If you’re a 30- or 40-something who grew up on American television and Saturday morning cartoons, you no doubt are familiar with “Schoolhouse Rock,” the educational series of songs that taught kids about math, English and the government.
These educational songs were placed between regular programs and featured enough musical hooks to make you remember the melody and lyrics, whether you liked it or not.
Debuting in 1973, “Schoolhouse Rock” was the brainchild of ABC network advertising executive David McCall. Many of these jingles were written by a musician named Bob Dorough, and his contribution to pop culture has resulted in tunes ingrained in the heads of many Americans.
Maybe you’re familiar with “I’m Just a Bill,” “Three Is a Magic Number” and “Conjunction Junction,” but there were dozens more written by the be-bop jazz man that have earned a proper spot in the American canon.
Dorough, who plays piano and sings, will perform Friday night at the Sunflower Theatre in Cortez, where he will be joined by locals Bob Newnam on trumpet and flugelhorn, Evan Suiter on bass and Clay Louder on drums.
It started when Dorough was a session musician trying to make a living in New York. McCall had an idea to help his kids learn their multiplication tables and hired Dorough to write a song about numbers that they could memorize.
“He said, ‘Let’s put it to rock music, and we’ll call it multiplication rock.’ This was not meant to be on television; this was for a record. We did a whole album,” Dorough said in a phone interview. “Then, he had an art director who started making a storyboard. He made a storyboard on my first song, ‘Three is a Magic Number.’ They decided to show it to ABC. They took my recording, and they took his storyboard. Suddenly, there I was on television. I was dumbfounded and flabbergasted.”
Yet there’s much more to Dorough than songs put to animation for Saturday mornings. Miles Davis, who was fickle about who he worked with, liked Dorough’s voice. Dorough wrote a hit for Mel Torme, and when boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson forayed into showbiz, he took Dorough with him on the road, a tour that led to a musical relationship with singer Blossom Dearie. Dorough has released dozens of records in his decades-long career, including 2014’s “Eulalia.”
Still, it’s “Schoolhouse Rock” that fans remember most.
“I was working in a little jazz club, and suddenly the waiter came over and said, ‘I like your voice, it sounds kind of familiar.’ Then they asked if I had anything to do with ‘Schoolhouse Rock,’ and I said ‘Yeah, that’s me,’” Dorough said. “Over the years, I started working in a little ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ with my concerts. I can’t help it; the people love to hear it done live.”
Liggett_b@fortlewis.edu. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Bryant’s best
Friday: Jazz and other well-known hits with Bob Dorough, 7 p.m., $15. The Sunflower Theatre, 8 East Main St., Cortez, 516-1818.
Friday: Lawn Chair Kings, 10 p.m. No cover. The Balcony Backstage, upstairs at 600 Main Ave., 764-4083.
