Furry Happy Monsters

When R.E.M. first emerged from Athens, Georgia in 1983 and released their debut album "Chronic Town," I was fifteen years old and I was hooked.  Their sound was refreshingly original and although they clearly embraced the genre of pop music, their interpretation of it was something that I had never heard before and I loved it. As their wiki entry states, the things that made them unique were "the jangling guitars, the chords played in arpeggio, murmured vocals, and lyrics that often avoided the standard topics of popular music."  Whatever it was, I loved it.   For many years, I was a die-hard fan of R.E.M. and eagerly awaited every new CD they released.

However, I'm ashamed to admit that eventually I became one of those completely annoying uber-hip music snobs who turns on a band as soon as they reach the level of "mass appeal."  I was like Jack Black in "High Fidelity" mocking the father at the record store for trying to buy Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" for his kid.  It wasn't that I suddenly hated R.E.M., it was just that I no longer wanted to be associated with their fans so I immediately labeled them as trite or irrelevant.  Like many things in my past, I'm completely ashamed of my behavior.  Really, is there anything more annoying in the world than a music snob? 

Anyway...today, the Peanut and I both called in sick.  We were feeling a little feverish so I skipped work and she skipped daycare.  And when we weren't running around trying to put socks on the dog or playing hide-and-seek, we hung out on the laptop looking for Elmo videos.  In  the midst of our search, we came across a video of R.E.M. on Sesame Street.  Soon enough, the Peanut and I were jumping up and down in the living room and having the time of our lives. 

Not only did I fall in love with R.E.M. all over again, I watched the Peanut fall in love with them for the first time.  And you know what?  It totally made my day.  Here's the video.  Enjoy...

Hope you like this as much as we did.  For those of you who are parents, do you have any other videos that you're enjoying with your kid?  Peanut is starting to refer to my laptop as the "Elmo Box."  I've got to  start showing her other stuff.   

Comments

[Annie]

I loved watching the video, and I was all alone with no children to speak of with me!

Did you hear that the new Sesame Street DVD: "Sesame Street Old School" comes with a disclaimer for parents stating that contains material that may not be appropriate for children? Apparently what was ok for kids from 1969-1974 now requires parental warning labels.

-Annie

[Kara]

We have some "Best of" Sesame street DVD that has that vid on it as well as the Fugees(singing
Be Yourself" - and it's the only video on earth that hasn't made it to youtube--- argh!)which is terrific. Find a copy for yourself!

How could we forget Weezer and the muppets?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9drquEiyV0M)

enjoy!

[lisa]

Trying to put socks on the dog and playing hide-and-seek? Sounds like a fun sick day, MD! Hope you're both feeling better now.

[dutch from sweet juniper]

that vide has been Juniper's favorite for the last three months. she calls it "happy ah-oohs." Now she can sing the song.

Oh, and while in Athens I totally ran into Michael Stipe carrying a huge sheet birthday cake once.

[Rbrown]

Ahhh, 1983...telling my mom I was going to a friend's to study for geometry and sneaking off to Oxford, Ohio to see this new hot band called REM play. Thank you for sharing this and making ME fall in love with them all over again too.

PS - This is ALMOST as good as Manamana. Almost.

[creative-type dad]

Wow- that's interesting.
My daughter is addicted to this panda choking on lolipops cartoon on the computer. When I'm sitting at the thing, she runs up and yells PAM-BA!

Come to think of it, I probably shouldn't be showing that to her.

[susie]

I love that part where the monster cries out, "What are we going to do?" This was great. Thanks, MD!

[birdgal]

Being home with a stomach virus makes a momma sad...thanks MD for linking to this, it made my day much more furry and happy! :)

[the weirdgirl]

I love REM! They were my introduction to alternative. And I totally remember when they were on Sesame Street (I think my kid brother must have been watching).

So how do you embed videos into Typepad like that? I can't figure out how to do it.

[Shell]

What I particularly love is the puppet doing the back-up vocals of Kate, complete with manic energy dancing. Love it! Thanks for sharing.

[Mom101]

This is so great, I had never seen it! I even love the Kate Pierson muppet. And I especially love that he did this despite often being quoted as hating that song and having written it as a parody.

You and Nate would definitely have a lot to talk about in the "sell out" arena. He thinks if I've heard of it, they must be sell-outs. Harumph.

[L.]

Wow -- for years I had a Chronic Town poster hanging in our bathroom (until approximately 18 months ago, when we moved and I finally lost it).

Thanks for the video. Little Son`s verdict: "I DIDN`T LIKE THAT, MAMA!"

Devil spawn.

[rebekah]

I know I'm late with this comment, but we stumbled across pashoshblog.com. This guy has his baby air drumming to Spirit of Radio. My 2 year old will watch it over and over, and in the car asks for Baby Sean's song. I love that he smiles when he hears the opening. I'm getting a little tired of Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack, although it's good.

[danette ireland]

how can i purchase this video with rem singing happy monsters? my little girl loves it. thank you

[danette ireland]

how can i purchase this video with rem singing happy monsters? my little girl loves it. thank you my email is danette_ireland@yahoo.com

[danette ireland]

can someone tell me how i can find the video of sesame street and rem and purchase it for my little girl? thank you

[Zola]

The template only alolws you to put the tweetmeme link on the sidebar. That isn't where you want it. You want to place it on the footer of the blog post.

[Gisel]

What is so hard about installing WordPress? You only have to mod 3 files, and setup 1 dabasate! If you can't do that perhaps it's time to sell your PC. My 8 year old set up her blog in around 10mins Inc the time it took to download the software.

[Wellington]

omg elmo gone bad omg it shoud be flaged sike its nun kid now n day see thnigs like that all the time come to my school n s** is all they talk about lol no lie

[Deepika]

Please do not forget about Big Bird! He also lives oudtise in a large pile of leftover twigs and pine straw. He is constantly exposed to the elements, yet his feathers do always look pretty nice. I can only imagine where Snuffleupagus lives. #shiver

[znbngtm]

rfcPby jhpwqgojoezt, [url=http://emucffmvlnyx.com/]emucffmvlnyx[/url], [link=http://dfbchhhcmlyq.com/]dfbchhhcmlyq[/link], http://exhkgfgvgvuy.com/

[rzxjfwzcie]

81j7Lw rzpaqrjovntl, [url=http://hvuiubkaprnf.com/]hvuiubkaprnf[/url], [link=http://rxlorjifoboo.com/]rxlorjifoboo[/link], http://akobxqyokatr.com/

[buy erythromycin]

erythromycin,

[clomid]

buy clomid,

[cialis prijs apotheek]

cialis,

[citalopram]

lexapro and citalopram,

[comparedrugs.ca,]

comparedrugs.ca,,

[generic diflucan doesn't work]

diflucan,

[buy cheap ventolin]

ventolin,

[buybensonandhedgescigarettes.blogspot.com]

buy benson & hedges cigarettes,

[fluoxetine]

fluoxetine,

[propecia pills]

propecia,

[ifezxrx]

w1DxDz oexamhikjyld, [url=http://dsgkuyogyepe.com/]dsgkuyogyepe[/url], [link=http://raguoqceyngx.com/]raguoqceyngx[/link], http://vjlbeisfqdtz.com/

[retin a micro]

retin-a,

[Top Eleven cheats]

Mudbox is a software for 3D sculpting and painting which is developed by
Autodesk. The Alex Cross series began in 1992 with the
publication of Along Came a Spider. It is a platform used
by hundreds of millions of people and this amazing
potential can be used for business as well.

[buy cialis]

buy cialis - buy cheap cialis from uk buy cheap cialis - buy cialis cheap buy cialis tadalafil - buy generic cialis without buy cheap cialis - buy cialis

[cheap cialis without prescription]

cialis generic,

[cigarettes]

cigarettes online,

[Ordering Nexium Online]

online pharmacy nexium - order nexium online

[celebrex]

celebrex 100mg,

[acomplia]

acomplia,

[buy tetracycline]

tetracycline,

[acutane]

accutane,

[online pharmacy]

online drugstore in usa - online drugstore pharmacy