The Untold Truth Of The Magic School Bus

A big part of the charm of “The Magic School Bus” lay in its intro — a breezy trip through a sampling of the weird types of situations we could expect to see Ms. Frizzle and her young charges get into, soundtracked by a rollicking, soulful, piano-driven theme song. That song, “Ride on the Magic School Bus,” was penned by Peter Lurye — a veteran of kids’ television who has served as a composer, arranger, or musical director on such classic series as “Bear in the Big Blue House,” “My Life as a Teenage Robot,” and “Dora the Explorer.” Lurye’s tune is an excellent one, to be sure, but it was lent a little extra spice by its performer — the legendary pianist, vocalist, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Little Richard.

Once you know who sings the tune, it’s impossible to mistake that voice for anyone else’s — but, as it turns out, there were apparently a goodly number of fans of “The Magic School Bus” who had no idea who the theme song was sung by: a man who literally helped to lay the foundation upon which modern rock and roll was built. Upon his death in 2020, one thread on X (formerly Twitter) spiraled out of control when a poster pointed out that he had sung the tune. One user summed up the general sentiment nicely: “I had no idea,” they wrote, “but re-listening, how did I not figure that out?”