Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD [Live]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Arthur the Aardvark, of author Marc Brown's creation and of the Emmy Award-winning cartoon series, descends into his basement to make a home recording with the aid of his best buddies: bossy Francine, precocious D.W., and other favorites from the program. Many songs are instantly recognizable from the show, including the popular reggae-inflected theme song, performed by Ziggy Marley. Also on hand are songs from the 1998-1999 season, such as Art Garfunkel's "The Ballad of Baxter Bunny." Arthur and his friends reinforce positive messages: respect for self and others, creativity, open-mindedness, and a deep-rooted sense of fun. Moreover, little ears are exposed to a wide variety of rockin' music styles, from rap to a cappella doo-wop, glam rock to folk, and the wonky, kiddie indie rock of D.W.'s favorite song, "Crazy Bus." --Paige La Grone

From Parents' Choice®
Fans of the popular children's TV show will enjoy these musical slices of fictional life based on the adventures and personality quirks of Arthur the kid aardvark, D.W., Buster, Francine, Binky, and the gang. Includes the theme song sung by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, and Art Garfunkel singing "Ballad of Buster Baxter." A 1999 Parents' Choice® Recommendation. (Lynne Heffley, Parents' Choice®)

Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD [Live]

Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD, Music, Various Artists, Children's, Childrens, Pop

Average customer rating:

I LOVE Arthur

Looking for the Crazy Bus Song?

Entertaining and Educational.

FANTASTIC-A MUST HAVE

a sneaky way to educate the kids

Arthur And Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Rounder / Umgd
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Reggae | International | Styles | Music
General | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Compilations | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Rounder Records | Specialty Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix

Arthur's Perfect Christmas

Arthur: The Music Video

Arthur: Arthur's Perfect Christmas

Arthur: Arthur's Baby

Accessories:

Locked in the Library!: A Marc Brown Arthur Chapter Book 6 (Arthur Chapter Books)

ASIN: B00000DAH0
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Theme Song - Ziggy Marley And The Melody Makers
Library Card - Michael Yarmush
Crazy Bus (No Way!) - Michael Yarmush
Arthur Vs. The Piano - Michael Yarmush
The UFO Song - Daniel Brochu
Meek For A Week - Jodie Resther
Jekyll And Hyde - Luke Reid
My Dog Pal - Michael Yarmush
Matalij Ja Mustii (The Binky Song) - Michael Yarmush
Crazy Bus (I Said No, D.W.!) - Michael Yarmush
My Night Light - Bruce Dinsmore
Go To Sleep - Michael Caloz
Thinking Tune - Luke Reid
Lucky Pencil - Michael Yarmush
Homework - Authur Holden
Poetry Club - Jodie Resther/Daniel Brochu/Michael Yarmush
The Ballad Of Buster Baxter - Art Garfunkel
Leftovers Goulash - Michael Yarmush/Michael Caloz/Bruce Dinsmore
Crazy Bus (What's This Doing Here?) - Joe Toolbox Fallon

Amazon.com

Arthur the Aardvark, of author Marc Brown's creation and of the Emmy Award-winning cartoon series, descends into his basement to make a home recording with the aid of his best buddies: bossy Francine, precocious D.W., and other favorites from the program. Many songs are instantly recognizable from the show, including the popular reggae-inflected theme song, performed by Ziggy Marley. Also on hand are songs from the 1998-1999 season, such as Art Garfunkel's "The Ballad of Baxter Bunny." Arthur and his friends reinforce positive messages: respect for self and others, creativity, open-mindedness, and a deep-rooted sense of fun. Moreover, little ears are exposed to a wide variety of rockin' music styles, from rap to a cappella doo-wop, glam rock to folk, and the wonky, kiddie indie rock of D.W.'s favorite song, "Crazy Bus." --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

I LOVE Arthur.......2007-06-08

Arthur is a show that's entertaining for all ages I think. The songs are hillarious and fun. Nothing makes me happier than listening to good ol' Arthur singing about a library card.

Looking for the Crazy Bus Song?.......2006-12-15

For those of you who watch the Arthur TV series on PBS, I'm sure you have heard the "Crazy Bus" song in some of the episodes. Sometimes you might think, hmm, does the song "Crazy Bus" really, really exist? I had that kind of thought when I first discovered this CD two years ago. Before I even bought it, I thought I was going to like it right off the bat. And after listening to the audio samples off the Internet, I knew I was going to like it then. So I bought it, and I loved it - every single track! I even like the "Crazy Bus" song, which is D.W.'s favorite song. But Arthur says that song is "annoying," according to a letter written by him you will find on the back cover of the album. If you're wanting to find "Crazy Bus," this is the CD you're looking for!

This CD contains songs from the PBS hit animated Arthur series, and they are sung by the actual Arthur characters. Most of the songs were baced on episodes from the first 4 seasons of the program. That's right, you'll get to hear Arthur (voiced by Michael Yarmush), Buster, Francine, Binky, the Brain, Mr. Ratburn, and D.W. sing their songs on this fun CD. In the liner notes that come with the CD, not only can you sing along with the songs, you get to see the characters comment on some of the songs. You'll see the characters comment with speech bubbles for the songs. Also, near the back of the liner notes, you'll find a list of the voiceovers who provided the characters' voices for the show at the time the CD was produced. And further more, you'll hear familiar singers like Ziggy Marley and Art Garfunkel.

Theme Song: Arthur says it's his favorite song. Sung by Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers.

Library Card: This song is heard in the episode, "Arthur's Almost Live, Not Real, Music Festival." You hear a lot of the Arthur characters in this song.

Crazy Bus (No Way!): D.W. begins to play her favorite song, but Arthur says it's not going to be played on the CD.
It's the second shortest track.

Arthur VS. The Piano: As I heard this song, I imagined Arthur himself practicing the piano. The song had a little bit of classical bits like Beethoven. My favorite lyric was "I'm sorry, Mr. Bach." Near the end, Arthur thought he hit a wrong note, but he liked the sound and begins to get down while playing the finale.

The UFO Song: Those who watch the Arthur show know that Buster is crazy over aliens, outer space, and UFO's. I liked the harmonica music in that song.

Meek For A Week: Francine sings about the time when Muffy made a bet with her that she couldn't be nice for an entire week. Based on the episode of the same name.

Jekyll And Hyde: Another song from the "... Music Festival" episode, the Brain sings about a time when he read a book which made him dream he became that character. The electric guitar music heard in the song really revs it up!

My Dog Pal: This is really a series of short songs on one track. It begins with Arthur singing about his dog, Pal. Then D.W. says that it's boring and she tells Arthur to sing something else. And then Buster, Brain, and Francine make him change the song again and again. It all leads back to Arthur's first song - about Pal. It's a musical chain reaction!
Based on the book and TV episode, "Arthur Writes a Story."
This is the longest track on the CD.

Matalij Ja Mustii (The Binky Song): There are no lyrics for this song in the liner notes because it's sung in Finnish. Heard in the episodes, "Binky Rules" and "Meet Binky." The actual artist who sang the song is from Finland, Varrtina. This is one of my favorites off this CD. Even though I don't understand the song, I liked the melody and the music.

Crazy Bus (I Said No, D.W.!): Once again, D.W. wants to play her favorite song. Arthur stops her again. This is the shortest track of all - it lasted for about 12 seconds.

My Night Light: Binky sings about how his night light keeps him from having nightmares at night. I liked the lyric "I love my night light more than I love ice cream." I thought it was funny and cute at the same time, and it's my favorite lyric. Based on the Arthur episode, "Night Fright."

Go To Sleep: In this song, D.W. tries to put her baby sister Kate to sleep. She doesn't sing her a lullaby, she tries putting her to sleep with Rock and Roll music! Before I even heard the whole song - I heard the audio samples of course - I had a feeling that her mom would tell her to be quiet when the song was over. I was right on the dot! Try putting a baby to bed with THAT music.

Thinking Tune: There was no singing at all, in fact, there wasn't even any music. There was just the sound of a diggery-do, which almost makes you want to meditate. Brain says he likes to think, and I agree. No wonder they call him THE BRAIN!

Lucky Pencil: Arthur sings about a time when he found a pencil that gives him good luck. He soon finds he doesn't need such a charm like a pencil for luck, you just have to believe in yourself. I once had that kind of experience. The song is based on the TV episode, "Arthur's Lucky Pencil."

Homework: Mr. Ratburn, the teacher, loves to sing about his favorite subject, HOMEWORK! This is another song from the "... Music Festival" episode. Compared to the song heard in the episode, it's slightly longer on the CD.

Poetry Club: As heard in the episode, "I'm a Poet," we hear Francine, Buster, and Arthur recite poems that they wrote themselves. Again D.W. pops up to try to get a little bit of for "Crazy Bus" song on the album.

The Ballad Of Buster Baxter: Sung by Art Garfunkel of Simon and Garfunkel, it tells the story of when Buster went on a trip around the world with his dad. Based on the episode of the same name.

Leftovers Goulash: Sung to the tune of the Carmon opera and other classical melody bits, Arthur sings about his dad who is a cook. Unlike other cooks, Arthur and D.W.'s dad makes pretty disgusting concoctions for dinner. This is yet another song from the "... Music Festival" episode.

Crazy Bus (What's This Doing Here?): Finally, we get to hear the entire "Crazy Bus" song. I didn't mind it at all when I heard the whole thing for the first time. But when the song was over, Arthur wanted to call on Mom for D.W. playing that song. Unfortunately, the CD was over!

I loved the whole, entire CD! I could listen to it again and again and I'd never tire of it. It's one of my top 5 favorite albums I've collected over the years. Arthur and Friends is a recommendation to those who have read the Arthur books and watched the television series. I give the whole album - all the tracks - an overall perfect 10!

Marc Brown, YOU RULE!!!

Entertaining and Educational........2006-09-15

Taking a cue from the PBS animated show on which it is based, ARTHUR AND FRIENDS is an entertaining and educational album of music that both children and adults can enjoy. The only song that comes close to resembling a typical children's tune is "Crazy Bus" which is the last song on the album and "wasn't supposed" to be on the album (according to Arthur). Many of the tunes are quite catchy and most are filled with educational nuggets, e.g. "Library Card" is a song full of gold nuggets ranging from Ray Bradbury to Dr. Suess waiting to be mined.

A few of my favorite tunes include:

"Theme Song"

"Library Card"

"Jekyll and Hyde"

"MataliJ Ja Mustil"--a song sung in Finnish. This is my favorite song on the entire album (and I don't even know a word being sung).

"Homework"

This is a wonderful children's album great for fans of the series and anyone who enjoys entertaining & educational children's music.

FANTASTIC-A MUST HAVE.......2006-04-24

My son absolutely ADORES this cd. Since he was 3 months old he has loved to watch Arthur on PBS. If he's way past tired or on a long road trip this calms him down INSTANTLY. It has the real theme song not that regaee version. And Art Garfunkel singing The Ballad of Buster Baxter is incredible. We couldn't live without it. I'd recommend to EVERYONE!!!

a sneaky way to educate the kids.......2006-01-13

i'm a high school senior (almost 18 yrs old) and arthur remains hands-down one of my favorite tv shows. i've adored it since late elementary school, when it first came out, and all the songs on the cd are quite familiar to me. my friend just gave it to me over the holidays because it was pretty much the first music anyone has ever seen my self-conscious self dance to.

what i must really note, however, which has amazed me for years and that others seem to have overlooked, is that arthur and the songs on this cd are often clever satire or social commentary. while this is something i could talk about for hours, i really want to point out that "leftovers goulash" is a medley that combines lyrics about arthur's dad's crazy dishes with famliar tunes from mozart and the opera carmen. furthermore, the homework song sounds a great deal like a temptations song and the piano song is great fun based on the famous "do-re-mi" from the sound of music as well as pieces of "fur elise" and other well-known piano tunes.

this is an awesome way to introduce musical classics to your kids. i know it did so for me! =D

Music: