Ali's always gettin' blamed
for things he didn't do.
Just because he likes to scrap,
and maybe sometimes do [?]
people want to blame that man
although he wasn't there.
Maybe we should take a look;
the blame could well be shared.
That is the chorus of the awesome yet totally irrelevant theme song of the most incredible children's album ever in the history of recorded sound:
The Adventures of Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay.
Ali. Muhammad Ali. With Frank Sinatra. Richie Havens & Jayne Kennedy. Play-by-play by the immortal [or dead, anyway] Howard Cosell. You'll want to scan in the album cover art, insert a couple of your own family's heads, and print it onto a giant wall-sized, psychedelic mural in the nursery. No, in the living room. Or on the front of your garage door.
There are a few clips from the album online in real audio. There are a couple of copies of the album on eBay. One sold a few weeks ago to the lone bidder for $4. Now there's a copy with three bids for $20. And a sealed copy for $40.
I fear that just by posting this, I'll be pricing myself out of the market for this important, irreplaceable artifact of dental hygiene, and that I'll be left with nothing but the 1984 children's rap album, Mr T's Commandments to console me.
listen to excerpts from Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay [franklarosa.com via dt reader ponch]
Search for Ali and His Gang vs. Mr. Tooth Decay on eBay [ebay]
Mr. T's Commandments on wikipedia and ebay
That
is the COOLEST
thing
I have ever seen
I'm not bidding on it, but simply knowing it exists adds order to my universe.
That puts my "Sesame Street Disco to shame..
Don't forget Hulk Hogan's classic song!
Did you ever get the cassette for the Rap Tales Billy Goats Gruff? I would really, really like to hear that if you did...
[we got the book; it was supposed to have the tape, but it didn't. that is one wacked book, though, and for some reason, the kid loves the rhymes, even though they're horrible. -ed.]
Ali has a cut on the latest music CD release from Oxford American magazine. I think it's the very song you mention. When listening to that (awesome, as usual) complilation, my boy (2) prefers Ertha Kitt to Ali.
"No more C'est Si Bon. C'est Si Bon is all gone. It's time for another song now. C'est Si Bon is resting."
So if you're wanting a does of musical Ali, you can also snag the latest version of Oxford American and in doing so snag one of the greatest mags of all time (says me).