One can also quibble with Scheff's interpretation of some classics in this collection. His "Old MacDonald Has a Farm" starts strongly (6667887), but after the first "EE-I-EE-I-OHH" (99004) loses all the melody of the original and becomes a toneless and repetitive fake (44444/44444/444444/444444). Similarly, his "Pop Goes the Weasel" begins promisingly, but fizzles fast. (Music historians will always wonder why Scheff chose a 5 for the "pop" in the song's last line. The "pop" was meant to surprise and delight listeners. Would not the higher-pitched 0 or # have served that purpose better than the flat 5?)

But despite its shortcomings, The Pushbutton Telephone Songbook (volume one) is a tour de force that makes us cry "Encore!" for volume two. After finishing this book, it is not hard to feel the emptiness of a feeble old man who realizes, in the loneliness of the night, that the best pages have long since been turned.

8 4 4 4 5

Should auld ac-quain-tance

8 4 8

be for-got

9 1 4 3 9 #

In days of auld lang syne