Sesame Street Discography

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From its earliest planning stages, Sesame Street was designed to be a show that would use music and singing as a part of the material being taught. So it was only natural to release the musical content on records, not only to reinforce the curriculum lessons for children when they weren't watching the show, but also because Sesame Street music is enjoyable just for its own sake.

The first six albums were released by Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records, both major labels with many years of experience. These were deluxe albums, issued in colorful gatefold covers, usually with bonus material such as posters, lyric booklets, and photos and drawings of the show's characters. This arrangement lasted for the first five years of the show.

During the summer of 1970, as The Sesame Street Book & Record became a best seller, Bob McGrath and Loretta Long also released their own children's albums. While not part of the Sesame Street canon (even though they both mention Sesame Street on their covers), they also became well-known albums because of the show's huge popularity.

In 1974, Sesame Street created its own series of records, on an independent label that was called Sesame Street Records, with a custom record label logo of the Sesame Street sign. These albums were manufactured by Children's Records of America from 1974 to 1976, and by Distinguished Productions from 1977 to 1984. Over 70 titles were produced over the ten-year run of the label. The catalog included reissues of all of the previous Columbia and Warner Bros. albums, although in less lavish packages than their original editions. At first, titles were only issued on vinyl, but over the years, they were also produced on cassettes and 8-track tapes.

The Sesame Street Records label was shut down around 1984. Soon after, many Sesame Street titles began to be reissued on cassettes by an educational company called Sight & Sound. While some tapes used the original cover pictures, others had new cover pictures. An important historical footnote during this period is that in 1987, the very first Sesame Street CD was produced, called The Best of Sesame Street, and it would be the only CD produced until the early 1990's. In 1990, titles began to appear on Golden Music, which was the music division of Golden Books. A mix of new titles appeared, beginning with tributes to Jim Henson and Joe Raposo, along with reissues of older titles. Golden's license lasted until 1994.

In 1995, Sony Wonder began issuing a new series of titles. This was looked on with interest by some Sesame collectors, since Sony owns the back catalog of Columbia Records, who put out the very first Sesame Street LP in 1970. While that album has not yet been reissued on CD in its entirety, the third Columbia album, The Muppet Alphabet Album, was reissued as Sing the Alphabet. However, one section of dialogue was cut which referred to turning the record over, which wouldn't make any sense to CD listeners.

The Sony Wonder years culminated with Songs from the Street, an elaborate 3-CD boxed set produced in association with Sony Music's Legacy Recordings. This set was full of classic and rare tracks both from records and from live performances on the show. It also contained a detailed booklet about the history of the show, written by Christopher Cerf. It was the first time Sesame Street had received the boxed-set treatment from a major label, although several multi-LP boxed sets had been released over the years on Sesame Street Records.

In 2007, Koch Records announced that it would begin distributing Sesame Street titles. The first titles began to appear in 2008, with reissues of albums that had previously been released on Sony Wonder. In 2009, as part of the celebration of Sesame Street's 40th anniversary, three early LP's were finally reissued on CD: The Sesame Street Book & Record, Big Bird Sings!, and Bert & Ernie Sing-Along.

In addition to the main library of Sesame Street music, over the years, original cast albums have been sold at the Sesame Street Live shows. See Sesame Street Live Discography for a chronological list of titles.

Album releases

The Sesame Street Book & Record1970 Columbia Records	Bob McGrath from Sesame Street1970 Affinity Records	Susan Sings Songs from Sesame Street1970 Scepter Records
The Muppet Alphabet Album1971 Columbia Records	The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album1971 Warner Bros. Records	The Year of Roosevelt Franklin1971 Columbia Records
Havin' Fun with Ernie & Bert1972 Columbia Records	Sesame Street LIVE!1973 Columbia Records	Bert's Blockbusters1974 Sesame Street Records
Big Bird Sings!1974 Sesame Street Records	C is for Cookie1974 Sesame Street Records	Ernie's Hits1974 Sesame Street Records
Grover Sings the Blues1974 Sesame Street Records	Let a Frown Be Your Umbrella1974 Sesame Street Records	Letters ...and Numbers, Too!1974 Sesame Street Records
My Name is Roosevelt Franklin1974 reissue of The Year of Roosevelt Franklin Sesame Street Records	Pete Seeger & Brother Kirk Visit Sesame Street1974 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street 11974 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record Sesame Street Records
¡Sesame Mucho!1974 Sesame Street Records	Sing the Hit Songs of Sesame Street1974 Sesame Street Records	Somebody Come and Play1974 Sesame Street Records
25 Greatest Hits1975 K-Tel	Bert & Ernie Sing-Along1975 Sesame Street Records	The Count Counts1975 Sesame Street Records
Merry Christmas from Sesame Street1975 Sesame Street Records	The Sesame Street Monsters!1975 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street 21975 reissue of The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album Sesame Street Records
60 Favorite Songs from Sesame Street1975 CRA	The Muppet Alphabet Album1976 reissue Sesame Street Records	Aren't You Glad You're You?1977 Sesame Street Records
Big Bird Leads the Band1977 Sesame Street Records	Bob Sings!1977 Sesame Street Records	Concert: On Stage - Live!1977 reissue of Sesame Street LIVE! Sesame Street Records
Happy Birthday from Sesame Street1977 Sesame Street Records	Let Your Feelings Show!1977 Sesame Street Records	Letters, Numbers and Signs1977 reissue of The Muppet Alphabet Album, Numbers! and Signs! Sesame Street Records
Numbers!1977 Sesame Street Records	The Sesame Street Fairy Tale Album1977 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street Gold!1977 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record and The Official Sesame Street 2 Book-and-Record Album Sesame Street Records
Sleepytime Bird1977 Sesame Street Records	What Time Is It on Sesame Street?1977 Sesame Street Records	10th Anniversary Album1978 Sesame Street Records
David, Daydreamin' on a Rainy Day1978 Sesame Street Records	Fair Is Fair1978 Sesame Street Records	Muppet Masquerade1978 Sesame Street Records
On the Street Where We Live - Block Party!1978 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street Fever1978 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street Story Time1978 Sesame Street Records
Sing, Sang, Song Singalong1978 Sesame Street Records	Anne Murray Sings for the Sesame Street Generation1979 Sesame Street Records	At Home with Ernie and Bert1979 Sesame Street Records
Dinah! I've Got a Song1979 Sesame Street Records	Every Body's Record1979 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Disco!1979 Sesame Street Records
Somebody Come and Play on a Rainy Day1979 Sesame Street Records	The Stars Come Out on Sesame Street1979 Sesame Street Records	Welcome!1979 reissue of ¡Sesame Mucho! Sesame Street Records
Big Bird's Birdtime Stories1980 Sesame Street Records	Christmas Eve on Sesame Street1980 Sesame Street Records	In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record1980 Warner Bros. Records
Love1980 Sesame Street Records	The People in Your Neighborhood1980 Sesame Street Records	Sesame Street Treasury1980 Columbia House
Bert & Ernie: Side By Side1981 Sesame Street Records	Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch: Camping in Canada1981 (Released in Canada only) Kids' Records	Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra1981 Sesame Street Records
The Count Presents Numbers1981 reissue of The Count Counts and Numbers! Sesame Street Records	Getting Ready for School1981 Sesame Street Records	Grin & Giggle with Big Bird1981 Sesame Street Records
Sesame Country1981 Sesame Street Records	Big Bird presents Hans Christian Andersen1982 Sesame Street Records	Exercise!1982 Sesame Street Records
For the First Time1982 Sesame Street Records	Just Friends1982 reissue of Big Bird Sings! and Let a Frown Be Your Umbrella Sesame Street Records	Just the Two of Us1982 reissue of C is for Cookie and Grover Sings the Blues Sesame Street Records
Sesame Street Sing-Along!1982 Sesame Street Records	The Best of Bert1983 Sesame Street Records	The Best of Big Bird1983 Sesame Street Records
The Best of Cookie Monster1983 Sesame Street Records	The Best of the Count1983 Sesame Street Records	The Best of Ernie1983 Sesame Street Records
The Best of Grover1983 Sesame Street Records	The Best of Oscar the Grouch1983 Sesame Street Records	Born to Add1983 Sesame Street Records
The Gang's All Here!1983 Sesame Street Records	My Record1983 Sesame Street Records	Surprise!1983 Sesame Street Records
Sesame Street Christmas Sing-Along1984 Sesame Street Records	Follow That Bird1985 RCA Records	Christmas on Sesame Street1986 CBS Special Products
Favorite Songs From Jim Henson's Muppets1986 Magic Video Publishing Company	The Best of Sesame Street1987 Sight & Sound	Bert & Ernie: Side By Side1990 reissue Golden Music
The Best of Big Bird1990 reissue Golden Music	The Best of Sesame Street1990 reissue Golden Music	Cookie Monster and Grover: True Blue1990 Golden Music
Put Down the Duckie!1990 Golden Music	Sleepytime on Sesame Street1990 reissue of Sleepytime Bird Golden Music	The Best of Ernie1990 reissue Golden Music
Bob's Favorite Street Songs1991 A&M Records	Jim Henson: A Sesame Street Celebration1991 Golden Music	Happy Birthday from Sesame Street1992 reissue Golden Music
Sesame Country1992 reissue Golden Music	Sing: Songs of Joe Raposo1992 Golden Music	Elmo's Favorite Sing-Alongs1993 Golden Music
Merry Christmas: A Sesame Street Sing-Along1993 reissue of Sesame Street Christmas Sing-Along Golden Music	Sesame Road1993 Golden Music	A Sesame Street Sing-Along1993 reissue of Sesame Street Sing-Along! Golden Music
We Are All Earthlings1993 Golden Music	Cheep Thrills1994 Golden Music	Sesame Street Celebrates!1994 Golden Music
The Bird is the Word!1995 Sony Wonder	Born to Add1995 reissue Sony Wonder	"C" Is for Cookie: Cookie's Favorite Songs1995 Sony Wonder
Numbers1995 reissue of Numbers! Sony Wonder	Elmo's Favorite Sing-Alongs1995 Sony Wonder	Platinum All-Time Favorites1995 Sony Wonder
Sesame Road1995 reissue Sony Wonder	A Sesame Street Christmas1995 Sony Wonder	Splish Splash: Bath Time Fun1995 Sony Wonder
Bert and Ernie's Greatest Hits1996 Sony Wonder	Dreamytime Songs1996 Sony Wonder	Monster Melodies1996 edited reissue of The Sesame Street Monsters! Sony Wonder
Silly Songs1996 Sony Wonder	Sing the Alphabet1996 edited reissue of The Muppet Alphabet Album Sony Wonder	Sing-Along Travel Songs1996 Sony Wonder
The Best of Elmo1997 Sony Wonder	The Count's Countdown1997 Sony Wonder	Elmo's Coloring Book1997 Audio By The Bay
Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs1997 Sony Wonder	Kids' Favorite Songs1997 Sony Wonder	Oscar's Trashy Songs1997 Sony Wonder
Platinum Too1997 Sony Wonder	Sesame Street Best1997 Razor & Tie	Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites1998 Sony Wonder
Elmo Says BOO!1998 Sony Wonder	Elmopalooza!1998 Sony Wonder	Elmo's Lowdown Hoedown1998 Sony Wonder
Fiesta Songs!1998 Sony Wonder	The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland1999 Sony Wonder	Big Bird's Sunny Day Camp Out2000 VEE Corporation
CinderElmo2000 Sony Wonder	Let's Be Friends2000 VEE Corporation	Elmo and the Orchestra2001 Sony Wonder
Kids' Favorite Songs 22001 Sony Wonder	Out of This World2003 VEE Corporation	Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music2003 Legacy/Sony Wonder
Are We There Yet?2004 Sony Special Products	A Celebration of Me, Grover2004 Sony Wonder	Happy Birthday from Sesame Street2004 reissue Sony Wonder
Super Grover! Ready for Action2005 VEE Corporation	Elmo Makes Music (soundtrack)2006 Sony, VEE Corporation	When Elmo Grows Up2007 Sony
Elmopalooza!2008 reissue Koch Records	Kids' Favorite Songs2008 reissue Koch Records	Platinum All-Time Favorites2008 reissue Koch Records
Sing the Alphabet2008 reissue Koch Records	The Best of Elmo2008 reissue Koch Records	Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs2008 reissue Koch Records
Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites2008 reissue Koch Records	A Sesame Street Christmas2008 reissue Koch Records	Silly Songs2009 reissue Koch Records
Old School, Vol. 12009 reissue of The Sesame Street Book & Record, Big Bird Sings!, and Bert & Ernie Sing-Along Koch Records

See also

• Sesame Street Singles
• Sesame Street 45 RPM Boxed Sets
• Sesame Street Book and Record Sets Discography
• Sesame Street Live Discography
• Sesame Street Videography