Bill’s Letter

“Barbie’s Head is Missing”

From the Office: From the Back of the Bus on CD

Fundraising project

Reviews: The Town Around the Bend

Bill's Letter

Hi gang-

Woooooh it is cold here. We are hunkered down here, just trying to stay warm. I’m having a nice break from traveling for a little bit and working on a bunch of new songs and stories and books and whatever! I’m reading a lot right now, too, and especially want to mention two great books I just finished reading – one by Terry Pratchett – Maurice and the Amazing Rodents – a great story about some talking mice and a very smart cat. It’s exciting and funny, and I highly recommend it for about ages ten and up (including people as ooollld as me). Also, I have been very moved and challenged by Tracy Kidder’s new book, Mountains Beyond Mountains, about the work of Paul Farmer, a doctor who has worked with the poor in Haiti and around the world. I can’t recommend it enough!

Barbie’s Head is Missing

I have done as promised and written a song to the title that won the contest this fall. The winning title was “Barbie’s Head is Missing”, and I finished writing it the other day. It’s a production number, requiring more than just my guitar, so I haven’t recorded it yet, but below are the very dubious lyrics for this wonderfully questionable song. It’s a New Orleans style song, with the Beach Boys making an appearance in the middle part.

Quick take a look out the window

Tell me if you see their car

They only had a couple of errands

They couldn’t have gone very far

I don’t know what I was thinking

I should have left that thing alone

I’m in trouble and how

If I don’t find it right now

Before my sister and my mom get home

Barbie’s head is missing

I don’t know what I’m going to do

If I don’t find it before they get back

My head will be missing too

My sister’s got a dozen Barbies

To me it’s just a mystery

They got skinny little arms, skinny little legs

They all look the same to me

I took them all apart this morning

I thought that I would have a little fun

But when I put them all back together

One of those heads was gone

Barbie’s head is missing

This is an emergency

If I don’t find it before they get back

The same thing’s gonna happen to me

Ba ba ba Bar-barbie’s head

Ba ba ba Bar-barbie’s head

Find Barbie’s heaaaaad

Or I am deaaaaad

Find Barbie’s heaaad

Where did it go

I’m looking high and low

For Barbie’s head

It shouldn’t be such a big deal

If you ask me she seems the same

As far as I can tell

She’s doing quite well

It’s not like she ever had a brain

Now I’ve turned this whole house upside down

And I’ve got a sinking feeling in my chest

Cause I saw my little puppy

Just threw up

From eating something he couldn’t digest

Barbie’s head is missing

Somebody call 911

I got to find that little piece of plastic

Or my days on earth are done

©2004 Bill Harley and Round River Music

That’s all from here for now! Stay warm and come and say hi if I’m performing near you. Here’s the link to my performing calendar.... Calendar

Bill

From the Office

From the Back of the Bus is available on CD!

We’re happy to announce that From the Back of the Bus is now available on CD. For those of you unfamiliar with the cassette version, consider it a new storytelling recording from Bill Harley! And what’s better than that? These stories are richly textured tales of life in elementary school. They’re filled with teachers, vice-principals and lunchroom incidents, as well as the realization that you grow up whether you like it or not. Here you’ll find the stories “Mr. Anderson- Indiana State School Bus Driver of the Year” & “Bottlecaps,” and the Motown influenced anthem “In the Back of the Bus.”

Ages 8 and up Parents' Choice Approved, AFIM Nominee and the recipient of the Storytelling World Award

To order your copy of From the Back of the Bus CD (or any other recording) visit Bill’s on-line shopping cart

Or contact us during the day at 800-682-9522 to place an order.

Fundraising Pilot Project

Have you heard about Fundraising with Bill Harley? Click this link Fundraising with Bill Harley to find out more!

Recent Reviews

The Town Around The Bend

Booklist/February 2004

So intimate is this collection of 10 "songs and stories for bedtime" and so seemingly unrehearsed is entertainer Bill Harley's delivery that children who close their eyes during these giggle-rich and lush lullabies might think a treasured loved one is performing at their bedside. Listening to the six gently goofy stories will tickle the funny bone. From the sassy opening cornet riff to the deep tones of a cello, background accompaniment accents four simple, infectiously pleasing songs, including "Look out Your Window," in which Harley sings, "Every star is like a story, waiting to be told; Every star is like a song sung, that never grows old." Performer Harley is a star indeed. - Kristi Jemtegaard

From a mom in Decatur, GA

We were stuck in a two hour traffic jam driving home from Thanksgiving and were saved by Bill's show on XM Kids. The stories from The Town Around the Bend mesmerized my children (and me)! We're still talking about PigWhistle and the strawberries and peaches in the sky... It was like Prairie Home Companion for kids! Thanks for your wonderful material.

Chicago Parent/December 2003

Bill Harley’s newest recording is a very special collection of songs and stories for bedtime about a wonderful and wacky imaginary place he calls “the Town Around the Bend.” And (thank goodness) it is not your typical sugary sweet nighttime CD filled with “you are special” messages. First of all, Harley reminds his young audience that in order for him to do his job, they must first be in bed. Then he proceeds to spin some fanciful tales and sing some charming songs---all in that child-like, intimate Bill Harley style. Favorites of my 7-year-old include the story “Bucket of Beans, Clarisse and the Bubble Machine” and the song “Look Out Your Window” with the chorus of “And every star is like a story waiting to be told/And every star is like a song that sung that never grows old.” An exceptional CD from an exceptional songsmith and storyteller! –Fred Koch

Publishers Weekly/November 2003