As a kid growing up the Raggedy Ann and Andy Musical Adventure was a favorite of mine and my siblings. We loved it so much when it came on HBO I taped the songs on my cassette player. He didnt know, the comfort the songs brought us or how now years later as a mother of two my children and i would listen to it on youtube. He sowed a beautiful seed in me that have bloomed in my kids. They actually liked the songs i liked as a kid. He came from a sincere place in his heart that resinates today. :)
This is nice. Having watched Sesame Street growing up, and then working at a PBS affiliate for 12 years in my adulthood, Joe Raposo's songs are part of my life's soundtrack. This was a nice tribute.
Which recording of "Listening To You" is this? It's rather moving, in its rawness. It doesn't sound like The Who to me, though.
Love the photo of him with Dr. Seuss. When was that taken? Hey, is Joe's last name pronounced Ruh-po-so or is it a less obvious pronunciation? I can't seem to find that info anywhere on the web.
This was an amateur recording of a high school chorus singing it. For the life of me I can't remember the school's name, though! And I can't find where I misplaced the file. Joe's surname is pronounced "Ruh-PO-zo". I'm very glad you enjoyed this tribute. What riles me now though is I have tons of photos of Raposo when he was a teenager in high school, and I can't bear to redo this tribute segment to include them, though I ought to!
Aha - found the file. "Listening To You" was performed here by the Beaumont High School chorus, Beaumont, California. PM me and I'll email you an mp3 of it if you want one.
Very nice tribute to Joe. I was a classmate of his at Harvard Class of '58 and he will be missed at our BIG 50th Reunion about to take place the first week of June. His Hasty Pudding Show is also one to be remembered. Joe....you're still with us through your music!!
This is a solid posting, with an excellent choice in the music selection to go with the piece. Well done. I was just watching Sinatra's 1973 "Ole Blue Eyes is Back" and was wondering is there was anything about Raposo on here...glad to see there is. He was a very tasteful writer. Nice picture with Lena Horne and Jim Henson (far right) at 0:28. I've heard her on a couple of occasions speak highly of her Sesame visits. Thanks for the effort on this.
Apparently they were extremely good friends at Harvard, and it was a lifelong friendship. Joe's song Nick says Tom would write a song and Joe would arrange it: the "n't" song, "-ly" and "Silent E" were three of these. What I woulda done to be a fly on the wall during those conversations and recordings...
He finished by telling me that he was heading back to New York for the winter that weekend but that I should call him again in the spring and he would have me up to his house. Unfortunately, he died before coming back to Vermont, but the hour that he spent talking to a young fan will always be one of my most cherished memories.
Kevy, that is the best.story.EVER. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing that here. I'm kind of fighting back tears after having read it, but thank you so very much for sharing it. OK, battle lost. I'm crying.
We're all aware on my show how illness took out the three masters: Henson, Raposo and Stone. What makes us acutely aware is the three of us behind MY show have illnesses too - I have the beginning stages of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which took out my hero Joe Raposo. I work every day to stay on top of it, though, and I think I will beat it and prevent the cells from developing any further.
Another dear cast member has a very serious congenital nerve illness which I won't name here, but he battles it too. We are keenly hurt by how our heroes were ripped from us by illness, and we do NOT want to exit as early as they did. We are continuing their work, and it's important we and it stick around long enough to last.
He said, "We were so young when we all got together. Now most of my friends are gone, and it's all from disease and illness." He talked about Sesame Street but the impression that he gave me was that he left because he was in a wheelchair and just couldn't do it anymore. He did say that he was very unhappy with the direction that the show was going, that it becoming too "Barney-ish" and that parents would not want to watch it with their children anymore.
She said, "Well, he's got a summer home in Sunderland and I think he's still in town, give him a call. He's really down to earth and would love to hear from you."
So I went home and sure enough, he was listed in the phone book. I called him and he seemed very happy to hear from a fan. He talked to me for about an hour, mostly about Jim Henson, Joe Raposo and Richard Hunt.
When I asked the woman who owned the place about the jacket she said, "That was a gift to me from an old motorcycle buddy who can't ride anymore because he has Lou Gherig's disease. He gave me his jacket." When I asked who her friend was she told me Jon Stone. "You know Jon Stone!?!" I screamed. "You know who he is?" she replied. I told her that I was a huge fan of his work, from classic Sesame to "The Monster At The End Of This Book."
Beautiful tribute! Then again, I love Joe Raposo and The Who, so of course I loved it!
I have a Jon Stone story that may interest you. I'll try to keep it short but it will take a few posts....
About 12 years ago, I lived in Vermont and had stopped to get gas. When I went into the gas station to pay, I couldn't help but notice hanging on the wall was a black leather Harley jacket that had a large Bert and Ernie embroidered on the back.
One of my all-time favorites was the song and video for "Windy Day..." Bob McGrath sang it. It's been years since I've seen it, but I can still remember the first verse. "Windy day! Look how the breeze turns pirouettes! Rattles the door like castanets, Carries my dreams away... My, oh my, it's a windy, windy day!"
That was a very beautiful, touching, tribute to a talented music man, Raposofan. :) The music, the pictures of Joe's past, his work on Sesame Street, and the classic looking TV set in the living room. And I like the image of Joe, Jim, and Jon too. A composer, a puppeteer, and a writer. Three of the many people who brough us joy and magic over the years. :)
Holy smoke, I'm stunned...how could this not deserve five stars and my own "thank you" back? (I understand that two of the people in your Photoshop image would be Joe Raposo and Jim Henson, but who's the third?)
Jon Stone is the one grinning in the middle. He produced and directed pretty much all the classic Sesame Street muppet segments we post and love. I love him as well.
Footnote: Sesame Workshop, upon becoming a corporation, fired Jon Stone from his position after over 30 years of exemplary Emmy Award-winning work at CTW, and inventing "the stoop" at 123 Sesame Street, and insisting it be set on an inner city street, which lent the show its eternal character.
Interesting info. What's "the stoop" exactly? And it's an outrage that after doing so much they lay him off, but I read it was in 1994...wasn't that also when they decided to change the show's opening theme, and accelerate the "Elmoization"?
Anyways, this video is a fitting tribute to Joe Raposo. And nice "what if" photo near the end.
The stoop is the famous doorway with steps leading up to it, and "123" above the doors. Susan and Gordon lived beyond it, Oscar's can is to immediate right of it, and Ernie and Bert's apt is to its lower left. That was Jon Stone's creation. And yep, that was when the opening theme changed, and Elmo's marketability was moved to center concern at the Workshop. I agree that what happened to Stone was both outrageous, and actually morally wrong.
Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know there was a name. But it was Stone who came up with the design of that icon? (As much an icon as the open space and Mr. Hooper's Store.) In parts of London and a couple of streets in Montreal you can find buildings with similar configurations, but it's not so common. "Biting the Hand that Feeds You" is always wrong.
Nah, he didn't design it; there's tons of them in New York City, but he insisted there be one on the show, in that particular spot, to serve the function it did - the hub of activity in the imperfect Sesame Street neighborhood.
Are you guys sure that Jon Stone didn't simply retire? I can find no info suggesting that Stone was fired; my guess is that he retired due to complications with ALS. He passed away in 1997.
Sadly no, he was fired. Two Sesame Workshop executives told me the story while showing me a commemorative plaque Jon had received upon being "let go". The plaque is under glass not far from their lobby. Jon returned the plaque to them, not interested in it. I asked why it was there and they told me what happened.
It's stories like that, and finding a trashed cel from Jazz Numbers covered in dust in a broken frame and dumped in a corner of a "room full of junk" as though it were garbage, in the Sesame Workshop bldg, that galvanized me to start a company of my own producing children's shows in a retro way. I saw these things in the 90s, then again in spring of 2002.
These men were not the kind to let mere illness retire them. Henson infamously worked through a suspicious cough while coughing up blood on the set before being hospitalized, and Raposo worked right up to the last week before his death from NHL.
Jon Stone can also be seen in image 00:28, between an unidentified woman and Joe (on left), and Jim Henson holding Fat Blue to right. The photo at 00:28 belongs to Nick Raposo, one of Joe's sons, and a talented human being I still consider a good friend.
Mokeystar has identified the woman in that photo. It's Lena Horne. This photo was taken during the taping of Lena Horne's alphabet song. The segment is posted here on YouTube. Great detective work, Mokey! Thanks!
I agree with mokey - Great music, beautiful choice of images (I especially like the one at 1:23, it strikes a chord!), love that last one, too.. Good work, H (J) :)
As a kid growing up the Raggedy Ann and Andy Musical Adventure was a favorite of mine and my siblings. We loved it so much when it came on HBO I taped the songs on my cassette player. He didnt know, the comfort the songs brought us or how now years later as a mother of two my children and i would listen to it on youtube. He sowed a beautiful seed in me that have bloomed in my kids. They actually liked the songs i liked as a kid. He came from a sincere place in his heart that resinates today. :)
yelloworchid75 4 months ago
In that picture with Jim Henson and the muppets, I thought he looked a bit like Herb from WKRP In Cincinnai
muppetfan33 2 years ago
Joe made so many incredible songs! Boy do they bring me back to an era of sweetness, wonder and joy!
brianstreehouse 2 years ago
This is nice. Having watched Sesame Street growing up, and then working at a PBS affiliate for 12 years in my adulthood, Joe Raposo's songs are part of my life's soundtrack. This was a nice tribute.
bethiea 2 years ago
esta video esta bem feita
obrigado !!!
ghostjazz 3 years ago
Sim, e uma brasa, mora! Obrigada!
raposofan 3 years ago
Which recording of "Listening To You" is this? It's rather moving, in its rawness. It doesn't sound like The Who to me, though.
Love the photo of him with Dr. Seuss. When was that taken? Hey, is Joe's last name pronounced Ruh-po-so or is it a less obvious pronunciation? I can't seem to find that info anywhere on the web.
Thanks for the moving post.
--Ryan
ryartiste 3 years ago
This was an amateur recording of a high school chorus singing it. For the life of me I can't remember the school's name, though! And I can't find where I misplaced the file. Joe's surname is pronounced "Ruh-PO-zo". I'm very glad you enjoyed this tribute. What riles me now though is I have tons of photos of Raposo when he was a teenager in high school, and I can't bear to redo this tribute segment to include them, though I ought to!
raposofan 3 years ago
Aha - found the file. "Listening To You" was performed here by the Beaumont High School chorus, Beaumont, California. PM me and I'll email you an mp3 of it if you want one.
raposofan 3 years ago
Very nice tribute to Joe. I was a classmate of his at Harvard Class of '58 and he will be missed at our BIG 50th Reunion about to take place the first week of June. His Hasty Pudding Show is also one to be remembered. Joe....you're still with us through your music!!
duanewadsworth 3 years ago 3
This is a solid posting, with an excellent choice in the music selection to go with the piece. Well done. I was just watching Sinatra's 1973 "Ole Blue Eyes is Back" and was wondering is there was anything about Raposo on here...glad to see there is. He was a very tasteful writer. Nice picture with Lena Horne and Jim Henson (far right) at 0:28. I've heard her on a couple of occasions speak highly of her Sesame visits. Thanks for the effort on this.
ecapital46 3 years ago 2
Thank you for caring about his music and for appreciating it :)
raposofan 3 years ago
De nada. I am a woman, so I use obrigada to thank Joe for all his songs.
raposofan 3 years ago
Eu sou uma mulher :)
raposofan 4 years ago
frank sinatra sang many of his song.
mettanc 4 years ago
That's true. Mr. Sinatra adored Joe's playing and nicknamed him "the genius" or "Raposo at the piano".
raposofan 4 years ago
I have heard that Joe Raposo and Tom Lehrer were buddies in college, maybe they just knew each other?
NurnIrl 4 years ago
Apparently they were extremely good friends at Harvard, and it was a lifelong friendship. Joe's song Nick says Tom would write a song and Joe would arrange it: the "n't" song, "-ly" and "Silent E" were three of these. What I woulda done to be a fly on the wall during those conversations and recordings...
raposofan 4 years ago
The building at 0:20 is the Hasty Pudding Theater, not the music department.
LarryGastropoleau 4 years ago
You win a Kewpie! Joe scored the music for the HPT during his time at Harvard.
raposofan 4 years ago
Joe Raposo was a marvelous musical talent.
ebf1957 4 years ago
He finished by telling me that he was heading back to New York for the winter that weekend but that I should call him again in the spring and he would have me up to his house. Unfortunately, he died before coming back to Vermont, but the hour that he spent talking to a young fan will always be one of my most cherished memories.
KevyNova 4 years ago
Kevy, that is the best.story.EVER. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing that here. I'm kind of fighting back tears after having read it, but thank you so very much for sharing it. OK, battle lost. I'm crying.
raposofan 4 years ago
We're all aware on my show how illness took out the three masters: Henson, Raposo and Stone. What makes us acutely aware is the three of us behind MY show have illnesses too - I have the beginning stages of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which took out my hero Joe Raposo. I work every day to stay on top of it, though, and I think I will beat it and prevent the cells from developing any further.
raposofan 4 years ago
Another dear cast member has a very serious congenital nerve illness which I won't name here, but he battles it too. We are keenly hurt by how our heroes were ripped from us by illness, and we do NOT want to exit as early as they did. We are continuing their work, and it's important we and it stick around long enough to last.
raposofan 4 years ago
There is another reason your story really touched me deeply this morning. I wish I could share it with the world. One day, I probably will.
raposofan 4 years ago
I wish you all the best of luck with everything. Keep it up!
KevyNova 4 years ago
He said, "We were so young when we all got together. Now most of my friends are gone, and it's all from disease and illness." He talked about Sesame Street but the impression that he gave me was that he left because he was in a wheelchair and just couldn't do it anymore. He did say that he was very unhappy with the direction that the show was going, that it becoming too "Barney-ish" and that parents would not want to watch it with their children anymore.
KevyNova 4 years ago
She said, "Well, he's got a summer home in Sunderland and I think he's still in town, give him a call. He's really down to earth and would love to hear from you."
So I went home and sure enough, he was listed in the phone book. I called him and he seemed very happy to hear from a fan. He talked to me for about an hour, mostly about Jim Henson, Joe Raposo and Richard Hunt.
KevyNova 4 years ago
When I asked the woman who owned the place about the jacket she said, "That was a gift to me from an old motorcycle buddy who can't ride anymore because he has Lou Gherig's disease. He gave me his jacket." When I asked who her friend was she told me Jon Stone. "You know Jon Stone!?!" I screamed. "You know who he is?" she replied. I told her that I was a huge fan of his work, from classic Sesame to "The Monster At The End Of This Book."
KevyNova 4 years ago
Beautiful tribute! Then again, I love Joe Raposo and The Who, so of course I loved it!
I have a Jon Stone story that may interest you. I'll try to keep it short but it will take a few posts....
About 12 years ago, I lived in Vermont and had stopped to get gas. When I went into the gas station to pay, I couldn't help but notice hanging on the wall was a black leather Harley jacket that had a large Bert and Ernie embroidered on the back.
KevyNova 4 years ago
I'm so impressed by Joe Raposo, since before I knew who he was, and he was dead before I ever heard his name. He seems to have been extraordinary.
NurnIrl 4 years ago
I know what year Joe died but what did he die of again?
wattamack4 4 years ago
Non-Hodgkins' lymphoma :(
Basically, it is cancer of the lymph nodes and lymphatic system.
raposofan 4 years ago
One of my all-time favorites was the song and video for "Windy Day..." Bob McGrath sang it. It's been years since I've seen it, but I can still remember the first verse. "Windy day! Look how the breeze turns pirouettes! Rattles the door like castanets, Carries my dreams away... My, oh my, it's a windy, windy day!"
NedNickerson57 4 years ago
Great tribute to an amazing man. Very nicely done! Thank you! We love you, Joe!
KarensCondo 4 years ago
Wow, wow, wow! Raposofan, thank you. (Wiping the tears away as I type.)
ahlby 4 years ago
Very powerful stuff...
It's the kind of thing that, when it's over, you have to take a moment and a couple of breaths to come back to reality.
Whatever "It" is, you've got it!
OofusTwillip 4 years ago
Nice tribute. Who is that at 1:33 if I may ask?
~Ra'akone
raakone 4 years ago
That was a very beautiful, touching, tribute to a talented music man, Raposofan. :) The music, the pictures of Joe's past, his work on Sesame Street, and the classic looking TV set in the living room. And I like the image of Joe, Jim, and Jon too. A composer, a puppeteer, and a writer. Three of the many people who brough us joy and magic over the years. :)
culpit 4 years ago
Indeed
raposofan 4 years ago
Holy smoke, I'm stunned...how could this not deserve five stars and my own "thank you" back? (I understand that two of the people in your Photoshop image would be Joe Raposo and Jim Henson, but who's the third?)
ISNorden 4 years ago
Jon Stone is the one grinning in the middle. He produced and directed pretty much all the classic Sesame Street muppet segments we post and love. I love him as well.
Footnote: Sesame Workshop, upon becoming a corporation, fired Jon Stone from his position after over 30 years of exemplary Emmy Award-winning work at CTW, and inventing "the stoop" at 123 Sesame Street, and insisting it be set on an inner city street, which lent the show its eternal character.
raposofan 4 years ago
Interesting info. What's "the stoop" exactly? And it's an outrage that after doing so much they lay him off, but I read it was in 1994...wasn't that also when they decided to change the show's opening theme, and accelerate the "Elmoization"?
Anyways, this video is a fitting tribute to Joe Raposo. And nice "what if" photo near the end.
~Ra'akone
raakone 4 years ago
The stoop is the famous doorway with steps leading up to it, and "123" above the doors. Susan and Gordon lived beyond it, Oscar's can is to immediate right of it, and Ernie and Bert's apt is to its lower left. That was Jon Stone's creation. And yep, that was when the opening theme changed, and Elmo's marketability was moved to center concern at the Workshop. I agree that what happened to Stone was both outrageous, and actually morally wrong.
raposofan 4 years ago
Thanks for the explanation. I didn't know there was a name. But it was Stone who came up with the design of that icon? (As much an icon as the open space and Mr. Hooper's Store.) In parts of London and a couple of streets in Montreal you can find buildings with similar configurations, but it's not so common. "Biting the Hand that Feeds You" is always wrong.
~Ra'akone
raakone 4 years ago
Nah, he didn't design it; there's tons of them in New York City, but he insisted there be one on the show, in that particular spot, to serve the function it did - the hub of activity in the imperfect Sesame Street neighborhood.
raposofan 4 years ago
Are you guys sure that Jon Stone didn't simply retire? I can find no info suggesting that Stone was fired; my guess is that he retired due to complications with ALS. He passed away in 1997.
TServo2049 4 years ago
Sadly no, he was fired. Two Sesame Workshop executives told me the story while showing me a commemorative plaque Jon had received upon being "let go". The plaque is under glass not far from their lobby. Jon returned the plaque to them, not interested in it. I asked why it was there and they told me what happened.
raposofan 4 years ago
It's stories like that, and finding a trashed cel from Jazz Numbers covered in dust in a broken frame and dumped in a corner of a "room full of junk" as though it were garbage, in the Sesame Workshop bldg, that galvanized me to start a company of my own producing children's shows in a retro way. I saw these things in the 90s, then again in spring of 2002.
raposofan 4 years ago
These men were not the kind to let mere illness retire them. Henson infamously worked through a suspicious cough while coughing up blood on the set before being hospitalized, and Raposo worked right up to the last week before his death from NHL.
raposofan 4 years ago
Hearing what happened to Stone was my "that does it" moment.
raposofan 4 years ago
Jon passed away within months of being let go of the television program he essentially created.
raposofan 4 years ago
Jon Stone can also be seen in image 00:28, between an unidentified woman and Joe (on left), and Jim Henson holding Fat Blue to right. The photo at 00:28 belongs to Nick Raposo, one of Joe's sons, and a talented human being I still consider a good friend.
raposofan 4 years ago
Mokeystar has identified the woman in that photo. It's Lena Horne. This photo was taken during the taping of Lena Horne's alphabet song. The segment is posted here on YouTube. Great detective work, Mokey! Thanks!
raposofan 4 years ago
Great, great job! A fitting tribute! You should be VERY proud of yourself. A great WHO song to choose also!
mstatz 4 years ago
That was beautiful. Loved the music. Awesome Job. :)
LadyDaggeron 4 years ago
I agree with mokey - Great music, beautiful choice of images (I especially like the one at 1:23, it strikes a chord!), love that last one, too.. Good work, H (J) :)
jimjeroo 4 years ago
Simply beautiful.....
Joe is smiling proud, seeing this wonderful dedication to him.
5 cookies to you, Raposofan....wink wink. ;)
mokeystar 4 years ago