Amazing '70s Signage from "The Electric Company"

[litsci]

The very best. I hope they play this video at my funeral.

[RomanticLinguaphilia]

Oh this is awesome. Didn't think twice about favoriting this :-)

[UncleMikeNJ]

Think how different the signs would look if they tried to do this one today. Too bad the new "Electric Company" is a cross between "3-2-1 Contact" and a Saturday morning cartoon.

[kathyberthahazel]

All I could remember from this was "don't look now your hair is blue" and THANK you for posting the lyrics because that's how I found it with no trouble. I haven't seen it since I was little, it's amazing what sticks in our brains.

[10purpleprincess]

lol love this songs! OMG!! MY HAIR IS BLUEEEE :O

[hakunamatata414]

I used to love this, then I forgot all about it for 27 years.THANK YOU.

[QBCNetwork]

Where's the instrumental reprise of this song? And it ends with a bit of Over The Waves?

I like that better.

[vichy766]

Shows to go ya, we are not far from the kids we once were. This presents a break from the rigors of daily life, not a lot more relaxing than this,,,errr specially when the tots are gone!!!!

[wagerfilmART]

We were not as hard to impress in the 1970s. Nice film.

[SnowbirdFlock]

Actually, my hair isn't blue, it's brown going on grey. And I don't know if I can dance all the way to France. (I love this song!)

[astridkitty1212]

Let me take you to Funkytown!

[trishagroh]

I remember this!

[d72jjpilc]

'I like fish food, you do too...' I think Electric Company did a few clips similar to this. One Sesame Street that immediately comes to mind when I see this is 'City Alphabet.' Nice memory - thanks!

[d72jjpilc]

I meant to say 'Sesame Street clip'

[microbusss]

heh I'll bet 95% of these signs don't exist! LOL The DONT WALK signs have a hand (stop) a figure walking (walk) hehe

[pntm]

It wasn't always that way, Billy.

[Saltheigh]

if you just insert the word "anymore" into your post, you'd be making a safe bet!

[emoshmeer]

golly

[lesetchka]

I believe this came from Sesame Street rather than the electric company. But I'm glad to have found it and have pulled the MP3 off of this video for my iPod. Yay!! Thanks for posting.

[timfischer]

@lesetchka This was definitely Electric Company - we have the DVD's and it's on one of the episodes.

[LarryGastropoleau]

I miss New York.

[RSG2006]

Various clues in various shots have led me to deduce that this clip was filmed in October 1971.

[herakatgrl]

To my surprise I was able to sing along with this! Some of those memories go way back!

[karonG1]

He's the BEST. . .

[vaniti06]

OMG, I haven't seen that since like, 1971! That made me feel like a kid again, thanks.

[32Theresa]

They're making a new version of Electric Company now on PBS!

[bob46]

Not the same.

[32Theresa]

AWE!!! THAT'S CUTE!!!

[Bpothik]

OMG....I LOVE this one!! About made me cry watching it again; and yes, I will also credit Electric Company for my passion for reading and words, not too mention the reason for me being an English teacher today!

[Ivy94F]

When it came to preparing for reading comprehension this show was tops.  I was reading at about three because of this show.

[idedaryl]

To my shock, my little boy read competently a few weeks after he turned four. I never dreamed he'd learned, and I credit "The Electric Company." I enjoyed watching it, too!

[DaveJ721]

I was on a junior high reading level when I was in first grade thanks to The Electric Company. :)

We seriously need to make kids shows like this again.

[bob46]

"Between the lions" is produced by the same people who prduced this show.

[LarryGastropoleau]

I doubt it -- it's produced by WGBH Boston, Sirius Thinking, Ltd., and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, while the Electric Company was produced by the Children's Television Workshop, now known as Sesame Workshop.

[bob46]

Yes, but alot of the people from the Electric Company are now working on Between The Lions.

[mytoilethasspace4u]

i love fish food, up is down, left is right, day and night all bright.

pretty much explains why we have great leaders today.

[firetaker25]

Seems mostly what the establishment has for the kids today is drugs and quacks.

[neesietx]

Up is Down and I Love You!

[Figment1983]

This show was a lot funnier than Sesame Street!

[meeshyd]

HEY YOU GUYS! Diggin' the "I like fish food" song. My sis and I still sing it, only this time it's to our kids that are the age we were back then. Thanks for reminding me of the good ol' days!

[adamcharney]

I have a student who is really struggling with phonics and it's a shame they don't have more of this stuff on TV these days. She could really use it.

[firetaker25]

Unfortunately, the establishment seems currently enamored with drugs and quacks for the kids, instead of quality programing and learning. I guess it more suits their "bottom line." It's too easy to make perpetual, easy and stupid dollars on ignorance and repression.

[firetaker25]

I remember these shows.  It was a great learning tool, and a suppliment to studies in-school, but in the comfort of the home. Thinking back, how comfortable life was then -- how well-off it all seems -- even amongst the working-class.

[pavo6503]

I know what you mean about phonics, they beat that into us in 1st grade. To this day, spelling has been one of my strongest suits because I understand how the English language works!

[tabipal]

Its awesome! I miss it! I am totally addicted to youtube now. You brought back a piece of nostalgia and I'm hooked!

[HoosierRN]

Oh, to be a kid in the 70s again!

[TECHXHEAD]

This is hilarious!

[eriathwen1303]

LOL !

[Solidcamis]

achu!

[flashieemos]

LOVE IT!

[nicka727]

The sign sing along lyrics are from 79B

I like fish food, you do too.

Don't look now your hair is blue.

Walk right in and see the zoo.

Up is down and I love you.

Stop and go and dance a dance.

All the way from here to France

Day is night all bright and new.

Left is right and I love you.

Please post more sign sing alongs from the Electric Company.

[redwingsfanintexas]

holy crap! this sends me back. i sat in front of the TV for hours till they played the Star Spangled Banner...now i gotta get back to work and pay some bills.

[jestearns]

dumb!

[happy7117]

Last picture looked like Uncle Sam!

[holborne235]

I still remember all the words too! Also, there was a sing-along version.

[center4ants]

oh man...life was so much simpler then lol

[timhun]

Those were the days!

[FreshTony]

Dudes were BORED.

[pepsican1]

i still remember the words, can't believe it

[DoxVoom]

"Left is right"

Liberals!!! :)

[xagcx]

Lol!

[Freakydee75]

OMG! I remember this so much, but I thought this was on Sesame Street! The more clips of TEC I see, the more I piece together what was on which show...

[eddy8grace]

That is exactly how I feel!

[abeyantbirds]

i have never seen this ever

[ISNorden]

Wasn't there a longer version, with one of the cast members inviting the audience to sing the words themselves? (After that line, both verses/sign sequences played again, with the vocals left out; the "I love you" ending also changed in the repeated second verse.)

[Conuly]

Yes, and there's a video up here somewhere that has the full version.

[TheLazenby2]

You're right, there was.

[enigma800]

Ah, the beautiful voices of The Short Circus. I had a MAJOR thing for "Jesse", played by then very handsome (but showing his age today) Todd Graff

[LegionPossessed]

Oh man, I had a major crush on Jesse too!! haha What fun memories!

[torgman]

For years I thought it was "Short Circuits." Oh, well...

[puppyshoes]

That is the Short Circus

[raceyboy]

I never realized how much LSD had an effect on my childhood.

[daleboy72]

WOW! What a blast from the past. I remember almost all of the old electric company skits. I doubt there will ever be an edgucational that hip and witty again.

[ISNorden]

"Up is down and I love you"...this classic proves that sometimes reading for fun, with no lesson theme in mind, is good for you. Five stars!

[StaceSesame]

i remember this!

[Larynxa]

This was one of several "signs" segments done on the show. The most well-known was the one with "No Left Turn / No Right Turn / What can you do?" The most obscure seems to be one that was shot in an old office building. The original "signs" segment seems to be the "alphabet" one that was done for "Sesame Street" a few years earlier.

[lalzmalz]

sucks, and you comment poster, who loved that.. you suck, too.

[easynorth]

that's not very nice.

[torgman]

* <--- THIS IS YOU!

[bigbadwolfbear]

Thanks!

[CrazyAsianFood]

this is great =D

[eeeveehammond]

Absolutely awesome!

[rkonbon]

????????????????

[8traxrule]

There's a DVD set of this you can buy right now, and another coming later this year!

[Toledo1837]

I'm only impressed this show is getting the DVD treatment after so long. The first box even had an episode I previously got from a multi-generational recording I could replace easily.

[CheeWeezGroupie]

That's how I learned English when I immigrated to the US in 1978 just before I started 2nd Grade.

[LiteracyLabyrinth]

my mind just had a relapse watching this - so memorable

[mcMuller]

Perfect.

[LHZZ12MM]

just like it was yesterday :) ...and you know it's retro 70's when it's film not video

[ArizonaKnightWolf]

My God, I can't beleive how long it's been since I've seen this!! Great!!

[DaveJ721]

I remember this :). Great way to get little kids to get interested in reading. I had the reading skills of a junior high school student when I was first grade, and I think shows like Electric Company had a lot to do with it. They made me LOVE letters and words :)

[maggiem73]

:) 

[mercyreef]

Aw, that was cute. lol Thanks for sharing. :-)

[formerdiva]

LOVE it! I miss that show a LOT!

[stewf]

made me cry