What good are flying fingers if they're wrapped around a duck?
February 9, 2007 6:24 AM   Subscribe

Put Down the Duckie! A silly, jazzy song from the Muppets, featuring an all-star cast. Careful: it may change your life? [First Link = YouTube, Awesome]
posted by papercake (49 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
...just realized that the IMDB cast list is for the special that this song comes from. Not all of the people listed do cameos in the video. But, c'mon... Jeremy Irons? Dancing?!?
posted by papercake at 6:25 AM on February 9, 2007


Jeremy Irons dance is cute
posted by Substrata at 6:38 AM on February 9, 2007


I always liked that song.
posted by caddis at 6:44 AM on February 9, 2007


Is this something I would have to have a duckie to understand?
posted by veggieboy at 6:44 AM on February 9, 2007


I loved that song as a kid. Brings back some memories, and made me do a search for this.
posted by sephira at 6:45 AM on February 9, 2007


The syncopation made me wonder what Django Reinhardt could've done with.
posted by pax digita at 6:59 AM on February 9, 2007


Oh, and...veggieboy...here, feed yo' haid!
posted by pax digita at 7:03 AM on February 9, 2007


I love that there's a trumpet solo in the middle. Not a sax solo, but a trumpet solo.
posted by hamfisted at 7:09 AM on February 9, 2007


Those cameos are great!... I don't think anyone ever says "no" to Sesame Street.
posted by amyms at 7:22 AM on February 9, 2007


Man, I haven't seen that in many, many years. Thanks.
posted by koeselitz at 7:22 AM on February 9, 2007


The standard of music on Sesame street was always high, and that song was a good example. Loved it then, love it now. Thanks.
posted by QuietDesperation at 7:26 AM on February 9, 2007


Man I miss Joe Williams. How great is Jane Curtain's little shawl-dance? And, Itzhak!
posted by nicwolff at 7:29 AM on February 9, 2007


You know, I first saw that when I was about eight years old and had no idea who any of those people were. Pete Seeger, fer cryin' out loud!

Also, I'm incredibly amused by the brief clip of Wynton Marsalis near the end "playing the trumpet" like a Muppet would.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:10 AM on February 9, 2007


The standard of music on Sesame street was always high, and that song was a good example. Loved it then, love it now. Thanks.
posted by QuietDesperation at 9:26 AM CST on February 9


Worth repeating.

Put down the duckie if you wanna play the saxophone.

There's some deep zen wisdom in that statement.
posted by Ynoxas at 8:26 AM on February 9, 2007


That was the best damn video ever. I can't believe it.
posted by Milkman Dan at 8:29 AM on February 9, 2007


(One of) The (many) great thing(s) about Sesame Street is that they made it watchable for parent and tot.

Though it seemed a little forced here... Ladysmith Black Mambazo appearing out of nowhere was pretty strange. But if this one was made while I was still a kid (not sure it was), I'm sure I took it completely in stride :)
posted by poweredbybeard at 8:35 AM on February 9, 2007


Wow, there's a Muppet wiki. Who knew?
posted by dreamsign at 8:40 AM on February 9, 2007


Sesame Street is the only reason I'm remotely ok. Thanks papercake.

Amen to that.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:44 AM on February 9, 2007


Celia Cruz: "Suelta el patito!"

hee
posted by CrazyLemonade at 8:50 AM on February 9, 2007


Pass the duckie on the left-hand side?
posted by milquetoast at 8:52 AM on February 9, 2007


In much the same spirit, I offer y'all "Furry Happy Monsters" -- everybody get up 'n' dance!

One of 'em even has a sort of Kate Pierson thing goin' on....
posted by pax digita at 9:12 AM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


That was awesome. Great post!
posted by runningdogofcapitalism at 9:18 AM on February 9, 2007


They laughed at me when I said I remembered a Grover at the disco sketch. Who's laughing now? Ha!

Man, I've been looking for that one for years.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 9:51 AM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


poweredbybeard: IIRC, that particular special was done about the time that Ladysmith was making a big splash stateside, and they did a lot of stuff with the Muppets. This is my favorite one. My (now 9) year old loved this when he was learning his alphabet.

My teenager blames Put Down the Duckie for her fascination with the saxophone (that, and genetics -- I still play).
posted by jlkr at 9:55 AM on February 9, 2007


That was fifty different kinds of awesome. Sesame Street rocks!
posted by kamikazegopher at 9:55 AM on February 9, 2007


Totally loved that! Great song. Delightful cameos. It was packed with stars! Jeremy Irons wasn't so dour, he seemed lithe and almost joyous. Everyone, almost, was skinnier, Wynton Marsalis, John Candy, Paul Simon, Danny DeVito, Itzhak Perlman. Cute to see PeeWee in his heyday.
Gee that was fun.
posted by nickyskye at 9:59 AM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


Ladysmith! Chairy! Mookie! PETE FUCKING SEEGER!

Losing... consciousness... awesomeness... overloading....

(thud)
posted by hifiparasol at 10:02 AM on February 9, 2007


If you liked "Put Down the Duckie," you must see Monster in the Mirror, also with a substantial celebrity cast (including the Simpsons).
posted by cerebus19 at 10:18 AM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


Ok, I'll contribute. Now try getting THIS ONE out of your head! I dare ya!
If you listen, Lullaby of Birdland is in there!
posted by miss lynnster at 10:19 AM on February 9, 2007


My baby brother was obsessed with the video of this name. I was too because of the James Taylor song on it. Those blue eyes! Whooooeee.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:28 AM on February 9, 2007


The Great Big Mulp: Why oh why can't I find my long lost "Me Lost Me Cookie At The Disco" then??
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:31 AM on February 9, 2007


Ooooh, after checking the other links I just had a flashback of perfroming Rubber Duckie for my entire family during Christmas dinner when I was about 4, after learning it from the Sesame Street album.

So surreal to realize I still know every single word and note of instrumentation on that video...
posted by miss lynnster at 10:34 AM on February 9, 2007


Wasn't so much of a surprise to see Jeremy Irons dancing and singing - he used to present UK kids show Playaway (Youtube link)
posted by kumonoi at 11:15 AM on February 9, 2007


Ernie got the message. It was Pee Wee Herman who, in the end, proved unable to put down the duckie.
posted by bicyclefish at 11:50 AM on February 9, 2007


...and, by the way, how excited was I to see a cameo by Yosh Schmenge?!
posted by bicyclefish at 12:02 PM on February 9, 2007


I've always liked this one a lot.
posted by cmgonzalez at 12:40 PM on February 9, 2007


Oh bicyclefish, I totally forgot about them!
posted by miss lynnster at 1:38 PM on February 9, 2007


Why oh why can't I find my long lost "Me Lost Me Cookie At The Disco" then??

Ambrosia Voyeur, you are in major luck.

I have that song. In fact, I have the rest of "Sesame Disco" and all of "Sesame Street Fever" on MP3. I have both the ripped-directly-from-the-vinyl versions (with amateur but respectable noise-cancelling algorithms applied) and the not-as-warm-sounding-but-pristine Japanese import CD versions. And if you want me to send you a copy, drop me a line to my e-mail.

Furthermore, I used to run a website that prominently featured that song (see the MeFi discussion thread on it). And the first link in your Google results, with the lyrics, was transcribed by yours truly (see bottom of that page).

I listened to the song in the car yesterday, while driving to work. :-)

I took the site offline several years ago, after I started working at Disney; I was afraid of a conflict of interest, as Disney was in the process of buying the Muppets at that exact time*. But I was more afraid of getting in legal trouble; the Henson Company knew about my fansite and was okay with my posting the music, but I doubted Disney would have been.

* coincidentally, the purchase was overseen by a friend of mine, and my husband's high school prom date, who also worked at Disney
posted by Asparagirl at 4:54 PM on February 9, 2007 [2 favorites]


"Don't be a stubborn cluck!"

Ingenious. Awesome.
posted by armoured-ant at 5:13 PM on February 9, 2007


I HATE Keith Hernandez!!!
posted by evilcolonel at 5:24 PM on February 9, 2007


Asparagirl, I do have the MP3. The Japanese version I'd think. I work out to it. You are still awesome. I hope for video to appear someday. The wiki has an image from the scene, but I don't know whether it ever did appear on the show for sure.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 5:28 PM on February 9, 2007


Okey dokey. I too don't know if they ever showed the video on "Sesame Street", but I do know that the earlier "Shaft" parody "Cookie!" was shown, and is available on YouTube. That one was released as a single in 1977, though the B-side was unremarkable, but its success led to the full-length "Sesame Street Fever" album the next year. Also, the Christopher Reeve episode of "The Muppet Show" did feature another "Sesame Disco" track, "Disco Frog", starring Kermit, but I don't believe that's on YouTube yet.

I'm really happy to find a fellow fangirl. :-)
posted by Asparagirl at 5:41 PM on February 9, 2007


It's got a beat, and I can dance to it... I give it a 10.

Ah, the memories.
posted by deCadmus at 8:01 PM on February 9, 2007


Sesame Street was loaded with great music.

Remember, Animal vs. Buddy Rich? (omg, Not in English.....so turn the volume down)

also
I got new way to walk
posted by caddis at 8:44 PM on February 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


missing words and syllables can be found in the last video - jeez, that was bad
posted by caddis at 10:07 PM on February 9, 2007


Being married to a foreigner, I've had to teach him the ways of Sesame Street.

The most heartwarming being when I was in the hospital (for chronic health stuff) in Iceland and I was all freaked out of my mind that my mother wasn't there, so my husband asked me to teach him some songs from my childhood to make me feel better. The first song I could think of was the Rubber Ducky song.

He still sings me the Rubber Ducky song sometimes when I've had a bad day or I'm having trouble falling asleep.

I finally showed him the video on YouTube a few months ago, it was a glorious moment where a huge chunk of my childhood finally made sense to him.

Thanks for this, Sesame Street has a big giant place in my citrusy heart.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:09 AM on February 10, 2007


Ernie had a very special relationship with his rubber duckie.
posted by booksandlibretti at 6:40 PM on February 10, 2007


Asparagirl, you're my hero, today.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:37 PM on February 10, 2007


aw, shucks.
posted by Asparagirl at 10:49 AM on February 16, 2007


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