Music by Ed Bogas and Desiree Goyette
Original Broadcast January 1, 1986

"What could I say? I congratulated her on her remarkable insight"

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SYNOPSIS

It's the night of Peppermint Patty's New Year's Eve bash, but Charlie Brown has to write a book report about War and Peace. Hoping to join the fun for a special dance with the Little RedHaired Girl, he tries desperately to finish in time.

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THE SOUNDTRACK

This is one of a handful of Peanuts cartoons where the music was done by Ed Bogas and Desiree Goyette, the duo who are best known for the music to the Garfield cartoons (this would be the last one in which they were the actual composers, although they would act as musical directors for Snoopy: The Musical).

As per usual, they manage to capture the essence of Vince Guaraldi's music, with smooth piano tunes and instances of electronic, synthesizer pieces, while giving it their own flavor. Since it's a New Year's special, Auld Lang Syne is heard in various incarnation throughout, often in a sweet saxophone version, before the kids actually sing it near the end when the clock strikes midnight (a really forlorn version is heard when Charlie Brown realizes he missed his chance to dance with the Little RedHaired Girl), and there's a lot of genuinely festive music to go along with the theme as well.

And when Rerun is inflating balloons into squares, there's a low, flat horn sound that plays whenever he blows into one.

As you've gathered, there are a couple of songs on the soundtrack. Desiree Goyette herself sings "Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick", an upbeat, whimsical instructional song for learning the foxtrot that you hear when Charlie Brown dances with Peppermint Patty. It's quite a lovely song, mostly because of Goyette's absolutely beautiful voice, and it makes learning to dance come off as playful and fun, which is perfect for kids.

The other song is "Musical Chairs", sung by Kristie Baker as Peppermint Patty, and like Slow, Slow, Quick, Quick, is basically just instructions for how to play the game, but done in a fastpaced, speedy, and energetic manner. Baker has a pretty good singing voice too and really sounds like she's into it, with memorable lyrics, "Because when the music stops, you can't be standing there, if you want to be at musical chairs," and, "And if you're boogalooing when the music stops, sorry, you gotta move on," the latter of which happens when Lucy gets caught out dancing when she should be looking for a chair to sit on.
(courtesy codysfilmandtvblog)

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YOUTUBE TRACKLIST

00:00 01 Oh Boy [intro] (00 : 13)

00:13 02 War and Peace Music 1 (00 : 07)
00:20 03 I Just Had My Whole Vacation Ruined (00 : 17)
00:37 04 Linus Throws a Snowball (00 : 10)
00:48 05 Lucy Throws a Snowball (00 : 10)
00:59 06 Happy New Year [intro] (00 : 15)
01:14 07 How Are You Doing With War and Peace? (00 : 36)
01:51 08 War and Peace Music 2 (00 : 33)
02:24 09 This Is Peppermint Patty (01 : 27)
03:51 10 War and Peace Music 3 (00 : 05)
03:57 11 Do You Have A Comic Book of War and Peace? (00 : 47)
04:44 12 Charlie Brown Returns Home (00 : 11)
04:55 13 War and Peace Music 4 (00 : 25)
05:21 14 Everybody Else Is At Dance Class (00 : 20)
05:41 15 War and Peace Music 5 (00 : 11)
05:53 16 Learning The Fox Trot (00 : 23)
06:16 17 Slow Slow Quick Quick Desiree Goyette (01 : 28)
07:45 18 War and Peace Music 6 (00 : 21)
08:06 19 I Am Not Your Sweet Baboo (00 : 16)
08:23 20 Rerun's Balloons (01 : 18)
09:41 21 Beethoven Waldstein Sonata No 21 [clip] (00 : 15)
09:56 22 I'll Just Go With Someone Else (00 : 12)
10:09 23 War and Peace Music 7 (00 : 16)
10:25 24 I Knew It Would Be Me (00 : 38)
11:04 25 I've Written An Invitation (01 : 06)
12:10 26 I Just Can't Stand It (00 : 11)
12:22 27 Snoopy and Woodstock Get Dressed (00 : 26)
12:48 28 War and Peace Music 8 (00 : 19)
13:08 29 I thought You Had To Study (01 : 09)
14:18 30 Musical Chairs [complete] (01 : 27)
15:45 31 You Sniffed In My Root Beer (01 : 01)
16:46 32 Hey Chuck That Was A Sly Move (00 : 34)
17:20 33 Been A Great Year (00 : 55)
18:16 34 Grab Your Partners (00 : 19)
18:35 35 War and Peace Music 9 (00 : 48)
19:24 36 You're Heather (00 : 32)
19:56 37 A Few Seconds Before Midnight, Auld Lang Syne vocal (00 : 54)
20:51 38 Humming Auld Lang Syne (00 : 32)
21:23 39 Happy New Year Charles (00 : 30)
21:54 40 Did You Finish War and Peace? (01 : 10)
23:04 41 Musical Chairs [outro] Kristie Baker (00 : 30)
23:35 END