The backstories of those favorite albums that still frame our memories
It was 1978 when Suki and I spent a Shabbos in Florida at an NCSY shabbaton and first met Zale Newman, who asked us if we’d be interested in producing a children’s record.
Zale then got engaged and married, and six months later, we heard from him again. What happened was that he asked his wife what she thought they should do with their wedding money, and she replied, “Give a little tzedakah.” He took that line, sat down, and wrote an entire song, tune and lyrics. It became the first Uncle Moishy song, and the others came quickly. Some of the tunes were children’s songs or popular tunes from other sources, while others were new compositions.
Moishe Tanenbaum was the singing voice of Uncle Moishy, while Zale was the talking voice. The name Uncle Moishy was actually suggested by the Chabad shaliach in Toronto, where Zale and Moishe lived.
In 1990, it was time to move ahead with a video. I called up Moishe Tanenbaum and we met at the heliport near the West Side Highway. I rented a helicopter, and that was the first video scene of Uncle Moishy.
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