Hello Children Everywhere [Box set]

There is something very British about this collection of children's record classics from the 1950's and 1960's. Most of the tracks have been selected from the EMI box set with the same title, "Hello Children Everywhere".

This is really a selection of children's records for adults. The CD brings back memories from the Saturday morning radio programs from the past that were hosted by Derek McCulloch (Uncle Mac) and later by Ed "Stewpot" Stewart. A whole children's culture was built around these records.

Perhaps surprisingly, the records still work extremely well for the children of today. Really, today's children are starved of children's records. They move onto to pop records before they have savoured the delights of simple and catchy children's music.

EMI has made an excellent selection in having reduced this to a single CD. I wouldn't have forgiven them if they had left out Robin Hood or Nellie the Elephant. I would like to have seen two additional tracks. Firstly, "Maizy Doats" which is never heard nowadays, and secondly, "I am a Mole and I Live in a Hole" by the Southlands which deserves a revival.

All in all, this is a splendid collection. My six year old tells me that it's "cool".

I grew up listening to these songs, and I'm only 17! I was given a tape of "Hello Children... Everywhere" aged about 5 and I fell asleep listening to it virtually every night. Losing the tape was a massive blow so I'm delighted to have found it again here. Amazing to discover that, although I hadn't heard it for nigh on 10 years (and that's more than half my life, remember) when "My boomerang won't come back" came on I was still word-perfect!
Heartliy recommended to almost anybody, though I'm not sure it'll appeal to modern, Pop Idol-ed children.
Especially recommend are "I'm a Pink Toothbrush, You're a Blue Toothbrush", "My Boomerang Won't Come Back", "The Runaway Train" and "Jake the Peg".

This is the second triple CD released in Britain titled Hello children everywhere. The first was a budget release containing 60 tracks that I reviewed some time ago, while this one was released as a full priced collection (perhaps as a result of the sales of the earlier compilation) supported by a TV marketing campaign. I really wanted this collection when it was released, but with limited resources I waited in the hope that I could get it at a better price. Eventually, Amazon UK offered it at a price that I found irresistable.

I remember listening to Children's hour on the radio in the fifties (introduced by Uncle Mac with his catch-phrase Hello children everywhere) and the music played on that programme is the basis of this set, although at least a couple of songs (Ernie, Lily the pink) of more recent vintage are included. A few others have more recent copyright dates (some of the Disney tracks are listed with 1997 copyrights) but I think that merely reflects a renewal of copyright rather than actual recording dates. So this compilation adheres more strictly to the title's concept than the earlier budget collection, which contains Ernie (Benny Hill) and Lily the pink (Scaffold), together with more tracks of a later vintage (among them Grandad and There's no one quite like Grandma). Of course, if you're going to include mid-sixties music, the perfect compilation would include Yellow submarine (Beatles) and Puff the magic dragon (Peter Paul and Mary), but I suspect they couldn't get permission to include those tracks even if they wanted to.

Bernard Cribbins, a comedian, took two very funny songs (Hole in the ground, Right said Fred) into the British top ten in the early sixties and both are included here.

Among the other songs here, you'll find Nellie the elephant, Teddy bears' picnic, The ugly duckling, How much is that doggie in the window, zip-a-dee-doo-dah, When you wish upom a star, Robin Hood, Tie me kangaroo down sport, The deadwood stage, The runaway train, Give a little whistle, I know an old lady, Michael row the boat ashore, Where have all the flowers gone, English country garden, Big rock candy mountain, Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, Happy wanderer, A windmill in old Amsterdam, The Siamese cat song, Pickin' a chicken and many others, not all of them strictly children's songs. Most are performed by the artists with whom they are associated in Britain, not that children will be that bothered about who the singers are although some adults might be.

On any collection of children's songs, there are inevitably some that adults would regard as novelty songs. As such, it would be remarkable if any adult loves every one of the tracks here. I am no exception, but I won't dwell on the tracks I dislike - with 75 tracks, most of them very enjoyable, this is great value for money (especially at the price I paid). It will provide great entertainment for children, or for adults remembering their childhood. Among adults, it is likely to have particular appeal to those (like me) who remember children's music as it was played on radio in the fifties, whether by Uncle Mac and his BBC Children's hour or an equivalent program on American radio.