From The Pit...
Liz Phair & Material Issue, Sponge, Mathiew Sweet, Juliana Hatfield and Tonya Donelly, Butthole Surfers, Ramones, The Reverend Horton Heat, Face to Face, Sublime.
Saturday morning is not what it used to be. I remember when I was a little kid back in the seventies, wearing disco pants and little leisure suits. I used to get up at The crack of dawn on Saturday morning. I would start with whatever B horror movie was still running on channel 9 or 13. Then the Saturday morning cartoons would start.
I lived for Scooby Doo and Bugs Bunny, of course. I still go out of my way to watch these guys, and I’m 25 now. I remember the superhero cartoons too. Spiderman, League of Justice, blah blah blah. Saturday morning cartoons ruled. They were often so very, very bizarre.
The new compilation "Saturday Morning’s Greatest Hits" features classic Saturday morning cartoon themes done by alternative musicians. This is a great nostalgic trip for those of us who have developed our fine nineties values from watching 4-5 hours of weird, violent cartoons filled with sexual ambiguity and innuendo, every Saturday morning.
The packaging of the disc is very hip and happenin’. The liner notes are extensive, filled with photos from the shows, photos of the bands, history of the shows, lyrics, and commentary from the artists and producer.
The album opens with "The Tra La La Song", from the Banana Splits, done by Liz Phair and Material Issue. A good pairing. I love Liz Phair. Liz Phair rules. The next band up is Sponge. I don’t love Sponge. They kick ass on "Go Speed Racer Go" though.
How could I not love "Scooby-Doo Where are You’" done most excellently by Matthew Sweet. One of my favorite cartoons, and a conservative interpretation of the ORIGINAL theme I might add. Not one of the poor Scooby theme imitations that came along in subsequent years.
I also enjoy "Josie and the Pussycats". There’s something very erotic and seductive about Julianna Hatfield and Tanya Donnelly singing "pussycats" that drives me nuts. The Butthole Surfers follow soon after, making "Underdog" their own. It sounds like some sick, twisted Satanic Ennio Morricone theme or something.
1-2-3-4! The Ramones cover of the original "Spiderman" theme kicks ass, without a doubt one of the best on the album. "Is he strong/Listen bud/He’s got radioactive blood". Yeah.
In one of the more stylized tunes, the mighty Reverend Horton Heat revive two different themes in a little medley. They do "Johnny Quest" and "Stop That Pigeon". In the notes the Rev says this was a difficult tune to figure--all those whacky time changes!
Another great track is "Hong Kong Phooey", done by Sublime. This song has a great groove to it. "Hong Kong Phooey/Number one super guy/Hong Kong Phooey/He’s quicker than the human eye."
The one track that doesn’t really fit is Wax’s version of "Happy Happy, Joy Joy" from Ren and Stimpy. They do a good version of a good song from a cartoon that was great when it first started out. It just doesn’t fit in with the classic Saturday morning line up though.
If you want to flashback to Saturday morning without having to get your ass out of bed and eat stale cereal, pick up "Saturday Morning’s Greatest Hits." Put your pajamas on, get some fresh Captain Crunch and some 1% low fat milk and curl up in front of the CD player. I know you’ll dig it the most baby.
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