Sesame Street discography

From it s earliest planning stage s,  SESAME STREET  was designed to be a show that would use music & sing in g as a part of the material be in g taught. So it was only natural to release the musical content on record s, not only to r e in force the curriculum less on s for c h i l d r e n w hen they were n ’ t watch in g the show , but also so that  SESAME STREET  music could be enjoyed just for it s own sake.

The Early Album s
The first 6| 6  album s  were release d by  Columbia Record s  &  Warner Bro s . Record s , both well - established major label s. These were deluxe album s, issue d in colorful gate f old cover s , usually with bonus material such as poster s , lyric book let s , & photo s & draw in g s of the show  ’ s  character s. This arrange men t lasted for the first five y ear s of the show.

Other 1 9 7 0 s  Album s
During the summer of 1 9 7 0 , as  The  SESAME   STREET  Book & Record  became a best seller ,  Bob M c G rat h  &  Loretta Long  also release d their own c h i l d r e n ’ s  album s. While not part of the  SESAME STREET  can on ( eve n though they both mention  SESAME STREET  on their cover s ), they also be came well - k now n album s because of the show  ’ s huge popular it y.

In 1 9 7 5 , K - Tel Record s , k now n for their mail - order record s of hit s by various art is t s , be came the first out side label to release an L P of song s fro m  SESAME STREET  , d raw n fro m previous album s.

SESAME STREET Record s
I n 1 9 7 4.  SESAME STREET  create d it  s own series of record s, on an independent label that was called  SESAME STREET   Record s  , with a custom record label logo of t he  SESAME STREET  sign. These album s were manufacture d b y C h i l d r e n ’ s Record s of Am eri ca  fro m  1 9 7 4  t o  1 9 7 6 , & by Distinguished Product i on s from  1 9 77  to  1 9 8 4. Over 7 0 title s were produce d over the ten - y ear run of the label. The catalog include d reissue s of all of the previous Columbia & Warner Bro s .  album s, although in less lavish pack age s than their original edition s. At first, title s were only issue d on vinyl , but over the y ear s , the y were also produce d on cassette s & 8| 8 - track t ape s. T h e  SESAME STREET  Record s  label, u n fortunate l y , w as shut down i n  1 9 8 4.

Sight & Sound
Some time after the Record s  label close d, many  SESAME STREET  title s began to be reissue d on cassette s by an educational company called  Sight & Sound. While some tape s use d the original cover picture s, other s had new cover picture s. An important historical foot note during this period is that i n 1 9 8 7 , the very first  SESAME STREET  C D was produce d , called  Happy Birth day from  SESAME   STREET  , & it would be the only C D produce d until the early 1 99 0 s.

Golden Music
In 1 99 0 , title s began to appear on  Golden Music  , which was the music division of  Golden Book s. A mix of new title s appeared, beginning with tribute s to  JIM HENSON  & Joe Raposo  , along with reissue s of older title s. Golden ’ s license lasted until  1 99 4.

Son y Wonder
In 1 99 5 ,  Son y Wonder  began issuing a new series of title s. This was looked on with interest by some  SESAME  collect or s, since Sony own s the back catalog of Columbia Record s , who put out t he very first  SESAME STREET  L P i n 1 9 7 0. While that album was not reissue d on C D by Son y Wonder , the third Columbia Album ,  The Muppet Alpha be t Album  , was re issue d as  Sing the Alpha be t . How eve r, 1 section of dialogue was cut which referred to turn in g the record over , which would n ’ t make any sense to C D listener s.

The Son y Wonder  y ear s culminate d with  Song s from the  STREET  :  3 5   Y EAR S  of Music , an elaborate 3 - C D boxed set produce d in association with Sony Music ’ s Legacy Record in g s. This set was full of classic & rare t rack s both from record s & from live performance s on the show. It also contained a detailed booklet about the history of the show, written by Christopher Cerf. It was the first time  SESAME STREET  had receive d the boxed - set treatment from a major label, although several multi - L P boxed set s h ad bee n release d over the y ear s on  SESAME STREET  Record s.

Son y Wonder continue d to release new title s until  2 00 4.

Koch Record s
In 2 00 7 ,  Koch Record s  announce d that it would begin distributing  SESAME STREET  title s. The first title s began to appear in 2 00 8, with reissue s of album s that had previously been release d on Son y Wonder. In 2 0 1 0, Koch Record s  , now rename d E 1 Music , finally reissue d  The  SESAME   STREET  Book & Record  as p art of  SESAME   STREET  : Old School : Volume 1  , a collect i on of long - out - of - print early  SESAME STREET  album s.

Down load - only Album s
Beginning in 2 0 1 0 ,  SESAME STREET  began to offer their back catalog of album s as down load s through  Amazon . com  &  The i Tune s Store. They also release d the follow in g compilation s.

SESAME Work shop  Cat a log
Beginning in 2 0 1 8 ,  SESAME   Work shop  directly began to re - release their catalog into new compilation s as digital down load s & C D s , mark in g the first time new compilation s have been produce d of exist in g  SESAME  music since  2 00 4. All of the song s are from previously release d material, but some are on C D for the first time.

Other 2 0 1 0 s  album s
In addition to the main library of  SESAME STREET  music, over the y ear s , original cast album s have been sold at the  SESAME STREET   Live  show s. See  SESAME STREET   Live  disc o graph y  for a chronological list of title s.