Animation Congregation: Saturday Morning Bands!

Martinex1: What is it with Saturday morning animated bands? When Redartz posted last week about the Groovie Goolies, it got me thinking that there were an awful lot of cartoon bands when we were growing up.  Why was that?   Was it that the Bronze years were hot on the heals of the Beatles and the Stones' popularity?   Was it just a convenient way to bring characters together?   Was a musical interlude a time-filling convention used by the creators?

And it didn't just stop with the cartoons either, because the networks brought the Bay City Rollers and the Hudson Brothers onto the Saturday schedule as well.  And let's not forget the Bugaloos (or perhaps we should).  So live action comedy bands combined with animated musicians became almost ubiquitous in the "Saturday Morning Television" era.

The Brady Kids and The Partridge Family 2200 A.D. were still performing as family bands in their animated renditions of the evening sitcoms. And The Chan Clan, who were Inspector Chan's detective family, performed as a swinging band in their spare time.

Josie and the Pussycats are of course in the musical lineup.  But the Jabberjaw kids rocked out too,  as did Butch Cassidy, the Cosby Kids on Fat Albert, and Pebbles and Bamm Bamm.

There were also The Beatles and Jackson Five cartoons to assure we at least had some great music with real stars.

How about the Hardy Boys, the Banana Splits, Alvin and the Chipmunks or Jem?

So which show featured your favorite animated or Saturday morning band? Or did you not care and sleep through the musical escapades?   Did it shape your ongoing listening tastes at all?   Were you hooked on Sugar, Sugar?  At what age did you start listening to popular music and did these animated shows have any influence?  Did you watch any of these shows?  Or are they only a hazy memory?

We are having a bit of an open forum today at BitBA - so feel free to discuss all things "musical" related to Saturday morning fare - from Scooby-Doo chase scenes to the dulcet tones of the underwater Neptunes.  

For those of you who like your nostalgia served up with a modern twist, check out a fun CD called Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits featuring many themes performed by modern (1990s) stars.

So what do you think?  Did these photos and links bring back some Bronze Age memories?   Or was it hard on the ears?   We are always willing to listen, so let us hear your comments.  Cheers all!