We've spent a little more time on this one. The band recordings took three days, then Johnny worked on the songs for another three days. There's a load of different styles of music on this one including soul, electro, heavy metal (!), Glam rock, punk, dancehall, surf music, and the good ol' rock'n'roll that you've come to love. Our strongest and most ecclectic album to date!
1.
In the Mud - Get your Welly boots on. It’s time to do some stomping! This song will get you jumping and shouting. Thanks to Ruby, Nicole and Luca for shouting in the studio.
2.
Raindroppin’ - It’s the wettest dance in the whole wide world. A brand new dance just for Raindrops fans. Just follow the instructions and get shaking those raindrop shapes!
3.
My Name is Johnny - I sing so smooth and sweet like honey! Johnny’s own theme song! Does he really think he could have been a disco star? Thanks to Ruth, Craig, Elliott and Robin for playing their horns on this one.
4.
You Can Count on Me - There’s lots and lots of numbers. I think we all agree. Sing along in English, French, Hindi and Spanish. Thanks to Florence and Serena for their help. The Raindrop Horns are blowing away too.
5.
Tooth Fairy - I’m quick and I’m small so you never, ever see me, and I come when you’re asleep. A rockin’ good tune about swapping your old teeth for money!
6.
I’m Dreaming Vegetables - I’m laughing with onions and aubergines. There’s fruit and vegetables in all my dreams. A funny song about the things that fruit and vegetables get up to when you’re dreaming. Various Raindrops play the ukulele, xylophone, Stylophone, zither and other interesting instruments. Listen out for the crunching celery drum sound.
7.
Andy Plays the Electric Guitar - He’s a guitar playing superstar! What more is there to say? Andy’s theme song. Let’s agree that we sing “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy” for copyright reasons.
8.
The Colour of Rock’n’Roll - Pink and black. Like a nose on a little baby vampire bat! Just to show that we can record with just one microphone and us all crowded around.
9.
I am a Robot - Kling! Klang! Metal man. Body like a baked bean can. You may have seen us dressed as robots doing this one onstage. Try doing the robot dance! Thanks to Sam for playing some groovy keyboards.
10.
My Thumb Pie - Got a tongue that’s working hard and a thumb that’s never dry. Thanks to Luca for his inspiration for this thumb-sucking song and Mark’s harp.
11.
Toothbrush and Toothpaste - Which toothpaste do you like the best? Thanks to Ruby for speaking this playground rhyme for working out who is going to start that game of tag or dobby.
12.
Go! Matt! Go! - Matt keeps the beat, playing the drums with his hands and feet. A song all about the Raindrops’ drummer and his various drums and cymbals. Listen carefully. There’ll be a test at the next gig.
13.
How loud can you whisper? - … before you start to speak. A good question! Matt played the telephone directory for a bass drum and a carrier bag for the snare. The others played quiet sounds such as cups and finger cymbals.
14.
New Shoes Blues - I want to choose my shoes myself. My mama’s choosing something else. Thanks to Vonny and Sue for inspiring this rebellious shoe-buying blues. Also big thanks to Mark for his fantastic harp (blues harmonica) playing.
15.
Animals in Danger - We stand or fall together because this world needs us all. All about endangered animals. Commissioned as the theme song for the Nottingham Children’s Festival 2010. Thanks to Sarah for her singing on this.
“Lyrics: Want to sing along? Click on the song titles below to see the words to our songs.
Once again, we have had a great time making this album. The songs were recorded during a very productive 3 day session in June 2009 in a studio in Sherwood, Nottingham. Thanks again to all those children and adults who sang and played. You were all fantastic! Here are ten facts about the album that may interest you.
1.
‘Talking on the Telephone’ nearly made it onto our first album ‘Ring! Ring! ...’. We had the photo taken for the song which made it onto the cover.
2.
‘Tidy Up’ also contains a reference from the first album. On the last song ‘To Make a Rainbow’ Johnny sings ‘If we do it together, it won’t take long’. Hopefully it will all make sense now!
3.
‘Let’s Make Band’ contains 13 songs, one less than the first album, yet it is 6 minutes longer. How did that happen?
4.
‘Joey Chrome’s Guide to the Solar System’ is the longest title and longest song Johnny and the Raindrops have ever done. It also took the longest to write. Johnny took care to get his planet facts spot on!
5.
For ‘My Magic Dog’, we got the children to woof in the studio ….. a lot! They were all woofed out after a few goes through. We used a bit of them woofing on the end of the song.
6.
For the song ‘Mermaid’, Johnny ‘borrowed’ the tune from a song from 1957 called ‘Tammy’ which was a big hit for Debbie Reynolds. Johnny had to think hard about what mermaids actually do before he wrote the lyrics.
7.
Darren got to play his saxophone on two songs – ‘The Celebrate Song’ and ‘Time to Rhyme’. On ‘Time to Rhyme’ he used a really big sax called a baritone sax.
8.
The band has been collecting children’s band names for ‘Let’s Make a Band’ for a while at their gigs where Johnny reads them out during the song. There are literally hundreds of them listed on this website and they are all great!
9.
‘Time to Rhyme’ contains yet another reference to an old punk song. To rhyme ‘sweet’ and ‘feet’, Johnny ends with ‘Neat! Neat! Neat!’, the title of a song by The Damned (ask your granny or grandad!)
10.
‘My Magic Dog’ contains the longest and most complicated words ever found in children’s music. Sing your way through ‘fluorescent’, ‘kaleidoscope’, ‘psychedelic’, and ‘chameleon’. Then go and find out what they mean.
“Lyrics: Want to sing along? Click on the song titles below to see the words to our songs.
We had load of fun making our first album during the Spring of 2008. The band and the engineers worked hard in hot and cramped conditions to bring you the sounds you can hear now. Thanks to all who helped, sang, played, encouraged, recorded and mixed. You can find out who all these people were on the sleeve of our album. If you haven’t got it yet, then what are you waiting for?
For those curious people who need to know more, here are ten things about the album that you probably never knew.
1.
The Sandwich Song’ was the first song written for the album. It existed for a year or so, waiting for Johnny and the Raindrops to come along and sing it.
2.
On ‘When I Brush My Teeth’, Johnny uses a toothbrush (and his teeth) to make a bristly, shaky noise that goes through the whole song. He also blew bubbles with a straw and gargled with water to get that bath time feel.
3.
‘Five Little Fingers’ contains the line “Hey Ho! Let’s go!” which is ‘borrowed’ from a song called ‘Blitkrieg Bop’ by the Ramones.
4.
Johnny wrote the song ‘1, 2, 3, Pinocchio’ during a five minute bike ride. The whole song just popped into his head as if by magic.
5.
There is a glockenspiel tinkling along on the song ‘The Sherwood Lullaby’. Johnny played it using screwdrivers after failing to find beaters that matched.
On ‘Oh! Froggy!’ Johnny got to play his kazoo very briefly as well as making lots of froggy noises.
8.
The front cover of the album features the band listening to an old telephone. This picture was taken for the song ‘Talking on the telephone’ which doesn’t appear on the album (maybe on the next one). The band thought the picture was so good, they used it anyway.
9.
At the end of ‘To Make a Rainbow’ there are lots of quotes from other Johnny and the Raindrops songs. I’m sure you can guess them all except maybe the last one (‘If we do it together it won’t take long’) which is from the ‘Tidy Up’ song, as yet unrecorded.
10.
‘Ring! Ring! Say ‘Hello’ to …’ lasts for 37 minutes, the same length as a famous album by the Smiths released in 1986
“Lyrics: Want to sing along? Click on the song titles below to see the words to our songs.
Friday 4 June 2010
Theatre Royal, Nottingham
Half term lunch time show on the
beanbags upstairs.
Free entry by ticket only.
Available from Theatre box office.
Sunday 6 June 2010
12-5pm,
Lakeside Arts,
University Park, Nottingham
Free entry.
International Children's Festival.
Many other activities.
Saturday 10 July
Eastwood Arts Festival: Family Fun Day
Coronation Park, Eastwood, Notts.
We will play twice for 30 minutes
between 1pm and 5pm.
Free entry!
Saturday 31 July 2010
Nottingham Castle.
Three appearences during the day.
Times to follow.
Children will be able to go in free
but only with a paying adult.
Wednesday 4 August 2010
1.30-2pm - FREE GIG
in Market Square, Nottingham
as part of Radio Nottingham event.
More live songs broadcast from
2-4pm on Richard Spurr's show.
Sunday 8 August 2010
Riverside Festival,
Victoria Embankment, Nottingham,
main festival stage.
Entry to this huge festival is free!
Sunday 15 August 2010
Wollaton Park.
Three appearences during the day.
Times to follow.
Free show as part of
Nottingham Children's Festival
For bookings, song commissions, etc. please click 'Contact Johnny' above
Album info and lyrics 
