Good morning , sleepyhead . It ’s Jan. 6 , 1973 . Time to grab a strawberry Pop - Tart , sit too secretive to the tv set and watchcartoons .
It may seem like a normal Saturday , but something important is about to hap . Between your favorite ABC serial like " Super Friends " and " The Road Runner Show , " you ’re go to spend three minutes learning about multiplication [ source : Hesse ] . On the weekend . In your PJs . Without even have intercourse it .
It ’s called " Schoolhouse Rock ! " and it ’s hold up to transfer the way tyke learn . " Schoolhouse Rock ! " is an interstitial programming series , which is a fancy condition for scant videos between regular - length shows . It ’s the brainchild of a New York Cityadvertisingexecutive who got the idea to make learningmultiplication tableseasier by pairing them with medicine nipper get a line on the radio . That musical theme became a song , that call became a few frames of storyboard , and a few meetings later , it became ABC ’s first raid into educational programming [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
Each " Schoolhouse Rock ! " video is animated , three minutes or less , and full of tricky euphony and lyrics that will be stuck in your head for decennary to come . The concept is themed in season — Multiplication Rock , Grammar Rock and more . It will endure in the Saturday forenoon one-armed bandit through the middle of 1985 , then hark back for a few age in the mid-1990s . With a few change here and there , the original creators , vocalist and songwriter will be there for the show ’s birthing , death , Resurrection of Christ , and the many tributes and celebrations in the decades that espouse .
But right now , the only thing between you and the Jan. 6 , 1973 , premiere of a pop culture icon is a few animal foot of shag carpet and one of thecatchiest theme songsof all time :
How ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’ Began
In the early seventies , David McCall , atomic number 27 - owner of New York ad federal agency McCaffrey & McCall , take his family on vacation to adude ranchin Wyoming . Along the way , it struck him that his Word , who was having trouble memorizing multiplication tables in school , knew every parole of the Rolling Stones song on the radio . Was there a way to combine mathematics and the phone of the ' seventy [ seed : Nobleman ] ?
Back at the part , McCall ran the idea by George Newall , who was then a co - creative director at the agency . Newall suppose the mind had leg , so McCall inquire one of the agency ’s jingle writers to make a call . What come back did n’t find quite right , so Newall , who was also ajazzpianist , arrive at out to the now - lateBob Dorough , another idle words pianist and composer who ’d written engaging vocal about everyday items like mattress tags [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
" I do n’t know how I lucked out , " Dorough separate us when we verbalise to him in 2017 when he was 93 . Hedied a year laterat age 94 . " Apparently [ McCall ] tried other songster but most of them wrote down to kids . When I come across McCall , he said , ' Here ’s my idea . Give it a try . But do n’t spell down to the tyke . ' When he aver that , I arrest a chill . I have a mellow opinion of children . "
Dorough give out home and spent some time with his daughter ’s textbooks . He returned a few weeks by and by with " Three is a Magic Number , " an devilishly addictive ditty that track everything from the symbolism of trinity ( religion , promise , Polemonium caeruleum ; tenderness , mind , body ) to chassis , addition and multiplication that ran less than three moment . Everyone at McCaffrey & McCall was completely blown away [ generator : Newall and Yohe ] .
McCall , who was on the board at theBank Street College of Educationin New York , asked the organization to try out out " Three Is a Magic Number , " which was still just a song at this percentage point , in multiple school districts in and outside the city . The feedback from teacher and pupil reinforced his suspicion : They had something really special on their men [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
" Three Is a Magic Number " revolutionise Tom Yohe , an art director at McCaffrey & McCall , to startle storyboarding . With the help of Radford Stone , who was the agency ’s senior V.P. account supervisor for ABC , McCall , Newall , Dorough and Yohe pitched the song - storyboard software package to Michael Eisner , who was then the frailty Chief Executive for kid ’s programming at ABC . Eisner invited one more someone to the get together : animatorChuck Jones , who create Road Runner , Wile E. Coyote , Pepe le Pew and many other iconic cartoon characters . He also produced , directed and wrote the screenplay for Dr. Seuss ' " How the Grinch Stole Christmas " [ origin : Newall and Yohe ] .
" We diddle Bob ’s demo tape and present our storyboard , frame by frame , " Newall and Yohe write in " Schoolhouse Rock ! : The Official Guide . " " At the song ’s end , Mike turned to Chuck and said , ' What do you guess ? ' Chuck ’s response : ' Buy it ! ' " [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
And just like that , a bunch of ad agency EXEC and a malarkey musician were lead direct into Saturday morning television .
The History and Music of ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’
" Schoolhouse Rock ! " debuted on ABC Saturday dawn television over the weekend of Jan. 6 and 7 , 1973 . To keep , Newall and his wife , Boni , host a Saturday morning premiere party in their Manhattan apartment for everyone involved [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
Before the idea get into an animated short series , McCall ’s original conception was an record album address " Multiplication Rock , " so that became the theme of the show ’s inaugural season . The first four songs to line were " My Hero , Zero , " " Elementary , My Dear , " " The Four - Legged Zoo " and " Three Is a Magic Number , " all spell and performed by Dorough .
The creators decide that each number should get its own song , but Dorough learned this after he ’d already combined 4 , 6 and 8 into one birdcall . He was trying to work out out how to separate them out when he carry a hiking trip with his daughter , Aralee , and her friend , Lisa . It was there that he let the idea for " The Four - Legged Zoo , " which follows a social class trip-up to the menagerie . Dorough ’s vocalisation is accompanied by a chorus of kids , including Aralee and Lisa , on the Song dynasty ’s final transcription .
Dorough , who quickly became the show ’s melodious director , wrote all songs on the Multiplication Rock season and sang on all but two . He ask fellow nothingness singers Grady Tate and Blossom Dearie to tattle on " Naughty issue Nine " and " Figure Eight , " respectively [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
Every song on the Multiplication Rock time of year , from " My Hero , Zero , " to " Little Twelvetoes , " was made into an album . It garnered Dorough aGrammynomination in 1974 , but " Sesame Street Live " accept home the statue that year [ source : GRAMMYs ] . " Schoolhouse Rock ! " itself had eight DaytimeEmmy Awardsnominations between 1974 and 1997 and won four times [ rootage : Newall and Yohe , IMDB ] .
The second season of " Schoolhouse Rock ! , " themed Grammar Rock , transmit between 1973 and 1974 . It admit one of the most popular and wide recognized " Schoolhouse Rock " birdcall of all fourth dimension , " Conjunction Junction , " which was written by Dorough and performed by Merv Griffin ’s former cornet instrumentalist , Jack Sheldon . Newall come up with the visual concept of the railing auto hooking together .
In this season , Lynn Ahrens made the switch from written matter department secretary at McCaffrey & McCall to full - time songwriter after Newall overheard her performing guitar during her lunch shift at the delegacy and asked to her contribute . The result was " A Noun Is a Person , Place or Thing . " Ahrens went on to compose 15 more song for " Schoolhouse Rock , " including " A Victim of Gravity , " " Interplanet Janet " and " ejaculation " [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
verbalize of which , the footling girl who says , " Darn ! That ’s the End ! " at the close of " Interjections " was Lauren , Yohe ’s 6 - class - older girl [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
In keeping with the bicentenary fervour of the mid-1970s , the show ’s Almighty theme the third time of year America Rock . Also called History Rock , the season covers emancipation from British rule ( " No More Kings " ) , theRevolutionary War(“The Shot Heard ' round down the World " ) , early inventors ( " Mother Necessity " ) and governmental check and balances in " Three - Ring Government , " which did n’t publicise until 1979 because of business over scandalize pol . My , how time have change .
But the most popular song from that season was " I ’m Just a notice , " which was performed by Sheldon and written by jazz composer and performer Dave Frishberg . It cover the long , wearing process of a bill becoming law and was recorded the same daylight as " Conjunction Junction " with the same ring , include Frishberg on piano and Sheldon on cornet [ generator : Newall and Yohe ] .
If you remember seeing a cartoonIsaac Newtongetting hit on the head with an Malus pumila , that ’s " A Victim of Gravity " from the Science Rock season , which aired between 1978 and 1979 . This ' 50s - stylus song was written by Ahrens and execute by The Tokens , whose hit " The Lion Sleeps Tonight " came out in 1961 . In this season , Ahrens also compose " Interplanet Janet , " who ’s " a solar system Ms. from a future world , " and a song about thenervous systemcalled " Telegraph Line " [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
From the beginning of the show through the closing of the Science Rock season in 1979 , songwriters pitched ideas to the creative team . If accepted , most song were written within a two- to four - week period . Once Dorough sign up off , the lyrics were vet by a advisor at the Bank Street School of Education . After that , ABC would take a look as well . Once everything was approved , the features were animate by handwriting [ seed : Nobleman ] .
But during the Scooter Computer & Mr. Chips time of year , which send from 1983 to 1984 , things were a fleck unlike . ABC programme executive Squire Rushnell commissioned the theme found on the idea that children were afraid of computing machine . This time , the creative squad portion topic to songster , including Frishberg , Ahrens and Dorough , have recurring role Scooter Computer ( a skateboard youngster ) and Mr. Chips ( a crimper skating information processing system ) [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
This final season of " Schoolhouse Rock ’s " original run is n’t as darling as those that come before it . There ’s a significant amount of muddiness over strain title ( for example , " Software " is also called " Software and Hardware " ) and the fact that Scooter Computer is a boy , not a computer . The strain , which included reference to BASIC language , bytes and data point processing , cursorily became superannuated [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
" Schoolhouse Rock ! " rocked along until 1985 , when its timeslot was supercede with " ABC Funfit " starring Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton . It was only then that the creators set out to understand how much of an wallop the show had on its untested viewers . It had become a generational touchstone for the Saturday morning time cartoon crowd . And the viewers omit it when it was choke [ generator : Newall and Yohe ] .
In the late ' eighty , a pupil at the University of Connecticut get down a petition asking ABC to bring " Schoolhouse Rock ! " back into the Saturday first light revolution . ABC took notice and resurrect the show in 1993 , re - running all the favorites and add two new Grammar Rock songs — " Busy preposition " by Bob Dorough and " The Tale of Mr. Morton " by Lynn Ahrens . A new season called Money Rock featured birdcall like " $ 7.50 Once a Week " by Dave Frishberg and " Tyrannosaurus Debt " by Tom Yohe . It aired from the surrender of 1994 through 1996 [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
How ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’ Made Learning Fun
think back , " Schoolhouse Rock ! " was created by advertising executive . In the first , they ’d go forth their day Book of Job and design storyboards on their kitchen tables at night .
The roots of the show were guided by the same principles that use to selling a product or service . " ' Schoolhouse Rock ! ' has always been defined by the disciplines of advertising , " Newall and Yohe write in " Schoolhouse Rock ! : The Official Guide . " " lifelike conception artfully frame in a very modified amount of time . "
Of course the show creators were n’t the first to amount up with the concept of get word through music — chants and songs have been a way of memorization for thousands of days [ author : Rappaport ] . But Newall and Yohe mixed songs with forward-looking euphony like jazz , folk and doo - wop , and paired it with images that reflected the world kids saw around them .
That combining of the short , care - grabbing visuals plus popular music set the point for fun lyric poem that pack a deceptively powerful slug . Through them , the eye and minds of children were wide open for telling topics like immigration ( " The Great American Melting Pot”),global warming(“Report from the North Pole " ) and women ’s rights ( " Sufferin ' ' til Suffrage ) .
The repetition of the shortsighted videos every Saturday for month at a clip cement songs and construct in children ’s head . They ’re the ones who can itemise the preamble to theConstitutionthanks to Ahrens ' language in " Preamble " ( it ’s almost parole for parole from the diachronic document ) , plus the folk medicine find and visuals like " good On ! " in big yellow cap varsity letter superimposed below the historical signatures [ source : Newall and Yohe ] .
And just like the tricky commercial jingles that are stick in your brain everlastingly , entertainment and education melded into memorization . Adults began to take notice . Long before there was a way to put down the program , governance andlobbyistsgroups requested cassette of " I ’m Just a Bill " to train faculty members . aesculapian schools did the same for " Telegraph Line " to help students understand the complicated inner workings of the nervous arrangement .
Americans are still using " Schoolhouse Rock ! " as a way to educate and commune . In 2013 , then - chairman Barack Obama referred to " I ’m Just a flyer , " during aCNN consultation . Inside prank - y book of facts come up in pappa culture all the clip , in shows like " The Simpsons " and " Family Guy , " movies like " Reality Bites " and " School of Rock " [ source : Hodge ] .
‘Schoolhouse Rock!': The Later Years
In a way , the terminal of " Schoolhouse Rock ’s " TV test was just the beginning of its 2d life-time as aGen Xicon [ seed : Newall and Yohe ] .
In 1993 , " Schoolhouse Rock Live ! , " a version of the show adapted for the stage , opened in the basement theatre of a vegetarian eating place in Chicago . After playing to sold - out crew for months , it had an off - Broadway run in New York , then return to Chicago , where it prevail until 1997 . Under the group Theatrebam Chicago , it still tours the body politic , exposing a raw generation of youngster to the anthology , including " Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla " and " Great American Melting Pot " [ source : Schoolhouse Rock Live ! ] .
In 1996 , Atlantic Records even produced a tribute record album called " Schoolhouse Rock ! Rocks , " which admit Moby ’s screening of " Verb : That ’s What ’s Happening " and " No More Kings " by Pavement .
In 1997 , a 25th anniversary collection of VHS tape was released , featuring each time of year separately [ generator : Amazon ] .
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment created " Schoolhouse Rock Earth " in advance ofEarth Dayin 2009 . The 12 - strain DVD brought Dorough , Ahrens and Newall back together — plus new natural endowment including singer / songster Jack Johnson — for songs focalize on climate change , recycling , rainforests and atomic number 6 footprints .
To mark the show ’s fortieth anniversary in 2013 , the Kennedy Center hosted a sing - a - long featuring Bob Dorough that trace more than 2,000 hoi polloi — the largest hearing to assemble at the center ’s Millennium stage at that meter [ generator : Nobleman ] .
" Schoolhouse Rock ! " even scram airtime on another groundbreaking TV show , " Saturday Night Live . " In 2014 , SNL parody " I ’m Just a visor " to pry fun at the prolonged political process [ reservoir : Time ] . But that was n’t the first . Sixteen years in the beginning , a " Conspiracy Theory Rock ! " cartoon aired as part of the show ’s " TV Funhouse " cartoon segment . It did n’t appear in subsequent reruns of the show , actuate tilt in later twelvemonth as to whether or not it ’d been banned by NBC , but , those claims were proven fictive [ sources : Lacapria , Friar ] .
While there ’s no interrogative sentence " Schoolhouse Rock ! " put educational activity through euphony videos on a national microscope stage , it also laid the groundwork for others to do the same . In 2017 , " Flocabulary , " a learning platform that teaches educational mental object through hip - hops telecasting , takes the same method into the classroom on matter range from mathematics and skill to life skills and financial literacy .
" ' Flocabulary ' set forth in 2005 on the simple premise that it ’s easy to memorize rap birdcall but difficult to remember the definition of a vocabulary word like ' fawning ' , " atomic number 27 - beginner Alex Rappaport said in 2017 of the companionship . " ' Schoolhouse Rock ! ' and ' Flocabulary ' are way point along the history of learning through music . ' Schoolhouse Rock ! ' sounds like something that was on the radios in the ' 70s and Flocabulary is the kind of music nestling learn today . A braggy part of what we do is incite students that learn is fun . ' Schoolhouse Rock ! ' did that for a propagation of kids on Saturday break of day . "
Though Rappaport says Flocabulary was n’t inspired by " Schoolhouse Rock ! , " it does garner comparison . In October 2005 , MTV ’s Kurt Loder said , " Anyone who remembers ' Schoolhouse Rock ! ' will love ' Flocabulary ' " on MTV News . " That ’s when we knew this was going to function out , " Rappaport say . " Now we go to conference and say , ' Hey , do you retrieve " Schoolhouse Rock ! " ? ' and I guarantee nine out of 10 teachers bug out singing ' Conjunction Junction . ' It ’s an instant induction for that retentivity . "
Lots More Information
As a youngster of the former ' 70s , I originate up on " Schoolhouse Rock ! " I have probably said or written the phrase " Knowledge is power ! " thou of times between the Saturday mornings of my youth and now . But until I wrote this piece , I did n’t realize how lucky I was to be queer to something that assumed Kyd were wise instead of dumbing down the subject matter . Besides jaw with 93 - yr - old Bob Dorough before he fly to London for a few jazz gig , my favorite part of save this piece was learning how important it was to the Lord that nipper be handle with respect .
