Here's a twelve inch 78 for children, all about why one should mind one's manners (and what those manners are), sung by Frank Luther. Each side has a set of short songs.
Side one features:
1.) How Do You Do? 2.) We Get Up 3.) Before You Know It 4.) Towels and Clothes 5.) At the Table 6.) Listening 7.) We Say "Please" 8.) Excuse Me
Side two features:
1.) Fair Play 2.) The Whineys 3.) Smash, Rip, Ruin 4.) Toys Belong in Boxes 5.) Animals Have Feelings 6.) Goodbye and Thank You 7.) When It Is Bedtime 8.) Having Good Manners
Frank Luther recorded in a variety of genres, but it legendary mostly for his children's records. He made some records my mother loved, particularly a couple of 78's featuring a set of songs by A. A. Milne, and those records are pretty wonderful. This one tries hard to convince the listener that, yes, "Manners Can Be Fun", but the end result seems more like lecturing then it does the explanation of something fun.
Compare with the low budget Peter Pan releases I offered up in the 365 Days project, which are just as didactic, and clearly had a quarter of the musical budget. And yet those records are a hell of a lot of fun, and as a result, they got played to death by my brother and me when we were kids. I don't perceive the same level of "fun" when I listen to this record, although it was clearly quite well loved (i.e. it's beat to hell, as you'll hear) by whoever owned it before me, so what do I know?
Frank Luther - Manners Can Be Fun, Part One
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