Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?
I grew up with Sesame Street – hopelessly addicted. I spent endless afternoons religiously glued to the TV in kindergarden and later primary school. My fascination with Oscar, Big Bird, Terry, Elmo and gang waned when I discovered My Little Ponies. But that’s another story.
Once in a while, during secondary school and college, I’d catch a glimpse of that childhood while channel-surfing. Of course, the puerile TV dramas and variety shows always proved too much to resist. A familiar sense of boredom set in on a hot Sat afternoon lured me to the Net. Doesn’t it always begin this way? I was at my usual pretentious sites – Guardian.co.uk to be exact – when I read an interview with Feist. There’s the usual interview crap and it mentioned she appeared on Sesame Street singing her megahit ’1,2,3,4′ She’s not only the only one. Okay, I know celebs and musicians like Stevie Wonder and Johnny Cash have long appeared on Sesame Street. In this world of startling changes, especially in the media, it’s rare to see a ‘tradition’ is being continued. Call me sentimental, but I found myself on YouTube watching these clips.
Yah, yah, it’s lame to say I wanna be a kid again. I don’t. If anything, watching them as a cynical adult is kinda humanising. A rare moment to feel silly, happy and easily impressed again. Of course, the clips are also so damn cute!
Here’s Norah Jones singing ‘Don’t know whY’ searching for her friend Y:
And there are soft rockers Goo Goo Dolls:
Whiny James Blunt and his annoying song (that doesn’t seem so ‘balls-squeezing’ here) :
For some reason, I can’t Feist on Sesame Street! Can somebody upload it please?
Saturday morning countdowns
Back in teenhood, Sat mornings were great for watching MTV chart countdowns. It was as much a rite of passage as Sunday morning cartoons when we were mere tykes. I’m talking about the era of Brit rock and the Boybands – Oasis battled it out with Backstreet Boys overtaking Blur which knocked 911’s “Don’t Make Me Wait” off the charts two weeks ago. No judgement please, about the fact I know 911’s songs.
Until reality bit – work, adulthood, late Friday nights and a love for sleeping-in happened. There goes a fave teenage pastime. But last Saturday, I actually managed to watch MTV POP 20 from song #20 right up till the point when #1 song was unveiled. It was a pretty fun way to spend a lazy morning. In the age where youtube provides instant, on-demand MTVs of any song you want, there’s something nostalgic about sitting through 2 hours of MTVs. You endure the the sight and sounds of the singers and songs you hate, you get pleasantly surprised by a band’s too-cool MTV and you wait impatiently to see what’s ruling for this generation’s teenagers.
Here’s what stuck in my head from last Sat’s countdown.
“Invincible by Muse”: Fantastical, imaginative MTV. The “It’s A Small World” concept creates a magical, surreal and warped world where you can escape to and feel perversely invincible.
“Beautiful Liar” by Beyonce feat Shakira: Eeeks! Sooo tacky. Maxim/FHM readers will dig the constant thrusting, writhing and booty shaking of the two bodacious ones. Why can’t the stylist put them in nicer clothes? And the song is pretty awful too.
“Love Me or Hate Me” by Lady Sovereign: Very cool, very cheeky, in-your-face attitude from a 21-year-old British female rapper. What’s interesting is she hails from the London grime scene (a rap style derived from UK garage and Caribbean dancehall).
“How to Touch A Girl”by JoJo: The sappy kind of song love-sick teenagers will be flooding 987fm with.
“Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne: She’s cheery now! It’s bubblegum pop awashed with neon pink.
“Glamorous” by Fergie: She still looks bad in this “glamorous” MTV. Why Josh Duhamel shacked up with her is beyond my comprehension.
“Over it” by Katherine McPhee: Do all American Idol finalists get recording contracts? We’re inundated with sub-standard pop from these fame-seekers! At least she’s easy on the eye. Taylor Hicks anyone?
“Alfie” by Lily Allen: My favourite MTV of the lot. It’s cute and witty, and Allen has such an easy charm about her before the fashion contract and fame got to her head. Too bad she’s gone whacked. She recently posted a tirade on her MySpace site describing herself as “fat, ugly and shittier than Winehouse”. Doh.
