ECLECTICA #9: SCHOOL DAZE
compiled May 1999 by Paul Estin

This one took a while to compile.  I'd had the idea for quite a while of making 
a mix with "school classes and education" as a theme, but the danger was that 
it'd all sound like one long lecture, albeit one by Animaniacs and Schoolhouse 
Rock.  While those sources are indeed represented here, along with other 
expected artists such as They Might Be Giants and Tom Lehrer, I think I've 
succeeded in breaking up the musical pace enough to provide for enjoyment over 
the course of multiple listenings.  And yeah, you might even learn something, 
too. :)

The tracks are ordered roughly from the beginning to the end of school (i.e., 
preschool to grad school), and are also grouped by loosely-related topics.

John Forster starts with the preschool admissions process in "Bye Bye Future."  
Then it's a well-known blues tune in a decidedly less well-known form with 
"School Day" from the album "The Simpsons Sing the Blues."

Time for math, with Blind Melon's cover of "Three" from Schoolhouse Rock and 
continuing with two tracks I've been meaning to place back-to-back for years, 
Tom Lehrer's "New Math" and Animaniacs' updating "Multiplication."

Next is a track I've loved for years, "The Book Report" from the soundtrack to 
"You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown."  It's actually not very Peanuts-y; instead, 
it plays more like a Matt Groening cartoon, presenting four types of report 
writers, the word-counter (Lucy), the pseudo-intellectual (Linus), the person 
who actually writes a different assignment (Schroeder) and the procrastinator 
(Charlie Brown).  Apologies for the poor quality of this recording, by the way-
the only copy I have is on an old LP.

Science is next.  "Victim of Gravity" is possibly my favorite Schoolhouse Rock 
song.  Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" is not only a great silly song in and of 
itself, but it provided the model for other "list" songs.  For example, there's 
the Animaniacs' "The Planets."  But before we get to that, there's my favorite 
song from The Splendour Bog, "Gospel Rock," combining geology, metaphorical 
romance, and a really awful pun.

Social studies.  Another Animaniacs list song follows, "Yakko's World," and 
shortly thereafter, "The Presidents."  Sandwiched between them is the Arrogant 
Worms with "History Is Made by Stupid People."  Then, it's They Might Be Giants 
with a look at a somewhat obscure president, "James K. Polk."  (Not as obscure 
as Millard Fillmore, though.)

The next section is about options to school.  "Beauty School Dropout" is from 
the musical "Grease," of course; the movie version is sung by Frankie Avalon.  
"California Couldn't Pay Our Education" provides more musical politics from the 
Foremen.

On to college and grad school.  Tom Lehrer's classic alma mater song "Bright 
College Days" starts things off, and is followed by a cover of one of his songs, 
"Fight Fiercely, Harvard," as sung by a mixed group of Ivy League a capella 
singers.  The very end of "Revolution #9" by The Beatles sounded good stuck in 
afterward, so I put it there.  Tom Lehrer then demonstrates one possible way to 
get through academe, with "Lobachevsky," leading up to "Graduation" from the 
musical "Doonesbury."  Finally, a graduation march like you've never heard, 
courtesy of Walter Carlos (via Daniel's LP, and before becoming Wendy Carlos), 
"Pompous Circumstances"


Songs from previous Eclectica mixes that might have fit the "school" theme:

Conjunction Junction (Better Than Ezra) (#1)
The Amendment Song (The Simpsons) (#1)
Wakko's America (Animaniacs) (#1)
Weird Science (Oingo Boingo) (#1)
Yakko's Universe (Animaniacs) (#2)
Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here (Buffalo Tom) (#3)
Meet James Ensor (They Might Be Giants) (#8)