Randy Thornton
Member
Hiya Y'all!
It's been a while, so I thought I let you kind folks know what's been goin' on. Here we go ?
A MUSICAL HISTORY OF DISNEYLAND
The complete set (minus the vinyl as mentioned before) has gone national and is doing extremely well. Costco informs us that it is the number one selling CD at the store (including single CD sales). The boxed set has been doing so very well that the powers-that-be even lowered the suggested retail price (to 99.00) ? which is quite remarkable (and even more remarkable is the fact that retailers are passing that onto the public ? for as I?ve mentioned before we can only suggest what to sell an item for and even though we may lower the price, the retailers are not obligated to). Costco has gone beyond and lowered the price to $69 ? an incredible deal!!!
The Special Edition version is still No.1 of all of the 50th merchandise sold at the parks and continues to sell an average of 200 sets a week at Disneyland alone. There?s 13 more months of the celebration and orders keep coming in.
THE WONDERLAND MUSIC STORE
As you are all aware by now, The Wonderland Music Store is now in 2 locations at The Walt Disney World Resort. I purposely didn?t post because I?ve been spoiling the surprise on too many things. The excitement that Sharon had in finding the kiosks and being the one to break the news back here is evidence of that. I?ll still post updates, but some things I?ll let you discover for yourself.
Now for the new titles ?
?Addition and Subtraction? DQ1922 and ?Multiplication and Division? DQ1923
These two albums are some of the first recordings Walt Disney Records released with ?Addition and Subtraction? either being nominated or winning an educational award for the time. What I love about these two albums are the songs are performed by Rica Moore and Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket). The tunes are quite catchy and if you?re a fan of Jiminy Cricket, you?ll enjoy his jazzy little ditty called ?Noah?s Ark?. One of my favs is ?The Cannibal Song? from ?Addition and Subtraction?.
?The Story and Songs of The Jungle Book? ST3948
This is the first test with our old Storyteller line. ?The Jungle Book? is a real popular title and I felt starting the Storyteller re-issues with it would be a good start. I have a feeling that this new Storyteller line will help me get the songs from films, which have never had a real soundtrack of their own, into your libraries. An example of this would be ?The Story and Songs from Robin Hood? which was discussed here a while back. You can expect to see that title sometime in the not-too-distant future.
?Mickey Mouse and his Friends? DQ1321
A cool collection of Classic Disney Children?s songs from ?Happy Mouse? to the ?Mickey Mouse Mambo?.
And to celebrate the opening of The Wonderland Music kiosks at WDW?
?The Walt Disney World Band? BV3337
This is a great stereo recording of The Walt Disney World Band from the early 1970?s. This is the album that ?The Mickey Mouse March? (which appeared on previous Official Albums) originally came from. There?s a great ?Mary Poppins Medley? as well as a version of ?Grim Grinning Ghosts?. There are a few songs from ?Bedknobs and Broomsticks? too!
?The Hall of Presidents? STER3806
This is the original recording from the Walt Disney World attraction. Released in 1972, the last president named in this version is Nixon. Though the overall recording is OK, there are some sections that really date the recording. Though this was done in the 1970?s, condenser microphones we new technology and the result is a little thin sounding and some distortion is evident. We did what we could and the recording does sound far better than it?s original release, but we had limitations with the original source. Still this particular master never sounded better, and I only mention some of the recordings flaws so you audiophiles know that I was aware of them and did everything I could to fix the only master I could work with.
I?ve saved the best for last. Here?s the one you?ll be salivating over?
?Musical Highlights from The Mickey Mouse Club TV Show? DQ1227
Finally, at long last, here is one of the original Mickey Mouse Club song albums. Just about all of the daily songs ?Today Is Tuesday? and ?Talent Round-Up? are here! One thing I recently discovered, while reading the drafts of Greg Ehrbar and Tim Hollis?s upcoming book, is that these early Mickey Mouse Albums were done before the show debuted. They were recorded as part of the promotion, and though it includes the great Jimmie Dodd, not all of the Mouseketeers are present (as they may not have been cast yet) and were substituted with the adult Mouseketeer Chorus. An example is one of the Mouseketeer Roll Call songs has some of the original cast as well as some adults singing as children and has no Annette (as Annette was the last Mouseketeer cast). It?s a great album and truly sounds fantastic! I?m sure you?ll really enjoy it!
***
It?s my understanding that these 7 new titles were installed at Disneyland today and will be added to Walt Disney World?s kiosks within the next few days or so.
THE SEATTLE EXHIBIT
As I briefly mentioned some time back, Walt Disney Records will be celebrating our 50th next year with an exhibit at Seattle?s Experience Music Project Museum. At this moment, it looks like November 2006 is when the exhibit opens (with the possibility of it traveling in 2007). As the exhibit progresses and more info is confirmed, I?ll post and let you know what is happening.
Randy Thornton
It's been a while, so I thought I let you kind folks know what's been goin' on. Here we go ?
A MUSICAL HISTORY OF DISNEYLAND
The complete set (minus the vinyl as mentioned before) has gone national and is doing extremely well. Costco informs us that it is the number one selling CD at the store (including single CD sales). The boxed set has been doing so very well that the powers-that-be even lowered the suggested retail price (to 99.00) ? which is quite remarkable (and even more remarkable is the fact that retailers are passing that onto the public ? for as I?ve mentioned before we can only suggest what to sell an item for and even though we may lower the price, the retailers are not obligated to). Costco has gone beyond and lowered the price to $69 ? an incredible deal!!!
The Special Edition version is still No.1 of all of the 50th merchandise sold at the parks and continues to sell an average of 200 sets a week at Disneyland alone. There?s 13 more months of the celebration and orders keep coming in.
THE WONDERLAND MUSIC STORE
As you are all aware by now, The Wonderland Music Store is now in 2 locations at The Walt Disney World Resort. I purposely didn?t post because I?ve been spoiling the surprise on too many things. The excitement that Sharon had in finding the kiosks and being the one to break the news back here is evidence of that. I?ll still post updates, but some things I?ll let you discover for yourself.
Now for the new titles ?
?Addition and Subtraction? DQ1922 and ?Multiplication and Division? DQ1923
These two albums are some of the first recordings Walt Disney Records released with ?Addition and Subtraction? either being nominated or winning an educational award for the time. What I love about these two albums are the songs are performed by Rica Moore and Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket). The tunes are quite catchy and if you?re a fan of Jiminy Cricket, you?ll enjoy his jazzy little ditty called ?Noah?s Ark?. One of my favs is ?The Cannibal Song? from ?Addition and Subtraction?.
?The Story and Songs of The Jungle Book? ST3948
This is the first test with our old Storyteller line. ?The Jungle Book? is a real popular title and I felt starting the Storyteller re-issues with it would be a good start. I have a feeling that this new Storyteller line will help me get the songs from films, which have never had a real soundtrack of their own, into your libraries. An example of this would be ?The Story and Songs from Robin Hood? which was discussed here a while back. You can expect to see that title sometime in the not-too-distant future.
?Mickey Mouse and his Friends? DQ1321
A cool collection of Classic Disney Children?s songs from ?Happy Mouse? to the ?Mickey Mouse Mambo?.
And to celebrate the opening of The Wonderland Music kiosks at WDW?
?The Walt Disney World Band? BV3337
This is a great stereo recording of The Walt Disney World Band from the early 1970?s. This is the album that ?The Mickey Mouse March? (which appeared on previous Official Albums) originally came from. There?s a great ?Mary Poppins Medley? as well as a version of ?Grim Grinning Ghosts?. There are a few songs from ?Bedknobs and Broomsticks? too!
?The Hall of Presidents? STER3806
This is the original recording from the Walt Disney World attraction. Released in 1972, the last president named in this version is Nixon. Though the overall recording is OK, there are some sections that really date the recording. Though this was done in the 1970?s, condenser microphones we new technology and the result is a little thin sounding and some distortion is evident. We did what we could and the recording does sound far better than it?s original release, but we had limitations with the original source. Still this particular master never sounded better, and I only mention some of the recordings flaws so you audiophiles know that I was aware of them and did everything I could to fix the only master I could work with.
I?ve saved the best for last. Here?s the one you?ll be salivating over?
?Musical Highlights from The Mickey Mouse Club TV Show? DQ1227
Finally, at long last, here is one of the original Mickey Mouse Club song albums. Just about all of the daily songs ?Today Is Tuesday? and ?Talent Round-Up? are here! One thing I recently discovered, while reading the drafts of Greg Ehrbar and Tim Hollis?s upcoming book, is that these early Mickey Mouse Albums were done before the show debuted. They were recorded as part of the promotion, and though it includes the great Jimmie Dodd, not all of the Mouseketeers are present (as they may not have been cast yet) and were substituted with the adult Mouseketeer Chorus. An example is one of the Mouseketeer Roll Call songs has some of the original cast as well as some adults singing as children and has no Annette (as Annette was the last Mouseketeer cast). It?s a great album and truly sounds fantastic! I?m sure you?ll really enjoy it!
***
It?s my understanding that these 7 new titles were installed at Disneyland today and will be added to Walt Disney World?s kiosks within the next few days or so.
THE SEATTLE EXHIBIT
As I briefly mentioned some time back, Walt Disney Records will be celebrating our 50th next year with an exhibit at Seattle?s Experience Music Project Museum. At this moment, it looks like November 2006 is when the exhibit opens (with the possibility of it traveling in 2007). As the exhibit progresses and more info is confirmed, I?ll post and let you know what is happening.
Randy Thornton