Full soundtrack album from
the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.
Theme
Song Lyrics
The Earth's a Big Blue Marble
When you see it from out there
The sun and moon declare
Our beauty's very rare
Folks are folks and kids are kids
We share a common name
We speak a different way
But work and play the same
We sing pretty much alike
Enjoy spring pretty much alike
Peace and love we all understand
And laughter, we use the very same brand
Our differences, our problems
From out there there's not much trace
Our friendships they can place
While looking at the face
Of the Big Blue Marble in space
Released
in companion to the Big Blue Marble TV series, the Big
Blue Marble soundtrack album contains a selection of original songs from
the show that reflect its diverse demographic of children around the world,
from the West African flavored rhythms of
“Gombey,”
to the Native American inspired “Indian Scene,” the Rhythm & Blues of “Hoopin’,” to
the Country & Western “A Rodeo Cowboy”
and a hot banjo solo in “Rodeo Riff.”
Interestingly,
while the classic theme song for the show, heard in the clip above and which is
both the first and last track on the album, is not the version of the theme song heard on the few available episodes available online (see Big Blue Marble Episode Guide) and which also does not appear on the soundtrack (see both the classic version and the alternate version below). This alternate version of the theme song leads us to some questions about the theme song and the reported episode order of series.
Big Blue Marble Theme Songs: The first classic version,
left, and the alternate version, right.
The first question regards the difference between the version of the theme song used in the few episodes available online and the classic version on the soundtrack album. This suggests that the original version of the theme on the album was replaced at some point with an alternate, second version. When this took place is difficult to ascertain.
It is notable that the alternate version of the theme song does not appear on soundtrack album, which is just as well since it lacks the charm and wistfulness of the original versions; however, I suspect the alternate version was not introduced until 1978 when production of the show changed hands, which leads us to a second question about the reported episode order of the series provided online.
After the first
three seasons (1974-1977), I.T.T. formed The Big Blue Marble Company to take
over production. It is notable that the copyright date on
the closing credits for those episodes hyperlinked above is 1978, even on early episodes that, if the episode guide is correct, would have aired before 1978. Consequently, it seems that The Big Blue Marble Company, after taking over in 1978, replaced the opening and closing credits; however, it is not clear if it was The Big Blue Marble Company or C/F International, the last
distributor of the series, who reordered episodes of the first three seasons for syndication.
The reordering of the episode run order results in some episodes which, based on the songs in the soundtrack album, we know must have been shown early on in the series run order, appearing much later in the episode list provided by C/F International.
Inside cover.
Back cover.
One song
listed on Side A, “Hoopin’,” is
from Episode 87 (see the Big Blue Marble Episode Guide), which would place that
episode somewhere around 1978. Another song on Side B, “Floatin'” is from Episode 94, perhaps a year later, yet the phonogram copyright date for the album is indeed 1974, and also so noted for each song individually in the liner notes. Consequently, it seems that the songs in question were copyrighted in 1974 but not
used until 1978 or 1979. It is possible that this is due to The Big Blue Marble Company or C/F International reordering the episodes for syndication. Another possibility is
that the segments may have been produced earlier but not aired until later, though I find that unlikely.
Questions aside, as with all great 1970s albums, you have to have a fold-out inside cover
with lyrics and pictures, and the Big Blue
Marble delivers. Kids especially enjoy the visual and tactical aspects of
entertainment, and lyrics always help sing-alongs. I was pleased to see the
extra effort and production cost made when I.T.T. could have cheaped out to
save a buck.
Images from the inside front cover and the back
cover of the album.
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