“Cass Elliot didn’t just sing on a kids’ show,” (Kendall LeJeune). “She turned a children’s puppet fantasy into pure camp gospel. The way she sings ‘Different’ as a spell, equal parts lullaby and incantation. That’s presence. That’s control … she transforms a TV cameo into a cultural artifact. Witch hat, velvet cape, full vocal power. She knew the audience would remember. And we do.”
“‘Different’ is the sixth song in the soundtrack of the movie Pufnstuf (1970) and is the first of two songs which are sung the antagonists of the movie,” (Fandom.com). “During the Witch’s Council, after the Boss Witch’s assistant starts the record player, Witch Hazel sings about how she discovered from a very young age that she was different from other people and how she used her difference to her advantage before meeting the other witches. During the course of the song, Hazel is joined by the other witches in refrains of certain words in the verses and for three quarters of the song’s chorus. After the song is finished, while the other witches applaud Hazel, Witchiepoo acts unamused, since Hazel is also up for Witch of the Year.”
The track begins in F major, shifting to G major for a second verse at 0:23. The chorus, starting at 0:38, leads up to a melodically surprising ending. 0:58 brings a G major interlude which connects us to another verse which reverts back to F major (1:01). The pattern continues from there.
Below is a video with high audio quality, but also check out the second posted video of the actual footage from Pufnstuf. For a synopsis and review of the film, check out the 366 Weird Movies site — it was too dense with detailed descriptions to choose an excerpt!
Many thanks to Maureen BZ for calling our attention to this one-of-a-kind track.
And no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you: this footage does include a Nazi rat character who happens to hang out with witches:
modulationoftheday.home.blog 