by Moe Zilla

Created on: February 15, 2008   Last Updated: February 16, 2008

"Schoolhouse Rock" ran for 12 years, starting in 1973 - though each segment was barely three minutes long. The catchy animated songs made an impression on an entire generation -and they also taught helpful lessons about multiplication, grammar, history, and science.

Most of the lively songs were written by Bob Dorough, a well-respected New York jazz pianist. (Dorough even provided vocals for a track on the Miles Davis album "Sorcerer".) A New York advertising agency originally created just one Schoolhouse Rock video - "Three is a Magic Number" - but ABC was so delighted that they commissioned an entire series of them. Soon songs had been composed teaching the multiplication tables for every number from 2 to 12 (with a "Four-Legged Zoo" teaching the number four and pool-hustling cat warning children about "Naughty Number Nine".) The cartoons were all light and entertaining, and they'd eventually win four Emmy awards for excellence in children's programming.

Along the way, the cartoons introduced a nation of children to singers and musicians. The wispy voice of jazz singer Blossom Dearie sang the haunting song "Figure Eight," and later told a story about an ill-fated camping trip which required its narrator to "Unpack Your Adjectives." Jazz drummer Grady Tate sang the story of "Naughty Number Nine," while jazz trumper Jack Sheldon achieved new fame as the voice behind "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill." Future Broadway lyrics Lynn Ahrens composed the "Grammar Rock" songs about nouns and interjections. And even though singer Lori Lieberman contributed only one vocal to the series, some consider "The Great American Melting Pot" to be one of the show's finest songs.

Unfortunately, science, grammar, and history didn't lend themselves quite as easily to the show's format. While the preamble to the Constitution is easy enough to set to music, the show struggled to condense complicated concepts like manifest destiny into short three-minute songs. But by this time the show's format had become a comforting favorite for an entire generation of TV-watching children. Even decades after they grew up, it wasn't uncommon for members of "generation X" to recognize that they'd had a shared experience.

They all had fond memories of "Schoolhouse Rock."

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