VARIOUS ARTISTS -- Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits (MCA)

As a kid, Saturday mornings were always the best. You didn't have to go to school, but you'd always get up early so you could watch cartoons. Now, MCA has released a "best of" collection of those great cartoon theme songs - performed by some of today's hottest "alternative" artists.

Not content to just release 30-second snippets of the songs as you remember them, producer Ralph Sall had the difficult job of expanding the tunes into full-fledged songs for the CD. Sall (who has produced artists ranging from Jane's Addiction to the Eagles' tribute CD, "Common Thread") also personally matched each of the themes with their respective performers.

Sall gathered 22 of today's hottest alternative artists to perform on the 19 tracks on the CD. Liz Phair teams up with Material Issue on a great version of "The Tra La La Song". Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donnelly contribute their version of "Josie and the Pussycats". The Ramones take on the theme from "Spider-Man" (newly recorded for this CD). One of the best song/artist pairings is Frente's take on "Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sun Shine In". You'll swear you're listening to Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm all over again.

These are just a few of the classic cartoon theme songs featured on Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits. If you're one of the millions that grew up watching these shows, don't miss this great CD.

© 1996 Steve Marshall