Jingles of Yesteryear: "Don't Cross the Street in the Middle...:

New Yorkers of my generation will get a chill from hearing the traffic-safety PSA "(Don't Cross the Street) In the Middle, In the MIddle, In the Middle, In the Middle of the Block."

Here's the cool thing, though: I had no idea it was written by veteran Brooklyn-born TV and movie composer Vic Mizzy, whose credits include the theme songs for The Addams Family:



and Green Acres:



Damn!

I forget the lyrics to everything, but I can remember every word of "In the Middle"... that's how many times I heard it as an impressionable child.

"In the Middle" was covered by They Might be Giants, and this clip juxtaposes the original vocals with footage what I take to be LA traffic. It cuts off abruptly, but you'll get the gist:



Mizzy is alive and well, by the way. If you want to reach him, you can do so at stroogo@yahoo.com.