The children's television show Arthur

Arthur (TV series)

Arthur is an American/Canadian animated educational television series for children, created by Cookie Jar Group and WGBH for the Public Broadcasting Service...

has released three Arthur soundtracks.

Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (or Tape)

The First Almost Real Not Live CD was the first album for the series, issued in 1998 by Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 and Random House Records

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

. Many of the songs on this CD aired in shorter forms on the TV story "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival". Others were heard at other times on the program and some were never seen on the TV show. Tracks on this CD included the show's main title theme, "Library Card", multiple tracks of D.W.'s favorite song "Crazy Bus" (by former show writer/executive story editor Joe Fallon "Toolbox"), "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" (a more complete form than that heard on the television story) and "Jekyll and Hyde".

Track list

1. "Believe in Yourself" (Theme Song) (Performed by Ziggy Marley
   Ziggy Marley
   David "Ziggy" Marley is a Jamaican musician and leader of the band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He is the oldest son of famed reggae musician Bob Marley...
   
   )
2. "Library Card"
3. "Crazy Bus (No Way!)"
4. "Arthur vs. the Piano"
5. "The UFO Song"
6. "Meek for a Week"
7. "Jekyll and Hyde"
8. "My Dog Pal"
9. "Matalii ja Mustii (The Binky Song)" (Performed by Värttinä
   Värttinä
   Värttinä is a Finnish folk music band which was started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then...
   
   )
10. "Crazy Bus (I Said No, D.W.!)"
11. "My Night Light"
12. "Go to Sleep"
13. "Thinking Tune"
14. "Lucky Pencil"
15. "Homework"
16. "Poetry Club"
17. "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" (performed by Art Garfunkel
    Art Garfunkel
    Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
    
    )
18. "Leftovers Goulash"
19. "Crazy Bus" (preformed by Joe Fallon)

Arthur's Perfect Christmas

Issued in 2000 by Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 and Random House Records

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

, Arthur's Perfect Christmas features many songs from the television special, including "Boogie Woogie Christmas" and "Baxter Day". The CD also contains songs that were either heard on the television special as instrumentals or not featured at all.

Track list

1. "Perfect Christmas"
2. "Jingle Bells
   Jingle Bells
   "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
   
   "
3. "The First Noel"
4. "Boogie Woogie Christmas"
5. "Here We Come A-wassailing
   Here We Come A-Wassailing
   Here We Come A-wassailing is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Years song, apparently composed c. 1850...
   
   "
6. "O Little Town of Bethlehem
   O Little Town of Bethlehem
   "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol. The text was written by Phillips Brooks , an Episcopal priest, Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his...
   
   "
7. "Silent Night
   Silent Night
   "Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber...
   
   "
8. "Fum, Fum, Fum
   Fum, Fum, Fum
   Fum, Fum, Fum is a traditional Catalan Christmas carol.It is thought to have originated in the 16th or 17th Century. The word 'fum' means smoke in Catalan, and it may simply refer to the smoke rising from a chimney as seen from afar, or, as indicated in the Oxford Book of Carols, "may imitate the...
   
   "
9. "It's Kwanzaa
   Kwanzaa
   Kwanzaa is a week long celebration held in the United States honoring universal African-American heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles and culminates in a feast and gift giving...
   
    Time!"
10. "What Child Is This?
    What Child Is This?
    "What Child Is This?" is a popular Christmas carol written in 1865. At the age of twenty-nine, English writer William Chatterton Dix was struck with a sudden near-fatal illness and confined to bedrest for several months, during which he went into a deep depression...
    
    "
11. "What's the Use of Presents?"
12. "Baxter Day"
13. "I'm Not Scared of Santa"
14. "We Three Kings
    We Three Kings
    "We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns...
    
    "
15. "Chanukah, Oh Chanukah
    Oh Chanukah
    Oh Chanukah is an English version of the Yiddish Oy Chanukah . The English words, while not a translation, are roughly based on the Yiddish. Oy Chanukah is a traditional Yiddish Chanukah song and Chanukah. Oh Chanukah is a very popular modern English Chanukah song...
    
    "
16. "Sevivon
    Dreidel
    A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet:נ ,ג ,ה ,ש ,...
    
    "
17. "Chanukah Blessing
    Hanukkah
    Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
    
    "
18. "Santa Lucia
    Santa Lucia
    Santa Lucia is a traditional Neapolitan song. It was transcribed by Teodoro Cottrau and published by the Cottrau firm, as a "barcarolla", at Naples in 1849. Cottrau translated it from Napuletano into Italian during the first stage of the Risorgimento, the first Neapolitan song to be given Italian...
    
    "
19. "Nu Är Det Jul
    Yule
    Yule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
    
     Igen" (Swedish
    Swedish language
    Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
    
     for "Now It's Christmas Again")
20. "Angels We Have Heard on High
    Angels We Have Heard on High
    "Angels We Have Heard on High" is a Christmas carol. The song commemorates the story of the birth of Jesus Christ found in the Gospel of Luke, in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child....
    
    "
21. "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
    Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
    "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle" is a Christmas carol which originated from the Provence region of France in the 16th century. The song is usually notated in 3/8 time....
    
    "
22. "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
23. "O Tannenbaum
    O Tannenbaum
    "O Tannenbaum", or, in its English version, "O Christmas Tree", is a Christmas carol of German origin.A Tannenbaum is a fir tree or Christmas tree...
    
    "
24. "Joy to the World
    Joy to the World
    "Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
    
    "
25. "Perfect Christmas Reprise"

Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix

The most recent CD, Arthur's Really Rockin' Music Mix was released in 2001 through Rounder Records

Rounder Records

Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...

 and Random House Records

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

. This CD contains only one song heard on the program, a remixed version of the main title theme. A short version of this remix was played during the closing credits in the sixth season. All other tunes on this album are new. They are intended as a mix of various song styles, including zydeco, tango, jazz, blues and even country western. Songs include "Two Sides of the Story" (the country western song, a tune based on the events of the story "Arthur's Family Feud"), "Fern's Detective Tango" (based loosely on the story "Binky Rules") and "D.W.'s Brass in Pocket" (a cover of the Pretenders song "Brass in Pocket

Brass In Pocket

"Brass in Pocket" is a single by The Pretenders. It was written by Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott, and produced by Chris Thomas.-Release:...

"). There is also a retelling of the story of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" by Sue Ellen, featuring Binky as Baby Bear, with lines such as "I don't feel like a baby. Can't I be their cousin from down south who's a professional race car driver?"

Track list

1. "Believe in Yourself" (Arthur Theme Remix)
2. "I Don't Want to Wake Up"
3. "Pop Quiz from Ratburn"
4. "Has Anybody Seen My Invisible Friend?"
5. "Two Sides of the Story"
6. "I Can't Snap My Fingers"
7. "Fly, Butterfly, Fly!"
8. "D.W.'s Brass in Pocket"
9. "Elwood City: A Report"
10. "Muffy's Soccer Song"
11. "My Brain"
12. "Only the Frensky"
13. "Mrs. Wha-cha-ma-call-it"
14. "Fern's Detective Tango"
15. "My Echo Doesn't Sound Like Me"
16. "Goldilocks and The Bears Trio as Told by Sue Ellen"

Arthur, It's Only Rock 'n' Roll

There were also several tunes in the special "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" but to date, these have not been released to CD. However, they were made available by WGBH's press relations and can be found as MP3s on some sites and on the Yahoo Arthur group. These songs are "Nothing But the Music", "Manager of My Dreams" and the Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...

' cover of "Believe in Yourself". These songs (with the exception of the original version of "Nothing But the Music") all feature performances from the Backstreet Boys. Additionally, this special included the Backstreet Boys

Backstreet Boys

The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...

 song "I Want It That Way

I Want It That Way

"I Want It That Way" is a song by the Backstreet Boys, and their first single from their 1999 album Millennium. It was written by Max Martin and Andreas Carlsson along with other producers. The song was highly played on the radio and the video, directed by Wayne Isham, was well played on television...

", and a snippet of "Larger Than Life".

The music in the special (including partially performed music) include:

• "I Want It That Way" (performed by the Backstreet Boys
  Backstreet Boys
  The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
  
  ) (partial)
• "Row, Row, Row Your Boat
  Row, Row, Row Your Boat
  "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is an English language nursery rhyme, and a popular children's song, often sung as a round. It can also be an 'action' nursery rhyme where singers sit opposite one another and 'row' forwards and backwards with joined hands...
  
  " (performed by Fern)
• "Skidamarink
  Skidamarink
  Skidamarink is a very popular children's song with a long history. It was originally the grand finale song of the 1910 Broadway musical, "The Echo." Since the title is gibberish, it has had various spellings over the years....
  
  " (performed by D.W during audition held by Francine) (partial)
• Unknown jingle (performed by George in background during audition held by Francine) (partial)
• "Nothing But the Music" (PTA fundraiser version performed by U-Stink)
• "Our Name's We Stink" (a song Arthur, Buster and George wrote for their band) (partial)
• "Manager of My Dreams" (performed by Muffy and the Backstreet Boys
  Backstreet Boys
  The Backstreet Boys are an American vocal group, formed in Orlando, Florida in 1993. The band originally consisted of A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, Nick Carter and Kevin Richardson. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys...
  
  )
• Three variants of an incomplete song with the lyrics "Well I thought I saw, the other night..." (performed by Binky, Fern and Molly) (partial)
• "Nothing But the Music" (final performance by U-Stink and The Backstreet Boys)
• "Larger Than Life" (performed by the Backstreet Boys in the background as U-Stink disbands backstage) (partial)
• "Believe in Yourself - Reprise" (Arthur theme song, performed by the Backstreet Boys)