Hey! you guys with kids .....

[Marc Decho]

so yesterday was a holiday for us in Canada (labour day) so I got to hang out with my 21/2 year old daughter and see what she does during the day, I got up with her REAL early and we proceeded to veg out and watch TVO kids in our pj's, and I don't exactly remember what the show was called, I think it had a duck named Pete in it, but the theme song was sooooooooo surprisingly funkay! it was a guy playing a doublebass line and then overdubbing it with electric bass, doin' all these Jaco'esque funky lines...fantastic right ?! and during the show was all this real swanky jazzed out doublebass.... I even yelled out ...damn! that's great! as my wife strolled in the room busting her gut laughing...anyone else watch funky cartoons with their kids ??

[Mike Goodbar]

There’s a show on Nickelodeon called “Little Bill,” the creation of which Cosby was involved in, I think. Much of the music is cool jazz played on a bass built by our own Mr. Arnold Schnitzer. My kids have outgrown it, but I still turn it on occasionally just to hear that.

Other than that, there’s no more cartoon music that grabs me. Like many others, I was weaned on Looney Tunes and Carl Stallings, the reason for which I can hum everything from “Overture to The Barber of Seville” to “Hello, My Baby.”

[hdiddy]

I don't have kids but I'm home on weekday mornings I like catching an old episode of Mr. Rogers just to hear John Costa play Art Tatum-ish lines to the show's themesong. It floors me every time how different it's played each episode.

And not so much for kids but, has anyone seen the Anime "Cowboy Bebop"? There's alot of jazz influences in the movie and tv series. In the title theme you can hear some bassist playing some really fast DB lines with a lotta thump and growl. Not to mention it's a pretty cool Sci-fi/James Bond/Bruce Lee series set way in the future.

[Marcus Johnson]

Little Bill's cool. Don Braden did that one, I think.

I still like Schoolhouse Rock (Bob Dorough), and who could forget Toots playing the Sesame Street theme? John Costa on Mr Rogers, that was some serious playing.

My kids (ages 7 & 11) have outgrown TV altogether, for some reason. They never watch it at all, unless they do a movie night with an occasional DVD. They're painting, writing, playing and singing music, playing outside, all kindsa s**t. Where did I go wrong?

[Eric Jackson]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

...Where did I go wrong?

Monopolising the only computer?

[farmerdude]

Oh yea...
I watch the toons with my girls on Saturdays. Actually lots of good music but I always look forward to The Backyardians...groovy.

[Marc Decho]

for the best and most creative music ever in a cartoon, for your money you've always got to go with the Loony Tunes....bugs bunny, road runner, and co. that stuff set the bar for cartoon muzak!....it still blows my mind every time I catch an episode....funny too cause I heard an interview with John Zorn and that was his first and biggest influence in his own writing and composing, building these individual blocks of sound that incorporate every kind of music that struck him

[hdiddy]

Originally Posted by Marc Decho

for the best and most creative music ever in a cartoon, for your money you've always got to go with the Loony Tunes....bugs bunny, road runner, and co. that stuff set the bar for cartoon muzak!

Alla dat stuff was composed by Raymond Scott. If you've never heard of him, you should check him out. He's a genius. He was the first to invent electronic music (I think the Mellotron came first) because he wanted complete control over the entire band. I think he was frustrated that musicians weren't playing everything EXACTLY the way he wanted it.

If I remember correctly, Carl Stalling was a fan of his and found that Scott's music fit the cartoons perfectly. If you listen to stuff like "Powerhouse", there's actually enough material in just one of Scott's tunes to supply several Looney Tunes. There's a CD out there with over a dozen Raymond Scott tunes. Of all of them, I think they only need 2-3 tunes to provide all the compositions for most of the Looney Tunes.

Check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_Scott

[arnoldschnitzer]

The bassist on "Little Bill" is Bill McCrossen, a wonderful player now residing near West Point, NY.