Thursday Thirteen #36: Recording Artists Who Appeared On Saturday Morning TV

Thirteen Recording Acts Who Appeared On Saturday Morning TV
While rock and roll started in the 1950s, it took awhile for Saturday morning TV to jump on the bandwagon. With the enormous success of a certain mop topped quartet from Liverpool, the networks realized that kids wanted a little rock and roll to go along with their favorite sugar coated cereal. By the early 1970s, the trend of marrying popular music with kiddie TV was at an all-time high. Although some of the entries below weren't traditional recording acts, every one of them had songs that hit the Billboard Hot 100.


1. The Archies- Based on the popular comics, the Riverdale gang first came to Saturday morning TV in 1968 and lasted in various formats for the next 10 years. Although they are often thought of as a one-hit wonder, The Archies had 4 Top 40 singles from 1968-1970. In addition to their 1969 #1 "Sugar, Sugar", their other three Top 40 entries were "Bang-Shang-A-Lang", "Jingle Jangle", and "Who's Your Baby?". When it comes to the great tambourine players, I still say that Betty Cooper ranks among the best.














2. The Banana Splits- Airing on NBC from 1968-1970, this series mixed live action with animation. The Banana Splits consisted of Fleegle, a beagle; Bingo, a gorilla; Drooper, a lion, and Snorky (called "Snork" in the theme song lyrics), an elephant. Along with performing songs and comedy skits, the quartet introduced a number of individual segments. These included the cartoons "Atom Ant", "The Three Musketeers", "The Hillbilly Bears", and the live action serial "Danger Island" (starring a young Jan-Michael Vincent).

















3. The Bay City Rollers- The Scottish group (who had such hits as "Saturday Night" and "You Made Me Believe In Magic") were the hosts of "The Krofft Superstar Hour" (later titled "The Bay City Rollers Show") on NBC from 1978-1979.












4. The Beatles- The first cartoon show to ever feature a rock group, "The Beatles" was part of ABC's Saturday morning lineup from 1965-1968 (it moved to Sundays from 1968-1969). One of the highlights of each episode was the "singalong" where the lyrics to one of their tunes would appear on the screen. Although the original songs of the Fab Four were used, their voices were supplied by American actor Paul Frees (John and George) and British performer Lance Percival (Paul and Ringo).













5. The California Raisins- Airing on CBS from 1989-1990, this spinoff from the popular commercials featured the four raisins—singer A.C., drummer Beebop, bassist Stretch and pianist Red—sparring constantly with their manager, while either on tour or hanging out in the extravagant penthouse above their recording studio. Although the commercials were done in Claymation, the Saturday morning series was hand drawn.
















6. The Jackson 5ive- The animated adventures of the Motown group aired on ABC from 1971-1973. Due to scheduling conflicts, the Jackson Five were unable to provide their voices (although their original songs were used). Just like the real Michael, the animated one was also an animal lover because the cartoon featured his pet mice (Ray and Charles) and snake (Rosie).














7. Kid 'n' Play- The "House Party" guys had their own animated cartoon series on NBC from 1990-1991. The real Kid 'n Play appeared in live-action wraparounds of the cartoons, but voice actors took over for the animated versions of the rap duo. Martin Lawrence, Cree Summer (Freddie from "A Different World", Tommy Davidson ("In Living Color"), and Dawnn Lewis (Jaleesa from "A Different World") are some of the performers who did voices for the cartoon.
















8. MC Hammer- Airing on ABC from 1991-1992, the animated cartoon "Hammerman" told the story of youth center worker Stanley Burrell (Hammer's real name). Burrell owns a pair of magical dancing shoes (which were alive and could speak), which when worn cause Burrell to transform into the superhero Hammerman. The show was hosted by the real MC Hammer, who also sang the show's catchy ass theme song (seriously, it was playing in my head for most of the afternoon at work today).
















9. The Monkees- Although it originally aired in primetime on NBC from 1966-1968, the Emmy-winning series was later part of the Saturday lineups of both CBS (1969-1972) and ABC (1972-1973).












10. New Kids On the Block- Along with scores of merchandise, the New Kids also got their own animated cartoon (which aired from 1990-1991 on ABC). Although the group appeared in live action clips, their animated likenesses were voiced by other actors.













11. The Osmonds- Following on the heels of their soulful counterparts The Jackson Five, the boys from Ogden, Utah had their own animated cartoon on ABC from 1972-1974. The Osmonds did their own voices for the cartoon, with Paul Frees voicing their dog Fugi.












12. The Partridge Family- The sitcom pop group traded in their psychedelic bus for more futuristic transportation for "The Partridge Family 2200 A.D.", which ran on CBS from 1974-1975. Along with the Partridges and manager Reuben Kincaid, the cartoon also featured the family's robot dog Orbit, Veenie (Keith's Venusian friend), and Marion Moonglow (Laurie's Martian classmate). Of the original show's cast, only Danny Bonaduce, Brian Forster, and Suzanne Crough did their own voices for the entire run of the animated series. Susan Dey did the voice of Laurie for two episodes, but left to start work on a film.












13. Rick Springfield- Almost 10 years before joining "General Hospital" and scoring hits like "Jessie's Girl", Rick Springfield appeared in animated form on the ABC cartoon "Mission: Magic!". Airing from 1973-1974, the series followed the exploits of a teacher (Miss Tickle) and six of her students. Each adventure began when Miss Tickle would draw a magic door on a chalkboard through which she and her students would enter. Once on the other side of the chalkboard, they would meet up with Rick, a cat named Tut Tut and Rick's pet owl Ptolemy, and then go on to travel to mythical lands and throughout various centuries. Rick would perform a song at the end of each show.

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