#lois lilienstein

Obit of the Day: Lois

Before The Wiggles there was Sharon, Lois, and Bram. In the late 1980′s and early ‘90s they were international stars who insisted that children’s music was simply “any song a child liked to sing,” a philosophy borrowed from Woody Guthrie. Their The Elephant Show, which ran on CBC originally and then on Nickelodeon in the U.S,  was a combination of songs and lessons, and featured the titular elephant (played by Paula Gallivan).

The group met at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario in the 1970s. Sharon Hampson, Bramwell Morrison and Lois Lilienstein recorded their first album, One Elephants, Deux Elephants in 1978, using $20,000 they borrowed form friends. It became the fastest-selling children’s album in Canadian history. They would eventually produce another 43 records for children and earn three Juno Awards (the Canadian Grammy) for Smorgasbord (1979), Singin’ and Swingin’  (1980), and Skinnamarink TV Sing-along  (1999).

Their signature song “Skinnamarink,” featured at the end of every episode of The Elephant Show, was discovered by Mrs. Lilienstein who heard an eight-year-old cousin singining the lyrics. (You can hear the whole song in the video accompanying this post.)

Mrs. Lilienstein was a classically trained pianist who grew up in Chicago. Her father played piano at bar mitzvahs and weddings, when he wasn’t working as an insurance salesman. Her mother took tap lessons with young Lois and the two would perform together at family functions.

She met her future husband, Ernest, at the University of Michigan where she was earning her degree in piano and music literature. They returned to Chicago where he earned his doctorate and then he took a job at York University in Toronto. She remained home raising her son.

But she still found outlets for her music. She began playing and teaching at her son’s preschool, where she was a hit. The children loved the music but even more her personality and willingness to be silly. This was the seed for her eventual stardom as a children’s performer more than a decade later.

She would perform with Sharon and Bram for nearly 25 years, leaving the group in 2002 after the death of her husband, while occasionally making guest appearances. Her last public appearance in the group was May 10, 2014 at the dedication of the Sharon, Lois & Bram Playground in Toronto. 

Lois Lilienstein died on April 22, 2015 at the age of 78.

Sources: LA Times, NY Times, A.V. Club, and Wikipedia

Sharon, Lois & Bram: Skinnamarink

Fellow Canadians, a bit of our childhood has died. Rest in peace, Lois Lilienstein.

“A” You’re Adorable

(The video should start at 5:29!)

I just wanted to share one of the songs from Sharon, Lois and Bram’s Elephant Show that somehow remained clear as day in my memory.  Funnily enough, this sequence featured Lois, who passed away just recently.