Spring 1996 Volume II Issue 2

re you frustrated by the lack of intelligent lyrics in today's popular music? Do you find yourself desperately searching for music with a message? Well, get ready to get smart, because Schoolhouse Rock is back, and it's better than ever. Those little educational cartoon films you loved so much as a youth are now available at the record store, the video store and -- what's even more thrilling -- live on stage. And you thought The Who's Tommy was a trip. If you need a little refresher course on what Schoolhouse Rock is all about, it ran Saturday mornings on ABC-TV from 1973 to 1985, jamming a much-needed dose of educational programming between Scooby and Shaggy's bizarre escapades.

The series of shorts was created by the advertising team of Tom Yohe and George Newall, who faced the challenge of making the multiplication tables as memorable as the lyrics of popular music. Their first triumph, "Three Is a Magic Number," hit the airwaves in 1973, when ABC vice president Michael Eisner -- now the Big Kuhuna at Disney -- OK'ed the project. To this day, many of us still find ourselves singing the words to the preamble of the U.S. Constitution, when the Jeopardy question comes up about that famous document. By the end of the series' four-time Emmy-winning run, 41 infectious tunes came together under the topic categories of America Rock, Science Rock, Grammar Rock, and Multiplication Rock.

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