It was April 2015 when Scott discovered a box of records. Probably the most memorable for all Westra kids is the Chip and Dale song "Little Red Caboose" but Music Machine is a close second, especially for Wendy and Jen. Alas, the record itself was NOT in the "box of childhood". Many years ago, the record was left too close to a heating vent on cold winter day. It warped. I remember being SO sad about it! But unlike the "Little Red Caboose" song, which I have been unable to find anywhere online, I was able to locate Music Machine out on the Interwebs. MP3s of all the songs are now in the family dropbox (in the Media/Music/Video folder. Remember Westra grandkids, we have a general login for you if you want to check out Dropbox! Contact Grandma, Chris or Jen for the login and password) and the entire album is online as well (here).
In all honesty, I don't remember ALL the songs from this album. On side one: Land Called Love, The Music Machine, Whistle Song, Smile, The String Song, Patience, Gentleness. Side two: Faith, Joy, Peace, Goodness, Love, Self-control, Kindness, Reprise.
It may be obvious from the song titles, this came from a Christian group, teaching "Fruit of the Spirit". It's a little reminiscent of the Young Women's Values (there are songs for all of them too! That would need to be another post). The main premise (as this is a story, not just random songs) is that in Agapeland, there is a ...
Music machine, music machine
Like no other gadget that you've ever seen.
Whatever you want to sing about,
Put something in and a song comes out ...
The album cover was more than just a cover. It was a little 10-page booklet with illustrations and lyrics. The "Music Machine" song (shown above) was one that we would sing over and over again. It's a melody I remember 40+ years later!
One of the other favorite songs was about Herbert the Snail, about PATIENCE ... I sang a little of this song to Landon and he said "so that's where that came from?" (Cooper and Colton didn't seem to have any recollection of my singing it to them though, I'll have to ask the other boys). The audio is fun, and Herbert's father's voice is SO low and slow!
The other favorite was about self-control ... it's the only way to go!
... as mentioned, there is a YouTube of all the audio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqWVr_U6EfE
Music Machine is at 4:00
Patience is at 13:00
Self-Control is at 29:00
There's even an animated episode with some of the songs (Herbert is in there, at 10:00 minutes in) This looks familiar to me, although I don't have a memory of watching it (would it have been on a VHS tape we had?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_D67IOdqR0
Here's a few final snapshots of the booklet in full ...
Now ... who remembers the record "Animals"???
Similar idea, songs about virtues, with an animal theme ...
Jen still sings several songs from that album!
Can't find anything online ... but we do have the record (it is chipped on the edge though).
Coming up next!
I still sing the "Have Patience" song to my kids from time to time! I remember that we made up a baton routine to one of the Music Machine songs. Other music I fondly remember growing up is "Saturday's Warrior," "My Turn on Earth," and Janeen Jacobs Brady songs, "Songs For a Mormon Child." The first record I purchased on my own was "Xanadu!" We used to do routines on our roller skates with those songs. Later on, as an adult, I went back and re-watched the movie, "Xanadu." It is weird!!
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