In case this hasn’t come up already…
Here is the nearly-seven-minute clip from Sesame Street, year unknown but looks like very early 70s, of Stevie Wonder and bandmates performing “Superstition.” I just love the little kid who rocks out on the balcony with total abandon.
It’s been twenty years or more since I’ve seen an episode of Sesame Street. Any parents out there: is it still this hip?
Well, REM did Shiny Happy Monsters in the early 90s (?).
Stipe is scarier than the monsters…
Man, that was just…depressing.
YAHOO!
That has been one of my favorite “Sesame Street Moments” for YEARS! I haven’t even watched it, but I know exactly which kid you’re talking about.
Off to watch it now!
Thank you! You just made my day! 
It’s not quite as good IMO but it is still my favorite program for my kid. I can’t stand watching a lot of the dreck out there for kids but Sesame Street remains one that I will gladly watch along with him. My main complaint now is that it is too Elmo-centric but he’s the one the kids respond to best, I guess. I always liked the random ‘shorts’ segments best and there aren’t as many of those, but they still do toss in some of the old ones once in a while. There are still lots of guest stars and adult humor and great songs on it.
Can’t thank you enough for posting this. Awesome.
On that same note, anyone ever have the luck in finding the two cowboy muppets on Sesame Street who sing Billy Joel’s Tell Her About It? That’s the one I remember from when I was a youngin’.
That was truly awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been Googling but can’t seem to locate it just yet.
Thanks for taking a look-see, though! I’m sure that, given enough time, a copy will eventually make it to YouTube or one of the similar video uploads.
Meh. That came across as pandering. I like the Wonder clip, because it assumed that a straight-up musical performance of a non-novelty song will hold the kids attention for almost ten minutes. The REM song, they’ve got muppets bouncing around and cutsied up the song with different lyrics. (It’s Furry Happy Monsters, btw). Not nearly as cool.
Thanks for the link, though.
That was so cool!
I can assure you as a mom that watches several days a week with my child…there is nothing that hip on Sesame Street these days. Norah Jones sang something recently, but that was just a little muppet duet of an altered song.
I never really watched too often as a child. Was it always so muppet centered? Seems like there were more children on the show back then. I remember Big Bird and Oscar and a few others but now there are so many!
Yeah, but how often do you get to see a Kate Pierson Muppet?
Just a bump in case anyone else needs some good entertainment and a shot of nostalgia.
You would never find a TV show - much less a kids show - today which would show a seven-minute music segment, most of which is an extended funk jam! And today’s kids are poorer for it. Thanks a lot for posting (and for the bump). This is fantastic.
I don’t remember seeing this segment as a kid, but maybe that was the reason why I [del]stole[/del] adopted my mom’s “Songs in the Key of Life” album as my own.
Glad you enjoyed it. Would today’s kids sit through a 7-minute performance…by anyone? There’s a question.
I tend to think that the quick-cut TV of today may be more a cause of kids’ short attention spans than simply a reaction to them. One reason kids can’t sit through anything today is that nobody gives them a chance to.
IANA parent, or teacher, or child, of course…
That was awesome! Thank you so much for linking. You have to check out this one too. It certainly brings the funk. He is using a talk box in it. Stevie Wonder -Sesame Song
I, too, reappropriated my mothers Songs In The Key of Life double album. (ot)I didn’t realize that Gansta’s Paradise was virtually the same song as Past time Paradise.
Just because a record has a groove, indeed.
Now, get these songs out of my head (1, 2, 3, Sesame Street)
Great clip. Thank you for the link.
My kids are now past the Sesame Street age as my son is 6 now.
Sesame street has been made a little more limited these days. When it went on it was for a target audience of 3-6, now it appears to be aimed for pre-school with so much Elmo that it is much harder for adults to sit through.
I was 3 when it went on the air and my sisters* and some of their friends use to watch it with me for the cool music guests/number they would have on. I cannot imagine that being true anymore.
Jim
- My sisters are 10 and 11 years older than I am.