Celebrating 30 Years Since Ringo Starr Debuted on 'Thomas & Friends': Musicans and Animated Shows

Ringo Starr never got the credit he deserved as a member of The Beatles, always relegated to taking shots from the fans of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. He landed the greatest gig of any of them during October of 1984 however: the original narrator for the show Thomas & Friends. Starr would star for three years on the program and profoundly affect thousands of children's lives far more than any Beatles song ever could.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of his time with Thomas, Music Times has gathered a short list of musicians who have lent their voices or talents to animated or children's TV shows (emphasis on animated) for recurring roles.

Barry White on The Simpsons

Soul vocalist Barry White made several appearances on The Simpsons portraying no one but his own bad self. His first, and still most famous, appearance came on the classic "Whacking Day" episode where Lisa attempts to save the town's snakes from grisly death by luring them to a safe area. White, who was at first brought to Springfield to perform at the event, is disgusted by the cause and lures the snakes to safety by singing his classic "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe." His character would return for "Krusty Gets Cancelled" and the song would return during "The Last Temptation of Homer."

Tom Petty on King of The Hill

King of The Hill is a rarity among adult animated television programs in that it relies on subtlety to get the joke across. Unlike hillbillies in The Simpsons, Lucky and his kin best demonstrate their backwardness via subtlety. Hank Hill is perhaps the most American character on television, but Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt is a close second, so it makes sense that arguably the most American of rockers—Tom Petty—would provide his voice. He neither sings nor plays guitar on the show, unlike his voicer, but he does play some mean air guitar.

Issac Hayes proved to be an effective and popular non-sequitur character during the first nine seasons of South Character. It'd be incredible to have the Stax legend voicing anyone in anything, but the fact that he frequently got to educate the boys on adult themes with sexually-loaded soul songs makes it oh-so-much better. Unfortunately Hayes and Chef both left the show a few months after the performer suffered a stroke and some (including creator's Trey Parker and Matt Stone) claimed that the vocalist was less than pleased when South Park skewered his religion, Scientology, during the "Trapped In The Closet" episode.

Schooly D on Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Many non hip-hop-heads never would have even heard of Schooly D if it weren't for his role as the rapper behind the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme song, even though some have cited him as the original gangsta rapper. His tone is a tad less imposing while working with the Adult Swim staple however, and he frequently served as a pseudo-narrator during the show's early seasons. Nearly 100 episodes into the series the emcee finally got his first visual appearance on the show, arriving at the Aqua Teen's new home and delivering a new version of the theme song.

Biz Markie on Yo Gabba Gabba!

Biz Markie has always been one of the more positive rapping forces in hip-hop but that's not to say his rhymes are G-rated enough for children's television. So instead, Markie has demonstrated various beatboxing during his frequent segment "Biz's Beat of The Day." It might not be teaching us words that begin with "G" or similar but Yo Gabba Gabba! proves that children's television today is much more diverse then during our heyday.

Kanye West on The Cleveland Show

The Cleveland Show has a hilarious trend of not even trying to hide the identities of its recurring guest stars. One is Ariana Bear (voiced by media mogul Ariana Huffington) and Kenny West, a 19 year-old rap phenom who serves as a rival for Cleveland Jr. Aside from the obvious trend of being a hugely successful rapper, Kenny is also a tastemaker in the same vein as the man who voices him. When Cleveland tries to wreck his career by working polka into his set, the unhip genre becomes an international sensation, similar to anything Kanye ever samples.

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Tom Petty, Biz Markie, Kanye West