{"id":61817,"date":"2020-11-17T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T08:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=61817"},"modified":"2020-11-17T06:12:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-17T14:12:49","slug":"the-first-mickey-mouse-club-record-albums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/the-first-mickey-mouse-club-record-albums\/","title":{"rendered":"The First Mickey Mouse Club Record Albums"},"content":{"rendered":"

Say, Mouseketeers! Since Mickey\u2019s birthday is tomorrow, let\u2019s look at LP\u2019s that brought avalanches of songs to eager fans during the first and second Mickey Mouse Club runs.<\/p>\n\"\"\n

\n

MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM WALT DISNEY\u2019S
\nMICKEY MOUSE CLUB TV SHOW<\/strong>
\nOfficial Mickey Mouse Club Records<\/em> (Am-Par\/Disneyland) MM-12 (12\u201d 33 1\/3 rpm \/ mono)<\/p>\n

Released on January 22, 1958<\/strong>. Executive Producer: Jimmy Johnson. Producer: Camarata. Musical Direction: Buddy Baker, George Bruns, Arthur Norman, Camarata. Running Time: 44 minutes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Performers<\/strong>: Mickey Mouse Mouseketeers including Jimmie Dodd, Sharon Baird, Lonnie Burr and Tommy Cole; plus Ruth Carrell Dodd, Cliff Edwards, Thurl Ravenscroft, Betty Mulliner Luboff; The Mellomen, and The Arthur Norman Chorus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Songs<\/strong>: \u201cMickey Mouse Club March Theme,\u201d \u201cThe Mouseketeers\u2019 March (The Merry Mouseketeers),\u201d \u201cToday is Tuesday,\u201d \u201cAnything Can Happen,\u201d \u201cThe Mickey Mouse Mambo,\u201d \u201cHere Comes the Circus,\u201d \u201cThe Mousekedance,\u201d \u201cThe Pencil Song,\u201d \u201cThe Telephone Song,\u201d \u201cThe Pussy Cat Polka,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m No Fool (Mouseketeers & Chorus Version),\u201d \u201cYou the Human Animal,\u201d \u201cMickey Mouse Club Closing Theme (Alma Mater)\u201d by Jimmie Dodd; \u201cAnimals and Clowns\u201d by Larry Adelson, Imogen Carpenter; \u201cSimple Simon\u201d by Jimmie Dodd, Tom Adair; \u201cFun with Music\u201d (Alice in Wonderland Lost Chords Version) by Jimmie Dodd, Al Hoffman, Mack David, Jerry Livingston; \u201cThe Little Cow\u201d by Jimmie Dodd, Roy Williams; \u201cTalent Round-Up\u201d by George Bruns, Gil (Hazel) George; \u201cHi to You\u201d by Jimmie Dodd, Victor Skaarup, Sven Gyldmark; \u201cThe British Grenadier\u201d by Bob Amsberry, Muzzy Marcellino; \u201cDo-Mi-So\u201d by Jeanne Gayle, Ron Salt, George Bruns; \u201cOld MacDonald Had a Farm\u201d(traditional, lyrics uncredited); \u201cThe House That Jack Built\u201d (uncredited); \u201cSho-Jo-Ji,\u201d (traditional, lyrics uncredited); \u201cThe Boy at the Dike\u201d (uncredited); \u201cGet Busy\u201d (uncredited).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Things happened fast before and during the production of the original Mickey Mouse Club<\/em>. The Disney studio was already bursting with activity as the Disneyland series was making history on ABC, the park was opening and there were live-action movies on the horizon (for TV and theaters) as well as the long-awaited Sleeping Beauty. Even short cartoons were still an occasional occurrence. <\/p>\n

The Mickey Mouse<\/em> Club was the reason the Disney organization started a record company. The success of \u201cThe Ballad of Davy Crockett\u201d for other record labels was one of the things that Walt Disney Music Company president Jimmy Johnson was using as leverage to convince Roy O. Disney to bring the business in-house. Even though Crockett and Cinderella<\/em> (the studio\u2019s first animated feature with a score published entirely in-house) were bringing profits in and eliminating the middlemen, Roy was unsure. <\/p>\n

There had to be records made before The Mickey Mouse Club<\/em> premiered, but the casting was not finished. That\u2019s why certain Mouseketeers\u2014particularly Annette and Darlene\u2014are not showcased on the first album. Jimmie Dodd and a smaller group recorded a few songs at Capitol Records. What surely surprised listeners at home in the fifties (and with each reissue) was that a studio chorus of adults sang some of the most familiar songs, like the ones for each day (\u201cToday is Tuesday,\u201d \u201cAnything Can Happen,\u201d etc.). They sounded nothing like the TV versions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>They sounded like Little Golden Records. Specifically, the Little Golden Records recorded in Hollywood. New York Golden Records of the fifties had the distinctive Mitch Miller\/Sandpipers\/Anne Lloyd\/Jimmy Carroll style. California productions (for example, \u201cToy Parade\u201d from Leave it To Beaver, Roy Rogers-Dale Evans records and the late \u201850s Disney songs, like Johnny Tremain) had a completely different sound. Thurl Ravenscroft could he heard, as well as Betty Mulliner, then-wife of famed choral arranger Norman Luboff. The staff of Golden and Columbia were all colleagues and it is not out of the realm of possibility that the Golden Records credited to \u201cThe Arthur Norman Chorus\u201d are actually Norman Luboff. It was not unusual for music professionals to moonlight for one another as favors, especially when budgets were tight. The sonic evidence is quite strong in a comparison between actual Columbia children\u2019s records with Luboff backing (like \u201cI Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus\u201d) and the Golden Records.<\/p>\n

In 1955, millions of Little Golden Mickey Mouse Club Records<\/em> were sold, some pressed on orange plastic in addition to the familiar yellow. The identical music was also released on 78 rpm 10-inch and 45 7-inch records on the \u201cOfficial Mickey Mouse Club\u201d label. At first the deal between Disney and the ABC network allowed ABC\u2019s AmPar Records to manufacture and distribute these records.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A Little Golden Record sold for a quarter. They flew off the toy store shelves, as did the other records, which were also offered in special money-saving package promotions. Roy was once again seeing other companies gaining piles of profit. Disneyland Records was established in Spring, 1956 and soon the production, manufacturing and distribution of all The Mickey Mouse Club<\/em> Records were done by the Disney Studios (that\u2019s why some records have AmPar at the bottom of the back covers and some have Disneyland).<\/p>\n

By 1958, when the series had been on the air for a while and record sales might have been leveling off, it was decided to collect Mickey Mouse Club songs on long-playing records. To the delight of fans, an enormous amount of songs were crowded on each disc and they had generous playing times. Not all the songs from the singles ever made the jump to LP and collectors have had to settle for Little Golden Records on 78 rpm for some of the first songs.<\/p>\n

This album is divided into six sections with five or so songs each, nicely cut together with brief pauses so they play like peppy little medleys. <\/p>\n

As mentioned in an earlier Spin<\/a>, \u201cFun with Music\u201d is not at all like the televised song. The finished song was adapted from a Scandanavian tune purchased by Disney in an effort to have a quantity of music to use on the series. Songwriters David, Hoffman and Livingston first wrote it for the Caterpillar to sing in Alice in Wonderland<\/em> (with different lyrics) under the title \u201cEverything Has a Useness.\u201d <\/p>\n