A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Kei Kobayashi

KEI KOBAYASHI has been surrounded by jazz his whole life. His dad, a jazz pianist, and his mom, a jazz vocalist, kept him constantly surrounded by the music they loved.

When he was sixteen he performed with Herbie Hancock in a benefit performance for victims of the Kobe earthquake. This was his big break. Soon after he released his indie album PS I Love You which sent Kobayashi into a bidding war between major labels!

He has now signed with Toshiba EMI and has released a few albums including JUST YOU in 2000 which includes a nice jazz cover of A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Kei Kobayashi 2000

The Magic Song (Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo) - Mary Martin

MARY MARTIN is an artist who has recorded many Disney songs and this is the first one to grace the pages of Covering the Mouse.

A star of Broadway, Mary Martin is most well known for her roles as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music, two characters that she had the pleasure of portraying for the first time for the original Broadway performances. She is also quite well known for her portrayal of Peter Pan for the Broadway show as well as her famous Peter Pan television special. Martin won a Tony Award for all three roles.

In 1958, Martin recorded HI HO! MARY SINGS AND SWINGS WALT DISNEY FAVORITES for Disneyland Records. The wonderful arrangements are by Tutti Camarata who produced hundreds of records for Disneyland records over his 19 year association with them. I love his arrangements and this album is full of his great work.

Included on the album is this cover of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo which is a noteworthy cover because it is the first time the song is called The Magic Song. Here is an excerpt from the liner notes:

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo from Walt Disney's Cinderella got a new title for this album - The Magic Song and Tutti Camarata's arrangement, like many in this album, is full of surprises from the low-down New Orleans-style verse in the beginning to the gentle slip into samba half way through to the Bibbidi-Bop-iddi burst of brass at the end.

The Magic Song (Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo) Mary Martin 1958

So This is Love - Tonya Kelly

It's day three of Remix Week and I'm sharing with you another side of remixes, the dance remix. I am not usually a fan of dance remixes usually because they are unoriginal and boring. That goes for most of MOUSE HOUSE: DISNEY'S DANCE MIXES. The whole album is full of boring, unoriginal dance versions of their songs.

However, this one track by TONYA KELLY is probably the best on the album. It's still cheesy but at least it sounds good. Tonya Kelly, formerly of the 90s R&B group Jade, adds a nice vocal track that really saves the song, in my opinion.

Jade was one of those bands that found fame in the early 90s. Groups like TLC and En Vogue were all the rage and Jade was right there beside them with their tight braids and smooth voices. Although they never reached the same superstar status that the other groups did they still found some fame, enough for them to call it quits in 1994 because they felt it was too much work for not enough money. And too many weirdo fans.

So This is Love Tonya Kelly 1996

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - Louis Armstrong

Here is another track from the LOUIS ARMSTRONG Disney album from 1968. In this track, Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo from Cinderella, Louis takes this bouncy, happy tune and gives it a laid back jazz swing.

I'm a few days behind on this blog so I'm just giving you something quick to catch you up! If you want more info on this album, click here

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Louis Armstrong 1968

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Michael Bolton

It's the second Friday of the month and you know what that means! Terrible Track Friday! I've got one today that will make your ears cringe.

If you're a Disney fan then you know that MICHAEL BOLTON provided the music for Hercules in 1997. However, did you know that he recorded a version of A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes in 1991 for SIMPLY MAD ABOUT THE MOUSE?

I can't say that I am much of a fan of Michael Bolton. I like his song writing but his voice leaves something to be desired. My least favourite part of the Hercules soundtrack is the pop version of Go the Distance. I chose this track today because he goes the distance with his normally strained voice and ends up sounding like he's clenched his butt cheeks together so hard he could turn a lump of coal into a diamond in there! The result is a nails-on-a-chalkboard like sound that is his voice.

Don't want to listen to the whole thing? Then at least skip to 2:30 to hear what I'm talking about.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Michael Bolton 1991

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Daniel Bedingfield

Out of all the genres of music to cover Disney songs, my favourite has to be the Big Band style. This probably stems from playing baritone sax in the jazz band at high school. This style, which was popularized in the 20s, is different than small jazz combos like the Dave Brubeck Quartet whose songs are made up of improvised solos. Big bands are made up of one or two dozen musicians that have arrangements of the music. The focus is not on the improvised solos but rather the arrangement that people could dance to.

This week at Covering the Mouse I will be posting a big band cover of several different Disney songs. Today's big band cover is by UK pop star DANIEL BEDINGFIELD.

Bedingfield has been on the scene since 2001 but has already scored four #1 singles and three other Top 10 singles in the UK! Not bad for a guy that only had two albums out! He and his sister, Natasha, hold the Guinness World Record for being the only siblings to have had solo number-ones in UK chart history.

His last album was released in 2004 but he has three more albums newly recorded that he is now waiting to be released. When this happens I'm sure we will hear more number ones!

In 2004, Daniel recorded A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes for DISNEYMANIA 2. It is by far the best track on the album and the best version of this song that I have heard. The big band arrangement is fun to listen to and the weird time change at the end of the chorus always throws me but makes the song interesting and unique.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Daniel Bedingfield 2004

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - Joyce

Happy Wednesday, folks! It's guestposter Boyhowdy once again, taking a few moments away from my usual folkgenre coverblog Cover Lay Down to bring you a surprisingly sweet version of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, my favorite lighthearted song from Walt Disney's Cinderella.

Single-named Brazilian artist JOYCE is a long-time mistress of bossa nova lite known for her scatjazz approach to interpretations of originals and songs from her Portuguese-speaking compatriots. Though at her worst her songs can seem a bit sappy, at her best, she comes across as a Portuguese-speaking Ella Fitzgerald, precise and playful, with a clarity of voice that can't be beat.

Happily, her version of this classic Cinderella song falls into the latter camp. After almost 40 years as a recording artist, Joyce has a confidence that only lends credence to this crisp, almost scat-song cover. The typical rhythmic style and light acoustic guitarstrum of the Bossa are a perfect compliment to this song.

Bossa nova isn't that popular outside the latin world, but those unfamiliar with the genre will find Joyce's Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo a fairly solid introduction to the jazzier end of the genre, and a strong Disney cover to boot: it's all jazzed up, it's in Portuguese, and it's as magical as the original. This shining star is available on DISNEY BOSSA NOVA, yet another in the huge series of single-genre compilations released over the last decade.

Thanks, as always, to Kurtis for having me over to guest-post! And if you're into that sort of thing, don't forget to stop by Cover Lay Down for more acoustic coversongs.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Joyce 2001

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Diana Ross & the Supremes

One of my readers, Liz Orbitron, has requested that I post more Disney Princess songs. So seeing that this is request week, I will post a cover of A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella. Disney Princess songs like Some Day My Prince Will Come, A Whole New World and Part of Your World get covered a lot so I have many. I'll start posting them on a more regular basis.

The song I have chosen for today is a track from an unreleased album from DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES. The idea for a Disney album, called DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES SING DISNEY CLASSICS, came about in 1966 and recording began in 1967. But the recording was cut short when Florence Ballard was fired from the group. Recording picked up again and four more tracks were recorded with Ballard's replacement, Cindy Birdsong, but the album was shelved again.

A total of 14 tracks were recorded for this album and all but three have been released on various compilation albums. From what I have heard, this album is fantastic! It was recorded in a period of transition for the group from the classic motown sound to a more pop-based sound and showtunes style. All of these styles are represented on this album. I hope that one of these days we'll see DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES SING DISNEY CLASSICS hit the shelves.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes Diana Ross & the Supremes 1967

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - Jo Stafford & Gordon MacRae

JO STAFFORD'S career started in the late thirties when she started singing with her sisters. The Stafford Sisters made a name for themselves and soon Jo found herself joining another group, the Pied Pipers.

In 1944 she decided to go solo and recorded many records for Capital Records. It was here that she met GORDON MCRAE and together they recorded the hit Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart. They recorded a few more songs together, including Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo in 1949.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo is not an original Disney song. It was written in 1948 and was popularized by two recordings in 1949. One by Perry Como and the Fontane Sisters and this one. This is why you will hear a few extra verses that were not included when Disney introduced this song in Cinderella in 1950. The Jo Stafford and Gordon McRae recording can be found on CAPITAL SINGS KIDS' SONGS FOR GROWN-UPS.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Jo Stafford & Gordon McRae 1949

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo - Bobby McFerrin

Even though majority of the world only knows BOBBY MCFERRIN as a one hit wonder from his song Don't Worry, Be Happy, he actually has quite an impressive body of work. He has never been popular in the commercial world because of his unusual jazz-influenced vocal arrangements but that never stopped Bobby from doing what he loves. In fact, he only recorded Don't Worry, Be Happy because his label rep told him to write something that could be commercially sold.

Bobby McFerrin has recorded a couple of songs for Disney, including this one: Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (the Magic Song) from Cinderella. This track was recorded in 1995 as part of a compilation album called THE MUSIC OF DISNEY'S CINDERELLA featuring famous pop stars singing the songs from Cinderella as well as a newly recorded version of the film's score.

This song is right up McFerrin's alley. His clever arrangement and his skill at manipulating his voice work perfectly with the nonsense words in this song.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo Bobby McFerrin 1995