174: The Simpsons Sing the Blues, by The Simpsons

The Simpsons (USA)
The Simpsons Sing the Blues (1990)
10 tracks, 40 minutes
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By 1990, The Simpsons had only been around for one and a half seasons as a full, primetime TV show, but already the world was in the grip of Simpsons-mania. So what happens then? Merchandise and tie-ins, of course. As far as blatant money-making tie-ins go, The Simpsons Sing the Blues was certainly successful musically as well as commercially (and it was successful, becoming the fastest-selling album of the year).

With half covers and half originals, the album consists of The Simpsons family (and, on one track, Mr Burns and Smithers) taking lead vocal duties though a mix of pop-blues and pop-hip-hop. While it is far from perfect (especially in terms of some dodgy turn-of-the-decade production choices), there are some really fun tracks here. There is obviously lots of humour all over the album, the whole thing of the cartoon characters taking on the main vocal duties all the way through actually comes off well, and not at all as ridiculous as it could have done – the actors all sing well, even in-character, and the choice of songs really do suit the characters well.

The massive success of the show meant the makers were able to attract top-tier names to join them on this album. ‘Do the Bartman’ was produced by and features backing vocals from Michael Jackson, Homer Simpson’s version of ‘Born Under a Bad Sign’ is bolstered by the electric guitar of B.B. King, and the piano solo on Marge and Homer’s duet of Randy Newman’s ‘I Love To See You Smile’ is played by the recently departed Dr John, to name three. The legends aren’t even used as selling points either; you have to dive into the small print of the CD booklet to confirm B.B.’s and Dr John’s contributions, and Jackson isn’t credited at all.

Yes, a lot of The Simpsons Sing the Blues has aged badly from a musical point-of-view, but at least half of the tracks still have real repeat-playability. And regardless, it’s still fun and weird to hear cartoon characters singing along earnestly to legit blues stars, and a great reminder of the time a comedy cartoon took over the international pop culture consciousness for at least a decade to become one of the most influential cultural phenomena ever. Why shouldn’t that phenomenon include an album of blues music?