing!
+Album-FforFriend.jpg|{{GNH|''[[F is for Friend!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=F is for Friend!
-Album-FforFriend.jpg|{{GNH|''[[F is for Friend!]]''|2019}}|link=F is for Friend!
+Cracker_Barrel_vinyl_Grover%27s_Greatest_A.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Grover's Greatest]]''|2019}}|link=Grover's Greatest
+L is for Love album.png|{{GNH|''[[L is for Love!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=L is for Love!
+M is for Me.jpg|{{GNH|''[[M is for Me!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=M is for Me!
+Album-OForOscar.jpg|{{GNH|''[[O is for Oscar!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link+O is for Oscar!
+Album-QForQuiet.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Q is for Quiet!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=Q is for Quiet!
+Album-SforSing.jpg|{{GNH|''[[S is for Sing!]]''|2019<br>Download only}}|link=S is for Sing!
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+SSAlbum-WhatsThatNumber.jpg|{{GNH|''[[What's The Number?]]''|2019}}|link=What's The Number?
 </gallery>
@@ Line 444: / Line 451: @@
 Image:SpecialSSXmas-Album.jpg|{{GNH|''[[A Special Sesame Street Christmas (soundtrack)|A Special Sesame Street Christmas]]''|2012<br>Legend Group Records}}|link=A Special Sesame Street Christmas (soundtrack)
 Platinium-Record.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Platinum All-Time Favorites]]''|2015<br>Entertainment One Music}}Vinyl reissue|link=Platinum All-Time Favorites
+SesameRoadRecordStore.jpg|{{GNH|''[[Sesame Road]]''|2016<br>Entertainment One Music}}Vinyl reissue|link=Sesame Road
 </gallery>

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