And even though Ninesh and I are grey-haired parents and our van was full of pre-adult teenagers rather than the pre-schooler audience it's aimed at, we all of us, loved it.
Sesame Street was an integral part of my Saturday morning childhood.
It was so incredibly ahead of its time in its inclusive, multi-cultural, bi-lingual, child-centred, " learning-should-be-fun," approach, that it's hard to believe it's 45 years old.
Who can forget the psychedelic, bodiless hand counting to 10,
.
the unfrightening, misunderstood, purple vampire The Count, who just wanted to be left alone to....count.
Or the straight-laced, long-faced Bert and the fun-loving, round-faced Ernie, who will be forever " just good friends."
And who hasn't been as addicted to sugar as the Cookie Monster or felt as constantly unconfident and incongruous as enormous, yellow Big Bird?
And everyone can relate to the anxieties of " bundle -of-nerves," blue Grover.
Before you've even met them, the characters are your friends because somehow they represent a part of you.
Especially grumpy Oscar, the dustbin- dwelling Grouch.
My favourite song on the CD has to be Oscar singing Nasty Dan, the grouchiest song in the world, with Johnny Cash ( " Say isn't your name Johnny Trash?" )
However many times you hear it, however old you are, it will always make you laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H75eQX006jA
The truth is, deep down inside, I have always longed to be invited to live on Sesame Street.
Who wouldn't want to live somewhere so friendly and caring and vibrant and full of fun.
If you're bored or sad or lonely, all you have to do is step onto the Street and immediately you will bump into a friend or a letter or a number or someone famous who just happens to be walking by.
And they will always know exactly what to do or say, or more often sing, to make you feel better.
I bet " For Sale," signs don't stay outside houses on Sesame Street for very long!
And can you imagine the street parties.
Not only would your favourite puppet friends be there, but all the other guests would be famous pop stars or actors or politicians.
Because everyone who is anyone has been on Sesame Street.
From Kofi Annan and David Beckham to Robert De Niro and Zac Efron.
From Paul Simon to Michael Jackson
If you haven't been seen or sung with the cast of Sesame Street, you haven't really made it to the big time.
That's why the CD is so good.
Think of a famous singer or group from the last 40 years and they are probably on it: R.E.M, The Black Crowes, Johnny Cash, Billy Joel, Lena Horne, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
And behind the glamour and the songs and the celebrity laughter, lies the passion of the characters' creator: Jim Henson.
He wanted to make learning fun and funny for all children whatever their ability, colour or language.
And he did it.
Sesame Street led a blazing path across children's television giving it a status it had never had before and a creativity it has rarely seen again.
On the radio the other day, I heard a someone explaining that when they were ill and suffering from amnesia, they had suffered from hallucinations.
In one of the hallucinations he had seen God.
Only God took the form of a white-robed Jim Henson.
" Well, " said the patient philosophically, " if God is like anyone, it's most likely to be Jim Henson isn't it?"
And I think he's right.
That Jim Henson should die so early and so suddenly from something so seemingly inconsequential as a sore throat, seems cruel.
But if I imagine him anywhere, it is sitting in a playground eating cookies with the Cookie Monster, trying to cheer up Oscar the Grouch and counting stars with The Count while Big Bird and Mr Snuffleupagus lollop slowly by.
And as I sit here, chaotically planning the party for our less famous street this weekend, I can't help listening out for the postman.
Because you never know.
Today might be the day my invitation arrives, the one with the map telling me exactly
"how to get to Sesame Street."
It was so incredibly ahead of its time in its inclusive, multi-cultural, bi-lingual, child-centred, " learning-should-be-fun," approach, that it's hard to believe it's 45 years old.
Who can forget the psychedelic, bodiless hand counting to 10,
.
the unfrightening, misunderstood, purple vampire The Count, who just wanted to be left alone to....count.
Or the straight-laced, long-faced Bert and the fun-loving, round-faced Ernie, who will be forever " just good friends."
And who hasn't been as addicted to sugar as the Cookie Monster or felt as constantly unconfident and incongruous as enormous, yellow Big Bird?
And everyone can relate to the anxieties of " bundle -of-nerves," blue Grover.
Before you've even met them, the characters are your friends because somehow they represent a part of you.
Especially grumpy Oscar, the dustbin- dwelling Grouch.
My favourite song on the CD has to be Oscar singing Nasty Dan, the grouchiest song in the world, with Johnny Cash ( " Say isn't your name Johnny Trash?" )
However many times you hear it, however old you are, it will always make you laugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H75eQX006jA
The truth is, deep down inside, I have always longed to be invited to live on Sesame Street.
Who wouldn't want to live somewhere so friendly and caring and vibrant and full of fun.
If you're bored or sad or lonely, all you have to do is step onto the Street and immediately you will bump into a friend or a letter or a number or someone famous who just happens to be walking by.
And they will always know exactly what to do or say, or more often sing, to make you feel better.
I bet " For Sale," signs don't stay outside houses on Sesame Street for very long!
And can you imagine the street parties.
Not only would your favourite puppet friends be there, but all the other guests would be famous pop stars or actors or politicians.
Because everyone who is anyone has been on Sesame Street.
From Kofi Annan and David Beckham to Robert De Niro and Zac Efron.
From Paul Simon to Michael Jackson
If you haven't been seen or sung with the cast of Sesame Street, you haven't really made it to the big time.
That's why the CD is so good.
Think of a famous singer or group from the last 40 years and they are probably on it: R.E.M, The Black Crowes, Johnny Cash, Billy Joel, Lena Horne, Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
And behind the glamour and the songs and the celebrity laughter, lies the passion of the characters' creator: Jim Henson.
He wanted to make learning fun and funny for all children whatever their ability, colour or language.
And he did it.
Sesame Street led a blazing path across children's television giving it a status it had never had before and a creativity it has rarely seen again.
On the radio the other day, I heard a someone explaining that when they were ill and suffering from amnesia, they had suffered from hallucinations.
In one of the hallucinations he had seen God.
Only God took the form of a white-robed Jim Henson.
" Well, " said the patient philosophically, " if God is like anyone, it's most likely to be Jim Henson isn't it?"
And I think he's right.
That Jim Henson should die so early and so suddenly from something so seemingly inconsequential as a sore throat, seems cruel.
But if I imagine him anywhere, it is sitting in a playground eating cookies with the Cookie Monster, trying to cheer up Oscar the Grouch and counting stars with The Count while Big Bird and Mr Snuffleupagus lollop slowly by.
And as I sit here, chaotically planning the party for our less famous street this weekend, I can't help listening out for the postman.
Because you never know.
Today might be the day my invitation arrives, the one with the map telling me exactly
"how to get to Sesame Street."
.
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