You remember the milk. It was usually lukewarm by the time you got to the bottom of the bowl of Cocoa Puffs, and the TV was blasting the X-Men theme or Scooby-Doo. It was a ritual. But in 1995, a bunch of alternative rock stars decided to take those sugar-crusted memories and turn them into something incredibly loud, slightly distorted, and occasionally very strange. That’s how we got the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits album. It wasn't just a compilation. Honestly, it was a weird cultural collision where Gen X cynicism met Boomer nostalgia, and the result was surprisingly great.
Produced by Ralph Sall, this record dropped right when alt-rock was starting to get a little too serious for its own good. We’re talking about a time when the radio was dominated by grunge hangovers. Then, suddenly, you had Liz Phair singing about Speed Racer. It shouldn't have worked.
The Chaos Behind the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits Album
The mid-90s were obsessed with "tribute" albums. Everyone was doing them. There were tributes to Led Zeppelin, Leonard Cohen, even The Eagles. But Ralph Sall had a different idea. He wanted to tap into the collective subconscious of everyone who grew up parked in front of a Zenith or a Magnavox on Saturday mornings. He managed to pull together a lineup that, looking back, is absolutely insane. We are talking about The Ramones, Violent Femmes, Sublime, and The Murmurs all on one disc.
The album opens with The Ramones tackling the Spider-Man theme. It’s perfect. It’s fast. It’s exactly what you’d expect—three chords and a cloud of dust. Joey Ramone’s voice fits the "Look out! Here comes the Spider-Man" hook like a leather jacket. It sets a high bar. But then the album gets weird. And weird is usually where the best stuff happens.
Take the Violent Femmes' cover of Eek! The Cat. It’s manic. It’s twitchy. It captures the absolute absurdity of 90s animation better than almost anything else on the record. Gordon Gano’s nasal delivery makes a song about a cartoon cat feel like a nervous breakdown in a good way. Then you have Sublime doing Hong Kong Phooey. This was recorded before Bradley Nowell passed away, and it’s pure Sublime—reggae-tinged, laid back, and completely effortless. It actually feels like a song they would have written themselves.
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Why the 90s Alt-Rock Scene Cared About Underdog and Gigantor
You might wonder why bands like Butthole Surfers or Helmet would bother with cartoon themes. It wasn't just a paycheck. For these artists, many of whom were in their late 20s or early 30s, these songs were their "standards." In the same way a jazz musician in the 50s had to know the Great American Songbook, a Gen X rocker knew the melody to The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana).
There’s a certain irony at play, too. Digging into Gigantor with a heavy metal riff, like Helmet did, was a way of reclaiming childhood without being precious about it. They weren't trying to make "kids' music." They were making loud, aggressive rock that just happened to have lyrics about a giant robot. It bridged the gap between the playground and the mosh pit.
Standout Tracks and the Ones That Missed
Not every track on the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits album is a masterpiece. That’s just the nature of tribute records.
- The Murmurs - Rosie the Robot: It’s cute, but maybe a bit too "indie-pop" for some tastes.
- Matthew Sweet - Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?: This one is a power-pop gem. Sweet has such a knack for melody that he makes the Scooby theme sound like a lost track from Girlfriend.
- The Reverend Horton Heat - Jonny Quest / Stop That Pigeon: This is high-octane psychobilly. It’s fast, frantic, and fits the adventure vibe of Jonny Quest perfectly.
- Liz Phair with Material Issue - The Tra La La Song: This is the quintessential 90s track. It’s fuzzy, lo-fi, and has that specific Chicago alt-rock sound.
One of the more overlooked gems is Face to Face’s cover of the Popeye theme. It’s a pop-punk blitzkrieg. It’s less than two minutes long, but it packs more energy than most full-length albums from that era. On the flip side, some people found the Wax cover of Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy a bit redundant since the original from Ren & Stimpy was already so iconic and weird on its own. How do you out-weird the original? You really can't.
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The Impact of Ralph Sall’s Production
Ralph Sall is a name you see on a lot of these 90s soundtracks. He did Addams Family Values and later worked on the Dead Man on Campus soundtrack. His secret sauce was variety. He didn't just pick one genre. He realized that Saturday morning cartoons weren't just one "thing." They were a mix of superheroes, talking animals, and sci-fi adventures.
By pairing Sponge with Go Speed Racer Go, he captured the high-stakes (well, for a kid) energy of racing. By letting Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donelly team up for Josie and the Pussycats, he gave a nod to the girl-group dynamics of the 60s while keeping it firmly rooted in the "Belly/Throwing Muses" era of 90s college radio. It was smart curation.
The Legacy of the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits Album
Does this album still hold up? Honestly, yes. But maybe not for the reasons you think.
It’s a time capsule. If you want to explain to someone what 1995 sounded like—without just playing Nirvana or Pearl Jam—this is the record you give them. It shows the playfulness of the era. It shows a time before "nerd culture" was the dominant global force, back when liking cartoons was still a slightly niche, nostalgic hobby for adults.
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It also served as an entry point. There were definitely kids who bought this for the Spider-Man song and ended up discovering The Ramones. Or kids who liked Scooby-Doo and found themselves listening to Matthew Sweet's entire discography. It was a gateway drug to alternative music.
Modern Availability and Where to Listen
For a long time, the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits album was one of those "CD-only" relics. You’d find it in the used bins at Amoeba or your local record shop for five bucks. Thankfully, it has made its way to streaming services. You can find it on Spotify and Apple Music, though some of the track listings occasionally shift due to licensing weirdness—which is typical for these kinds of multi-artist compilations.
The physical CD is still worth owning if you’re a collector. The liner notes are great, and the artwork is a vibrant, chaotic mess that perfectly mirrors the music inside.
Why We Still Need This Kind of Energy
Music today can feel very siloed. Everything is algorithmically sorted. This album was the opposite of an algorithm. It was a messy, loud, joyful experiment. It reminded us that art doesn't always have to be "important" or "groundbreaking" to be good. Sometimes, it can just be a bunch of rock stars having a blast with the songs they heard while eating cereal in their pajamas.
If you haven't listened to it in twenty years, give it a spin. The Helmet cover of Gigantor still goes incredibly hard. The Collective Soul version of The Bugaloos is... well, it's very 1995. But even the misses are interesting because they represent a specific moment in time when the music industry was willing to take a weird risk on a tribute album about cartoons.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive back into this world or start a collection of 90s tribute gems, here is how to handle it:
- Check the Used Bins First: Don't just buy a digital copy. Look for the original 1995 MCA Records CD release. The mastering on the original disc is often superior to the compressed versions found on some streaming platforms.
- Explore the "Sister" Albums: If you dig the vibe of the Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits album, look up the Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks tribute album released around the same time. It features Blind Melon, Pavement, and Better Than Ezra covering those educational classics.
- Track Down the Music Videos: There were several music videos produced for this project, including the Liz Phair and Matthew Sweet tracks. They used to air on MTV’s 120 Minutes and offer a great visual window into the "alt-rock cartoon" aesthetic.
- Verify the Tracklist: Some international versions or re-releases might swap tracks due to licensing. If you want the definitive experience, make sure your copy includes The Ramones, Sublime, and The Reverend Horton Heat.