by Lore Sjöberg

Three is a Magic Number
While it's pleasant to see Schoolhouse Rock delving into the occult, some of their evidence for the eldrich power of the number three is pretty sketchy: people reproduce, human anatomy can be divided into three parts if you ignore almost all major organs, and tricycles have three wheels. I wasn't aware that tricycles figured so prominently in cabalistic lore. C+

Verb: That's What's Happening
A very nice foray into horn-laced funk, although the vocals sound kind of like Jackson Browne Sings the Hits of Sly and the Family Stone. Extra points for the chest-hair-exposing superhero, who apparently has the incredible power to perform actions, and the affirmation at the end that love is what's happening. B+

A Victim of Gravity
50's doo-wop seems out of place and tired in the Schoolhouse melange of sixties and seventies pop music styles. Not to mention that the first couple verses are dedicated to teaching kids the important but difficult-to-grasp fact that things fall downward. An addition, I object to the author's plea to keep Mary-Jean in the dark about basic concepts of physics. D

Sufferin' Till Suffrage
I'd like to point out that the red-headed diva belting this one out pioneered the "bell-bottoms, bare midriff, and t-shirt with cute little graphic on it" look some twenty-five years before it became popular. Um, again. She also continues the superhero theme we see throughout the series, with her incredible powers to twirl, transform into a powerful voting bloc, and adopt historical women's fashions. I wonder if she and Verb are dating. B

I'm Just a Bill
This is a catchy and remarkably complete treatment of a complicated subject, featuring perhaps the most adorable piece of legislation in history, although I understand the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act was pretty cute. It helps that the bill in question concerns school-bus safety. A tax hike or a law proclaiming National Mayonnaise Week probably wouldn't have been as sympathetic. A+