Brother, Can You Spare a Clarinet?

Summary
Tryouts for the Young Person's Orchestra are coming to town, and everyone thinks Binky is a shoo-in. So why is he suddenly refusing to play his clarinet in band practice?

Plot
In the introduction Binky brinks Arthur a present. Arthur remarks how Binky has two different personalities: bully and nice guy. Just then the present throws a pie in Arthur’s face.

Title Card

Miss Krasny announces that the Young Persons Orchestra will hold tryouts the following week. Most students are enthusiastic about the tryouts, but Binky is in a bad mood, because his clarinet is old and squeaky. He decides that "music stinks".

Muffy brings a Stradivarius violin to the next rehearsal (along with two security guards), but Binky did not bring his clarinet despite the piece being a clarinet concert.

Binky ends up in Mr. Haney’s office. He is rebellious, because since he tuned down his bullying he is “just another wimp who plays a clarinet”. He gets detention, but arranges the flowers on Mr. Haney’s desk first.

On the school playground Binky reunites with the Tough Customers and announces he has a great plan. The Tough Customers take everybody’s instruments away and sabotage them (e.g. wrapping Francine’s drums in bubble wrap and putting flowers in Buster’s tuba). Because of her guards Muffy’s violin is left untouched, but Muffy plays terrible anyway. Binky feigns innocence and the others are too scared to talk.

On the way home from school Arthur, Buster and Brain discuss Binky’s evil scheme. Suddenly they hear clarinet music. Binky is trying out a new clarinet in a music store, but his parent’s can not afford it. On the way out Binky throws his clarinet in the trash. The others realize what is wrong with him.

Later, Binky watches a Bionic Bunny episode in which the villains weaken Bionic Bunny by sending waves through his apartment’s ventilation shaft. Binky takes notes. The kids knock on his door and present him with his repaired clarinet. Unfortunately, Brain has repaired it with paper clips and chewing gum so it quickly squeaks again.

On the day of the tryouts, the Tough Customers have built an “Anti-Music Machine” out of Binky’s old clarinet and a megaphone, which produces a horrible loud noise. First they try to use one of the ventilation shafts in the auditorium, but one of the judges closes the grille. They try using the machine from the boys’ bathroom next, but Mr. Morris, the custodian, is in there. Meanwhile the tryouts proceed normally. The Tough Customers finally try the gym right next to the auditorium, just as Muffy is trying out. She plays so badly that Binky angrily grabs his clarinet and storms into the auditorium where he plays for the judges to show them real music. Just as he wants to go back to finish his evil scheme, the judges tell him that anyone able to make such a bad instrument sound so good is a true musician.

Binky is the only Lakewood student to be accepted into the Young Persons Orchestra and the judges promise to lend him a proper clarinet. On his way home Binky trips up George, showing his other personality.

Major

 * Arthur Read
 * Binky Barnes
 * Francine Frensky
 * Buster Baxter
 * The Brain
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Ms. Krasny
 * Rattles
 * Molly MacDonald

Minor

 * Francis Haney
 * Slink (doesn't speak)
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong (doesn't speak)
 * Fern Walters (doesn't speak)
 * Mr. Barnes
 * Mrs. Barnes (doesn't speak)
 * George Lundgren

Cameo

 * Jenna Morgan
 * 3rd Grade Male Rat
 * 3rd Grade Female Cat (Number 2)
 * Maria Pappas
 * Alex
 * 3rd Grade Female Aardvark
 * 3rd Grade Male Dog (Number 3)

Mentioned

 * Ed Crosswire

Cultural references

 * The episode's title is a reference to the Great Depression-era song ""
 * Bionic Bunny's weakness to special sound is similar to Superman's weakness to kryptonite in that they both lose their powers when exposed to it.
 * Francine mentioned.
 * Binky tries to play the aria "La donna è mobile" from the opera Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi in his room on his broken clarinet.
 * The band class plays the Mozart Clarinet Concerto.

Episode connections

 * Bionic Bunny was watching The Love Ducks on the television in his apartment.

Errors

 * At the end when Binky walks into the "sunset," Slink is colored like Molly.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur's Music Jamboree
 * Arthur's Music Medley (DVD)