“The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte” - this was the original title of what we now refer to simply as “the alphabet song.” The song was first copyrighted in 1835 by a Boston-based music publisher with musical arrangement attributed to Louis Le Maire, an 18th century composer. The tune is a variation on “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”, a folk melody known in France since the 1760s and best known to us as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. (Trivia! When Mozart was 25 (1781 or 1782) he composed Twelve Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman.”)

But I think the prize for greatest number of the alphabet song variations has to go to Sesame Street. A long and impressive list of celebrities have shared the Muppet spotlight over the years, singing their letters in just about every style you can imagine. In today’s video heavy post, I’m sharing a sampling of these performances.

The oldest clip I came across was this one featuring Sesame Street cast member Susan singing the alphabet (traditional):

Lena Horne and the Muppets sing the alphabet:

Patti LaBelle sings the alphabet (gospel):

Grover dances to the alphabet (disco):

Ray Charles sings the alphabet (jazz):

Reuben Studdard and Elmo sing the alphabet (soul):

Judy Collins and Snuffy sing the alphabet (madrigal/operatic):

My favorite though, is this classic version from 1972 with Kermit the frog and a little girl named Joey.

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