In Harmony (compilation albums)


In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record and In Harmony 2 are two compilation albums of children's music performed by various artists, released in 1980 and 1981, respectively.
Of the two albums, only the first album charted, reaching No. 156 on the Billboard 200. The Doobie Brothers' cover of "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod" was the only single release to chart, when it reached No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. A second single, Al Jarreau's "One Good Turn", failed to chart. The first album was released on Sesame Street Records through Warner Bros. Records, and is the only album in the series with a direct connection to the popular children's series Sesame Street, as it includes a song performed by the characters Ernie and Cookie Monster. The second album was released on Columbia Records, and while no Muppet-related content appears on the album, the credits state that a "royalty is being donated to the Children's Television Workshop and various children's charities" from its proceeds. Each album won the Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children, at the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards and 25th Annual Grammy Awards, respectively. The Grammys were awarded to the producers, David Levine and Lucy Simon.
Bruce Springsteen's performance of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which appears on the second album, was recorded live at C. W. Post College in Brookville, New York on December 12, 1975. Springsteen's rendition of the song has received radio airplay perennially at Christmastime for years; it has appeared on Billboard magazine's Hot Singles Recurrents chart each year from 2002 to 2009 due to seasonal airplay. In Harmony 2 marks the first appearance of the recording on an album, although it was later released as the B-side of Springsteen's single "My Hometown" in 1985 and has since been released on several other compilations.

In Harmony: A Sesame Street Record

Personnel

Musicians
Technical and artistic personnel
  • Lucy Simon – producer
  • David Levine – producer
  • Arthur Shimkin – executive producer
  • Lew Hahn – associate producer, engineer, mixing
  • Michael Boshears – engineer
  • Gene Paul – engineer
  • Tom Greto – additional engineering
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Bill Dooley – assistant engineer
  • Tom Heid – assistant engineer
  • Randy Mason – assistant engineer
  • Michael O'Reilly – assistant engineer
  • Anthony D'Amico – assistant engineer
  • Glenn Feit, Jr. – assistant engineer
  • Chip Leach – assistant engineer
  • Skip Saylor – assistant engineer
  • Peter Whorf – art direction
  • Simon Levy – design
  • Julie Levine – cover illustration
  • James Levine – hand lettering

Charts

AlbumBillboard

In Harmony 2

Personnel

Musicians
Technical and artistic personnel
  • Lucy Simon – producer
  • David Levine – producer
  • Jim Boyer – co-producer and mixing, engineer
  • Michele Slagter – associate producer
  • Kenny Loggins – co-producer
  • Marty Paich – co-producer
  • Bruce Springsteen – producer
  • Mike Appel – producer
  • Jimmy Iovine – producer, engineer, and mixing
  • Dan Cleary – executive producer
  • Sherwin Bash – executive producer
  • Scott Litt – engineer
  • Thom Panunzio – engineer and mixing
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Larry Franke – assistant engineer
  • Scott Ettinger – assistant engineer
  • Andy Hoffman – assistant engineer
  • Lincoln Clapp – assistant engineer
  • Jason Corsaro – assistant engineer
  • Jim Cassell – assistant engineer
  • Don Koldon – assistant engineer
  • Tim Garrity – assistant engineer
  • Robin Danar – assistant engineer
  • Paula Scher – design
  • Seymour Chwast – illustration