Years of evolution has all-but-erased Sesame Street‘s psychedelic foundations. It was conceived as a much, much weirder show than its current incarnation, which is so often merely a vehicle for that cloying furry menace, Elmo and whatever flavor-of-the-week celebrity is looking to expand their fanbase to the preschool demographic. This is not to say Sesame Street never trafficked in star power—from the very first season in 1969, the show boasted among its visitors Burt Lancaster, James Earl Jones, Carol Burnett and… Grace Slick.

Yes, the voice of Grace Slick, of Jefferson Airplane (and other, less noble projects) was featured in nearly every episode of Sesame Street‘s debut season in 1969, singing absolutely deranged counting songs over psychedelic free jazz and groovy animation. I’m not sure if it taught any kids their numbers, but it’s sure as hell hypnotic. Slick’s role in the show was preceded by her recent participation in the Jim Henson-produced documentary, Youth 68—a study on the exploding 60’s counterculture.
 

 
While Slick’s “Jazz Numbers” shorts (which went from “two” to “ten,” as “one” would have been kinda pointless) were certainly experimental, I would argue that the absolute psychedelic zenith of the Sesame Street (or possibly the nadir, depending on your opinion) was the 1969 short, “The Tomato,” shown below in all its oozing, bulging glory. It’s literally just a minutes of captivating close-up footage of a tomato, paired with eerie ambient music (think atonal moaning and those pizzicato strings from The X-Files). There is no didactic value whatsoever, it’s just early Sesame Street, gettin’ weird for no obvious reason.  The music was composed and/or performed by Peter Schickele aka “P.D.Q. Bach.”
 

 
Via Watch This Thing