Sweet Pickles Pop 26

I don’t actively try to recover all the records I had as a kid, because some of them are better off lost. But I realized this year that “Sweet Pickles” has been haunting my workaholic self since 1980: specifically the song “Responsible Rabbit”, an autobiographical tune sung by a rabbit of the same name who’s so efficient he takes lunch at exactly 12:01 and “I work while I chew 'til 12:32”. Sweet Pickles was a series of children’s books about 26 animal friends who live together in a town stuffed full of basic personality types, designated alphabetically by the animals’ names – Imitating Iguana, Positive Pig, Clever Camel, Kidding Kangaroo, Doubtful Dog, and so on. This companion LP allows each animal to sing his or her story in a pop song, all of them desperately catchy, several of them skewing disco (and they don’t embarrass themselves – the production values are top-notch). A more cynical listener could consider this a musical survey of personality disorders, and at least one song, “Bashful Bear Blues”, has aquired an unintended but compelling new meaning in the 21^st century: “Everywhere I cruise / I’m shakin’ in my shoes.” Woof! But kids of course heard it for exactly what it is, a tour through the many moods we all cycle through in life. There’s something, or several things, that I guarantee you’ll include in your next mix – starting, I hope, with “Tantrum”, a stone classic.

Sweet Pickles Theme Song — Pop 26

What A Wonderful Town This Could Be — Outraged Octopus

Lion Looks At Love — Loving Lion

I Do It Too — Imitating Iguana

Responsible Rabbit Rag — Responsible Rabbit

I'll Do It Tomorrow — Goof-off Goose

Havin' Fun — Zany Zebra

Isn't It Sweet To Eat? — Enormous Elephant

Bashful Bear Blues — Bashful Bear

Tantrum — Temper Tantrum Turtle

If I Could Only Make Up My Mind — Imitating Iguana

Stork Spills The Beans — Smarty Stork

Not Allowed — X-Rating Xerus

Haw, Haw, I'm Only Kidding — Kidding Kangaroo

I'm Gorgeous — Vain Vulture

I Am Clever — Clever Camel

I'm Moody Moose — Moody Moose

I'm Nasty Nightingale — Nasty Nightingale

Health Is Very Healthy For You — Healthy Hippo

It's Your Fault — Accusing Alligator

Do The Yakety Yak — Yakety Yak

When The Going Gets Tough — Fearless Fish

That's Something To Worry About — Worried Walrus

Whatever Can Go Right Will — Positive Pig

Down In The Dumps Again — Doubtful Dog

It's Not Fair — Jealous Jackal

Another Birthday — Unique Unicorn

Sweet Pickles Theme Song (Reprise) — Pop 26

Album audio & artwork

DISCLAIMER: To the best of my knowledge, this work is out of print and not available for purchase in any format. If you are the artist and are planning a reissue, please let me know and I’ll remove it from the blog. Also please get in touch if you’ve lost your art &/or sound masters and would like to talk with me about my restoration work.