sweet nostalgia, all gone

we were driving home, and a propos of nothing (I've racked my brain trying to figure out what brought it on), I said to teh SO, "there is an episode of Looney Tunes or something like that with a little song that goes like Istambul, not Constantinople, with a really catchy hook".

now, once upon a time, that'd be about as far as it got - I may try to remember more, or it it really drove me crazy, ask everybody I knew, be exceedingly annoying, hope that either the show or the song played at some time.

- from around 1992 or so, I could have spammed some USENET groups (alt.tv.rec,  alt.music.rec, alt.animation.rec) and there'd be a chance a fellow nerd with a better memory would cite the exact show;  then we could group chat about how good shows used to be.

- from around 1995 or so, I could have checked the Internet movie db, but I doubt I'd come across a TV episode back then.
-from around 1999 or so, I could have checked that search engine everybody was talking about:  would most likely get the exact show, wish I could see it again, and talk about how good shows used to be.

since we are now, I got home, typed the bit I remembered in the google search box and found out -

     from teh wiki, that the song Istambul not Constantinople is a novelty hit from the 1930s, written by Kennedy and Simon, with a melody reminiscent of the popular and catchy Puttin' on the Ritz

    in 1990, They Might Be Giants included a cover of the song in their album Flood

    in the early 90s, the song was used in the episode "Istanbul"  of the Tiny Toons animated series.

    the show is available on  YT

Tiny Toons - Istanbul

 
 in less than two minutes I went from having a vague memory to be watching the show.

what.ever.happened.to.nostalgia.?

...

on the plus side, there is a pile of Tiny Toon animated music videos in YT and they are not half bad.

 
    

 

    

Comments

[YGRS]

mariser, have you ever heard "Flood"??? It's one of the best albums ever. I forgot that I used to have it, now I'm wondering where the hell it is. . .
GET IT if you don't already have it.

The older I get, the more nostalgic I get. I guess that's just how it works though, right?

[YGRS]

p.s. Thank You for the
great
earworm! &:o)

[mariser]

you know, I don't think I've ever heard an entire TMBG album;  I don't know why, I like the few songs I've heard.
I'll look for Flood to give it a full listen.

Istanbul... is a hell of an earworm, ain't it?

[Lauri]

[this is good] I love love LOVE being able to look these things up when they are driving me crazy.

[Cap'n Stephel]

Hehe! I love the tickly feeling you get from listening to They Might Be Giants! And Tiny Toons...oh man...I remember singing the theme song at daycare (late elementary school age). Tiny Toons still wasn’t quite as good as Looney Tunes

[YGRS]

It really is! I love that song! I've been singing in my little haed ever since you posted this. &:o)
Definately listen to Flood. My kids and me used to love singing the songs from it back in the 90's. The other one I remember liking is "Little Birdhouse In Your Soul".

[Scott]

Pretty soon, all we'll have left to reminisce about is nostalgia itself.

"Remember when we could sit around remembering how stuff used to be?"

[Lurkertype]

Or you could just have asked me, back when I was one of the regulars on alt.tv.tiny-toons! Srsly!

TMBG has also released kids' albums; the latest is "Here Comes Science".

make sure to see the Tiny Toon version of "Particle Man".

[mad-tante]

That was a song before TMBG...we sang it as kids and TMBG were around *after* I was a kid!...that or they took just the refrain from an older song.

[Miguel]

I don't know that accessibility damages nostalgia, just that - as has always been teh case with books - one can now actually re-experience the nostalgic bits.