A Little Bit of That Sky - Ken/Mattel

This summer I had the pleasure of visiting Le Musée de la Poupée in Paris, a tucked away museum celebrating the history of dolls and puppets. There, alongside the unnerving glassy eyed stares and lavishly curated display dioramas, was a special exhibition dedicated entirely to the history of that penis-less wonder- Ken 'Barbie' Carson.

Hidden among the many evolutions, makeovers and career shifts Ken has gone through since his introduction in 1961 was his stint as a pop singer: Live Action Ken On Stage, including the packed in smash single 'A Little Bit of That Sky.'

So let's get this out of the way first: No, it's not very good. Surprised? Me neither. It's musical Wonderbread- assembly line fluff in the vein of Bobby Sherman or The Osmonds. From the pieced together rhythmic styles to the 'OOOH-WAAAAAHHH' backing vocals the song feels like a banal Frankenstein sewn together with 'choice' cuts of bland sixties pop. Dig those oh-so-fluttery flutes, the softshoe pianos, beebopping bass, the absolute facemelter of a solo at 1:30. Ken himself sounds about as stiff and Colgate smiled as a singer based on a doll would sound (though not as authentically castrati as it should be). What's really awesome is how much of a hippie Ken proves himself to be, cheesing his way through lines like 'Life is the learning way / and there is a beautiful wizard in man.'

The song hasn't really stood the test of time, but then not many sixties branded animated bands have- with the possible exception of The Archies. In any event, it's a fascinating listen to hear what the folks at Mattel felt was a good cross section of popular music for young girls. I can't find any listings of who the session musicians were for the recording (rather unhelpfully the song is usually credited to either Ken or Mattel), so if any of you out there have some info on it's origins please drop us a line.

Otherwise enjoy what feels like a slightly too long three and half minutes of inspiring your inner wizard to desperately grasp a little inch of the sky, safe in the knowledge that after this single Ken never really dusted off the mic ever again.