Radio WOOF

  1. WOOF is Born/All You Kids
  2. Jump Rope Jump
  3. Gnarly Roadrash
  4. Ms. Paddywack/Old Molly Hare
  5. Rover Reporter/ Melody Warbler
  6. The Walrus Life
  7. Fiddle Riddle/Cowboy Jig
  8. The Vindow Viper
  9. Bus Changes/The Bully on the Bus/Elzic's Farewell
  10. Grades of Wrath/Chiquita Banana
  11. Grounded
  12. How Could We Live Without TV?

Credits


Bill Wellington: Banjo, guitar, fiddle (7 & 12), vocals, voices
Mary-Jo Ramsey-Smith: piano (5 & 6), vocals
Dirk Powell: Fiddle (1, 4, & 9) acoustic and electric guitar (2 & 11)
John Herrmann: Guitar (1, 4, & 9) snare drum
Fred Park: Harmonica, spoons, vocals
Dave Grant: Bass
Georgia Rose Armstrong-Park: Vocals
Suzannah Armstrong-Park: Vocals
Jenny Marcellino: Vocals
Noah Smith: Vocals
Wanda Eaves Hardy: Vocals
Meredith McIntosh: Vocals
Kevin Wimmer: Fiddle (9)
Bob Willoughby: Piano (9)
Bill Dudley: Synthesizer

Betsy Bartholomew, Gary Smith, Annie Smith, Matthew Roberts. Shandra McCray, Brianna Flowers. Ben Cooper, Laura Bowers, Emily Cullen, and Mary Shane: Vocals

Producer: Bill Dudley
Engineer: Abe Rittenhouse
Cover Art: Brad Basil
Graphic Design: Peter-the-Pixel Pusher
Recorded at Alive Studios, June & August, 1990

This album is dedicated to the memory of Franklin Abbot Wherry (1951-1990)


Lyrics

All songs traditional unless otherwise noted

1. All You Kids

As I was walking down the street, down the street, down the street.
A bunch of kids I chanced to meet, and we danced by the light of the moon.

Oh, all you kids wont you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight
All you kids won't you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon.

I want to dance with a dolly with a hole in her stocking
And her knees keep a knocking with a hole in her stocking,
wanna dance with a dolly with a hole in her stocking,
By the light of the silvery moon.

All you kids wont you come out tonight, come out tonight, come out tonight,
Everyone wont you come out tonight and dance by the light of the moon. Yeah.


2. Jump Rope Jump
(Lyrics and music by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI)

Cinderella dressed in yellow
Went upstairs to kiss her fellow
Made a mistake and kissed a snake
How many doctors did it take?

ONE
It's time to have some fun!
TWO
Jump rope goes under your shoe!
THREE
It's a rhythm and a rhyme you see!
FOUR
And a little bit of folklore!
FIVE
I'm glad to be alive!
SIX
Just watch these jump-rope tricks!
SEVEN
Gonna jump all the way to Heaven!
EIGHT
No Time to hesitate!

I say: ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!

[Chorus]

It's a jump rope jump, jump rope jump,
It's jump rope jump and a jump rope jump.
Now swing that rope and don't be slow,
It's a jump rope jump and away we go, yeah.

Virginia, Virginia ha ha ha,
Kissed her fella on the railroad car.
I'll tell Ma, I'll tell Pa,
Virginia Virginia ha ha ha.
Ha? Ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

[Chorus]


3. Gnarly Roadrash
(Lyrics and Music by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI)

Well there once was a radical kid.
He was cool at all he did.
He said hey dude and he was really rude
And he did 360's on his skateboard too.
He wore cool surfer clothes,
He had earrings in his nose
And he talked in jive he gave high fives
And he's cool wherever he goes.

Oh this awesome dude is Gnarly Roadrash.
He is a real flash. He makes a big splash.
And while on his skateboard he is flying,
All the girls are sighing as they call his name:
"Oh Gnarly Roadrash!"


5. Melody Warbler

A mother was bathing her baby one night
The youngest of ten, a delicate mate
The mother was poor and the baby was thin
Only a skelington covered with skin

The mother turned 'round for the soap on the rack
She weren't gone a minute but when she looked back
Her baby was gone and in anguish she cried
"Oh where is my baby?" The angels replied:

"Your baby has gone down the plughole
Your baby has gone down the plug
The poor little thing was so busy and thin
He should have been washed in a jug

Your baby is perfectly happy
He won't need a bath anymore
He' a-working his way through the sewer
Not dead, just gone on before."


6. The Walrus Life
(Lyrics and music by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI)

[Chorus]

Oh the walrus life is really grand,
Way up north in the arctic land.
With all my friends and my family,
Oh the walrus life is the life for me.

Well I'm not a fish and I'm not a whale
I'm not a turtle and I'm not a snail.
I'm a walrus and you know it's true
I really don't look a lot like you.

[Chorus]

When I go down to the sea to swim,
I flap my tail, I flip my fins.
I swim about most everywhere.
And now and then I come up for...........AIR!!!

[Chorus]

Well I don't mind the snow and ice,
In fact I think they're really nice.
I can swim about in the winter storm
Because I've got a lot of blubber to keep me warm.

[Chorus]


7. Fiddle Riddle

My waist is slender, my voice is tender, I'm often invited to play.
But if I got without my bow then I shall have nothing to say.

If you said "fiddle" to answer this riddle then you are right my friend.
So pick up your bow and away we go, may fiddling never end.


9. Bully on the Bus
(Lyrics and music by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI)


Well the bully on the bus is the meanest kid I know.
He thinks he's cool and he puts on a really big show.
He picks on little guys, but never someone his own size.
Oh the bully on the bus is trouble I wish I didn't know.

Oh the bully on the bus he really has no friends.
In any kind of game he hates when another kid wins.
And behind the driver's back,
He always makes some dumb wisecrack.
Oh the bully on the bus is trouble I wish I didn't know.

Oh the bully on the bus would probably be ok.
If he learned to be nice and forgot his mean old way.
'Cause bullying never works, you can't get respect by being a jerk.
And the bully on the bus is someone I wish would learn to grow……………up!


10. Grades of Wrath
(Lyrics by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI; music: traditional [Battle Hymn of the Republlic])

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the flunking of the kids.
Who never did their homework and never worked a lick.
Who only whined and gave excuses in everything they did.
Our pens are marking on!

[Chorus]

Glory, glory halleluiah,
Gee I'm really glad I knew ya.
Now the year is at the end and it's time for our revenge.
Our pens are marking on!

Well we'll give this one an "F" and we'll give this one an "E"
We'll give this one a failure and we'll give this one a "3".
"Bill they're going at it with a gruesome ghoulish glee."
Our pens are marking on!

[Chorus]

They shot rubber bands and spitballs, and they called us not nice names.
Their behavior wasn't modified by therapeutic games.
And everybody really knows the parents are to blame.
Our pens are marking on!

[Chorus]


Chiquita Banana

I'm Chiquita Banana and I'm here to say:
Get rid of your teacher the easy way.
You have a banana peel and you put it on the floor.
Then watch your teacher go flying out the door!!!


11. Grounded
(Lyrics and music by Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI)

My dad told me yesterday: You cannot go out and play.
You must go up to your room. And you wont be leaving soon.
Where did you go right after school? You know you broke the family rule.
And when you did not let us know, you left us no choice and so.

You're grounded! Grounded
How I hate the sound of
Grounded! Grounded!
Tied down to the ground!

But dad I tried to telephone.
Really dad you weren't at home,
And so I told the phone machine
That I'd be home at 5:15.

I went out with some other guys
to the park to shag some flies.
Please believe me, don't you see?
I don't really want to be!

Grounded! Grounded!
How I hate the sound of
Grounded! Grounded,
Tied down to the ground!

Son, I checked the messages,
I can't believe you son because.
There was really nothing there,
Only static and dead air.

It looked like there was no escape.
But still I checked the message tape.
What do you think went through my mind?
He forgot to push rewind!

And I'm not grounded, not grounded.
How I love the sound,
Of not grounded, not grounded.
I'm going out to the playground!


How Could We Live Without TV
(Lyrics and music By Bill Wellington, Copyright 1990 BMI
with the assistance of Girl Scout Troop 4089. Elkins, WV)

Well I came down last Saturday morning, just hoping to watch some cartoons.
"The TV has died", my young brother cried. "I hope dad can fix it real soon."
So we called up the TV repairman. He said, "Sir I'm sorry to say,
All the TV's have died, no one knows why, but you can't watch your TV today!"

[Chorus]

Oh how could we live without TV? Oh life would be so hard.
We'd have to take baseballs and bats and gloves and go out and play in the yard.
Or else get a pole and go fishing, sitting down by a clear blue stream.
Well I'd hope that I'd find it was all in my mind and only a terrible dream!

Heart broken I looked at my brother and said, "now what do we do?
I never imagined this happening, I'm just not prepared, are you?"
"What about my soap operas" said Mother. Dad said, "I'll miss the big game!"
We all looked so blue it was then that I knew life would never again be the same.

[Chorus]

We could learn to play banjos and fiddles. Or make puppets and put on a show.
Let's ask grandma to tell us a story of what life was like long ago.
Play hopscotch and jump rope together. Perhaps build a house in a tree.
We could learn how to cook, or read a good book that keeps us awake until three.

We could whistle, and riddle and yodel, or make up a limerick rhyme.
We could ride on our skateboard sand juggle while eating ice cream at the same time!
I said, "Hey, I'm beginning to like this. It's fun to think of things to do."
I got a great idea, lets get on out of here, and forget that darned old boob tube."

[Chorus]