Nostalgia Nook: Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Sing!

Many involved in the entertainment industry are trained to be triple threats—actors, singers and dancers. And if they aren’t, they are expected to be. It was no different with the Olsen twins. They apparently did stage shows and made a video of just them singing. And did we eat it up? You bet we did.
I’d put a spoiler tag but it’s a series of music videos. No need for spoilers there.

Their first song is “I am the Cute One.” It’s a sweet number where the twins argue they are the “cute one” and the other is “just my sister.” But the main thrust is just them dressing up in adorable outfits. Which little girls envied, trust me.


Next comes “I’d Like to Be President.” It’s pretty much “Adults can do whatever they want; I can’t wait to grow up!” And this one is funny to watch now as an adult. The whole premise is “No one can tell the president what to do.” Of course, we now know there is a small army of people who do exactly just that. But, it was nice to dream…

This is followed by a little ditty called “Brother For Sale.” It is something any sibling has thought before. Can’t I just sell my annoying brother and/or sister? The visual is also great—they go from a lemonade stand setting to a full on circus. But then they decide their brother isn’t that bad and so they don’t sell him after all.

From there, we get the nonsensical “One Buffalo, Two Buffali.” My inner Grammar Nazi was cringing as I watched this video as an adult. Hopefully none of the kids thought any of that was correct. Or else they’d have some low English grades. But the song has a good beat and kids like funny words.

Afterwards, we get one from their stage show. This one is called “Different Identical Twins” which is confusing as the Olsens always insist they are fraternal. But the song is about how while twins can look alike, they can have different personalities. And it includes an appearance by MLB team Minnesota Twins. Plus other identical twins.

Break out the tissues for the next song. It’s one all about how awesome their mother is. And compared to some of their peers, I don’t recall anything bad about Mama Olsen. She doesn’t seem to have stolen any money, had her children get emancipated from her or is Dina Lohan. So I guess she deserves a song.

The last song is an ode to peanut butter. And I think this is the best song on the video. It’s also the best the twins sound.  The back-up band is also good as well. So, let’s sing it out: “I like peanut butter…”

In between some songs were little features with the twins. Nothing much, just some fluff to fill time. The biggest things revealed—at the time—were the Olsen brother and sister.

So, how is their singing? Ehh, nothing to write home about. It’s clear autotune isn’t around. And it may have helped. They could carry a tune, they just couldn’t sing. Or dance either. But we didn’t care about it as children. They were our idols and they could do no wrong.

And it’s not like the songs are bad. They are suited for their target audience. You can see it in my recaps of the songs. Perhaps in the hands of better singers they might still exist today. Thankfully, after the Mary-Kate and Ashley Mysteries, they seem to realize a singing career wasn’t in the cards.

But after the end of Full House, they kept at broadcast TV. Next week, we’ll check out their two offerings.

Next time: “Two of a Kind”/”So Little Time”