Presto changeo: Blues Clues star teams up with Flaming Lips

Who then is this Steve Burns guy, and why is there a dust mite over there to the left?

You mean you don't know? Well first, Steve played "Steve Burns" on Nickelodeon's show Blues Clues, in which he dressed up in a green striped shirt and solved puzzles with his dog, Blue, who was blue, of course.

But last year--in what he calls "a really difficult decision--Steve decided to leave Blues Clues and became a rock musician. Does this seem like a, uh, fairy tale to you?

Funny thing is, Burns's first album, "Songs for Dustmites," came out last month to rave reviews. "I started trying to do my own music at home, and I was like, 'you know what? I can play the guitar. Sort of," Burns says, in his typical doofy way.

Lacking a band, he figured he would locate the most surreal musicians he could find. This led him to nursery-space-age band The Flaming Lips, who readily agreed to back up Steve on the CD. What could be a better match? Burns appeared on The Lips' 1999 CD "The Soft Bulletin," and now they are returning the favor.

Blues Clues was popular among small children, their moms, teenage gay boys who appreciated Burns's quirkily cute persona, and an occasional stoned college student.

8 million viewers a day, on average, tuned in for the six years from 1996 to 2002. Steve resigned in April 2002, to be replaced by so-called "little brother" Donovan Patton on the supposed grounds that "Steve" was going to college.

The new CD "Songs for Dustmites" carries an entirely Steve-esque cover with the cute dustmite on the cover that you see here. The songs are maybe a little too adult for the preeteen Blues Clues fans, but it should suit the teenage fans and Moms fine.

Songs range from kooky to emotional. On one pop-y track, Steve discusses his Saturday which mainly consists of going to the grocery store and goofing off. On another one, "Mighty Little Man," a television addict transforms into a super-hero under mysterious circumstances. "Stick Around," though, is possibly a love song replete with cellos. Hmmm. This may be the trend-addict's CD of the year.

Videos and tracks from the CD are on his website, steve-burns.com, in case you want to see if that's you.

Sure, sure, but does he regret having quit Blues Clues?

"I thought I should quit right at my peak," he says. "I could be like Mister Rogers--the show is extraordinarily popular in several countries. But I thought, is this really what I came to New York to do? I just don't think it's true that people can't do something else after they've done something that seems so permanent."

"I hope  I'll be remembered for that show for the rest of my life. That will always be a part of my identity, and I'm totally cool with that."

Note: Steve Burns did NOT appear on The Flaming Lips' 1999 CD "The Soft Bulletin"