Throwback Friday: Sesame Street 40th Anniversary Tribute “Somebody Come and Play”

Before there were channels like Nickelodeon and Disney and Noggin, there was just good old public broadcasting (PBS).  Before there was cable and VCRs and DVDs and DVRs to watch children’s programming there was PBS.  Through PBS, we were introduced to what became an international phenomenon “Sesame Street.”  Today, Sesame Street is still going strong as it celebrated 40 years on air.  How many shows out there can make that claim?  What a beautiful legacy to pass on from generation to generation.

There’s a million songs I could have picked, but I chose “Somebody Come and Play” because I remember that being a song I’d sing to myself when I couldn’t go outside, or just playing with my dolls in my room listening to those 45s that came with the book that had the Tinkerbell sound letting you know it was time to turn the page (remember those?), or waking up on a weekend morning and being so excited to go outside and play all day.

Funny side story.  When I was at Morgan State, I remember browsing through some antique shops with one of my besties at the time and we ran into the Sesame Street record.  It had a bunch of classic songs and the album jacket served kind of as a book cover with pages inside with pictures and words to each songs.  “Somebody Come and Play” may very well have been on that album, but I know it had the “Rubber Duckie” song and Big Bird‘s “ABCDEF-GHI.”  My mom had bought me that album when I was a kid and she used to also take it to play at the schools where she taught.  Anyhoo, my bestie and I made this pact because we both wanted to buy the album (not even thinking that finding a record player would soon be virtually obselete) and there was only one copy.  He got to buy it, but we both agreed that whoever has children first would ultimately get to have the Sesame Street album.  Funny, neither of us has kids…also something we didn’t think about.

Oh, I just found the album cover on the internet.  Gotta love technology!  And, yes, it does have “Somebody Come and Play.”  My goodness!  It was released in 1970! (before I was born for those starting to do mental calculations).  For you youngins or old folks going down Memory Lane with me, take a look.

Sesame Street is an American educational children’s television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. Sesame Street is well known for its Muppets characters created by Jim Henson. It premiered on November 10, 1969, and is the longest running children’s program on US television. The show is produced in the United States by the non-profit organization Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers. (source: wikipedia)

Without further ado, here’s this week’s Throwback Friday post “Somebody Come and Play.”

The original version

Version sung by Ernie

I thought I also remember a version with a young girl with a high voice singing it, but I didn’t see it on YouTube.

1969 to 2009 and still going… Wow!

Related Links

• Ifelicious Thoughts– all Throwback Friday Posts
• Muppet Wiki– Sesame Street Discography
• The Original Sesame Street Lyrics Archive– Albums Listing
• Sesame Street official website– History of Sesame Street
• PBS Kids– Sesame Street
• Washington Post– DVD Review “Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days”
• IMDB– Sesame Street
• National Geographic– Sesame Street Goes Green at 40–But Warming “Too Scary”