"Sesame's Treet" is a 1992 single by the English rave group Smart E's. Although it was a remix of "

Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street? "Can You Tell Me How to Get to Sesame Street?" is the theme song of the children's television series ''Sesame Street''. It is the oldest song in ''Sesame Street''s history, dating back to the show's beginning on November 10, 1969, and has been u ...

", the song's title was a pun on "

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) and ...

". The song reached 2 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in July 1992 and peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. In the United States, it reached No. 60 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Hot 100.

Background

At the time of its creation, dance music was not played on major radio stations. London radio station

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

soon became legal but developed a slightly more commercial style. According to

Luna-C Luna-C (born Christopher Howell, 1 May 1973) is a British DJ and record producer, known for his work in breakbeat hardcore music. He was a member of the group Smart E's in 1992, who scored a 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart with " Sesame ...

of Smart E's, "It was good, because now our music was getting the recognition it deserved, but it was crap, because the money men forced it to be less than it was trying to be."

DJ Steve Jackson obtained the record and played it on the radio. Its popularity dramatically increased, and Smart E's was signed to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

. "Sesame's Treet" followed a trend at the time of releasing tracks based on samples of children's TV themes. The first notable song that did this was "Summers Magic" by

Mark Summers Mark Summers is the English CEO, sound engineer and music producer of Scorccio, a music production company founded in the UK in 1996. A London DJ since 1979, he is a guest lecturer and masterclass presenter on sample replay production, sound ...

(January 1991), featuring the theme tune of the BBC's '' The Magic Roundabout''. The Prodigy's "

Charly ''Charly'' (marketed and stylized as ''CHAЯLY'') is a 1968 American drama film directed and produced by Ralph Nelson and written by Stirling Silliphant. It is based on '' Flowers for Algernon'', a science-fiction short story (1958) and subseq ...

" and Urban Hype's " A Trip to Trumpton" were two similar rave tunes of that era, also sampling from children's programmes (collectively known as " toytown techno").

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

'' wrote, "Theme from classic kiddie TV show is the hook on which this contagious

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

jam hangs. The contrast between rigid synth riffs and the bouncy melody are jolting good fun. "Hardcore" mix of the track was a fave among rave jocks on Belgian import a while back, and lighter, less-confrontational remix is custom-made for crossover and top 40 radio's increasing interest in techno. Could be the novelty smash of the year". Marisa Fox from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...

'' commented, "Thanks to sheer novelty value, this trio's hyper, adolescent rave version of the ''

'' theme song skyrocketed to No. 2 on the U.K. pop charts. Over the course of Sesame's Treet, though, Smart E's seems a little behind the times, dishing out a few inspired dance flavors but mostly repetitious break beats."

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devi ...

for the song displayed an A-Z of the rave scene as follows (in the following order): A is for 'Ardcore
B is for B.P.M.
C is 4 Chill Out
D is for Dance
F is for Flyerz
G is for

Get Down Get down is a stance, posture or movement in many traditional African cultures and throughout the African diaspora. It involves bending at the waist and knees, bringing the body low to the ground in moments of ecstasy or intensity. Bending at the ...

H is for Handz In The Air
I is for In The Mix
J is 4 Jack
K is for

Kosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

L is for Love (Summers Of)
M is 4 MC
N is for Nine-0-9
P is for Pumpin'
Q is for Q-Bass
R is for Rave
S is for Smart E's
T is for

Techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

O is for Oops
U is for

Ultra Violet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation ...

V is for

Vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from viny ...

W is for

Warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...

X is for X-press Yourself
Y is for Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Z is for

Zero Gravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...

Notable is the absence of the letter E. Presumably, this implied

ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

, and its absence was either due to not wanting to promote drug use in a commercial

, or it was deliberately left out to imply that whether or not a raver took ecstasy was their personal choice. The video was filmed in

Victoria Park, London Victoria Park (known colloquially as Vicky Park or the People's Park) is a park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It is the largest park in Tower Hamlets and one of London's most visited green spaces with approxi ...

Track listings

* Suburban Base Records (UK) and Possum Records (Australia) #"Sesame's Treet" (edit) – 3:33 #"Sesame's Treet" (Krome & Time Remix) – 5:22 #"Magnificent" – 4:36 #"Sesame's Treet" (12-inch version) – 5:10 * Pyrotech Records (US) #"Sesame's Treet" (edit) – 3:33 #"Sesame's Treet" (12-inch version) – 5:10 #"Sesame's Treet" (Krome & Time Remix) – 5:22 #"Sesame's Treet" (Beltram Mix) – 5:04 #"Sesame's Treet" (Hardcore Mix) – 3:22 #"Magnificent" – 4:36 * ZYX Records (Germany) #"Sesame's Treet" (edit) – 3:33 #"Sesame's Treet" (Krome & Time Remix) – 5:22 #"Sesame's Treet" (12-inch version) – 5:10 #"Magnificent" – 4:36

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Sesame's Treet on YouTube
{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs Atlantic Records singles Sesame Street songs Smart E's songs Songs about television Songs based on children's songs Songs written by Bruce Hart (songwriter) Songs written by Joe Raposo Music Week number-one dance singles