Off The Record

 

A Peter Pan Narrated Book and Record

Category: Childrens/Licensed Characters

Starring Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Tweety, Sylvester and “Granny”

Illustrations by George C. Peed

Catalogue Number 1972

Released: 1973

Once again into the archive, and today I am bringing out a rarity from the Peter Pan catalogue.

the company was famous for releasing many cartoon characters (Hanna-Barbera’s “the Flintstones” and Yogi Bear, King Features’ Popeye and others) on record (and in this case, on book and record).

It was around this time that the company got hold of the Looney Tunes license from Warner Bros (and also getting the services of Mel Blanc in the bargain)

the big drawback for this though is there wasn’t enough of a budget left for a full orchestral accompaniment, just a tinny electronic organ.

Mel would perform many of the Looney Tune characters for this and a 12′ book and record (including character he never originally voiced).  On this record, he also had to do the voice of “Granny” (even though it was obvious that Granny’s original voice talent was Bea Benederet, and June Foray (her current voice)

here’s the setup:

 

Granny, finally fed up with the cat and the canary’s shenanigans, decides to get a new pet.

Bugs turns up at Granny’s, and with the old saying “Two’s Company, Three’s A Crowd” ringing in their ears, Tweety and Sylvester plot to oust the rabbit, usually the plan backfires…

Usually with the hapless puddy on the receiving end of Granny’s broom

After nearly bringing down the house, Bugs leaves, deciding that being a pet is too noisy.  Things get back to normal… with the usual results…

In case anyone is wondering how Mel did Granny, if you recall the Flintstones episode where Barney is dressed up as an old lady, that would give you a fair idea.

Record Label: Power Records division of Peter Pan Industries

Category: Childrens (licensed characters)

LP Info (Volume 1, original U.S. pressing, Volume 2, New Zealand pressing)

Catalogue No.: 8158 (Volume 1) TRO 207 (Music World N.Z. pressing) and 8168 (original catalogue number for volume 2)

Cover illustrations: not known.

Release 1976 (Australia), c. 1976-1977 (New Zealand)

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Release No. 8158

Side 1: Passage To Moauv, The Crier In Emptiness (Part 1)

Side 2: The Crier In Emptiness (Part 2), In Vino Veritas

(Writer Credits not known)

Release No. TRO 267 (U.S. 8168)

Side 1: A Mirror For Futility (Written by Alan Dean Foster), The Time Stealer (Written by Cary Bates and Neil Adams)

Side 2: The Logistics For Stampede (Written by Alan Dean Foster), To Starve A Fleaver (Written by Alan Dean Foster)

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These are the first two (of a series of three) LP’s based on the Star Trek series produced by the Power Records division of Peter Pan.

I’m not sure whether Gene Roddenberry (creator of the Star Trek series) had any input into any of the LP’s,. I would also be interested to find out if the artwork could have been done by Filmation for Paramount.

It seems to me that they seem to have approximated the voices of the original cast for both of these LPs.

Two episodes from volume 1 were later re-packaged as book and record sets (“Passage To Moauv” (which I originally had up until the late 70’s) and “The Crier In Emptiness” (which I still have, I’ll have to dig through my record library and post in a later update))

One thing about the New Zealand pressing of volume 2, is that it misses out on the excellent artwork (at the bottom of the post, I have a scan of the back cover art from volume 1.  The N.Z. pressing had a repeat of the track listing and a listing of other releases in the series.)

For a complete history of Peter Pan records, go here

for a more or less complete history of Peter Pan records go here

Record Label: Peter Pan Records

Category: Children’s

Locally manufactured in Australia by Landfall Press

Catalogue Number: LF 2032

Original PPI Catalogue Number: (8126)

Cover Illustrations: George C. Peed

Australian Release year: 1976

Side 1: Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, Feet Up, Pat ‘Em On The Po-Po, Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Little Blue Man

Side 2: Witch Doctor, (A) Dinner With Drac, Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It’s Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight, Mama Look A Boo-Boo, Big Bad John

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A fun collection of cover songs originally made famous by Bobby (Boris) Pickett, Sheb Wooley, Ross Bagdasarian (David Seville), Lonnie Donnegan, Harry Belafonte and others.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this LP would have been originally released under the Power Records label, but I could be wrong.

All the cover art (except for the Power Records licensed character series (a few of which I will show a bit later on in the week, or early next)) for the label during this period were drawn by George C. Peed (who is releated to Disney story man Bill Peet)

You will see a bit more of George’s work down the track in the blog.