Monday Morning Smile: "Bears" - Slugs and Bugs

Time for a video for a gentle little ditty -- a gentle little ditty called "Bears" that involves the use of the word "maggots" and seems to condone eating seals and kids. It's cute, really it is. It's courtesy of Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson, the duo behind Slugs and Bugs and is on their Slugs and Bugs and Lullabies disk. Not that they asked for one, but my tagline for the video would be "This ain't no teddy bears' picnic." Slugs and Bugs - "Bears" [YouTube]

Video: "The Sky Floats (And So Do Boats)" - Billy Kelly

Billy Kelly is a busy man. No sooner does he release the excellent Is This Some Kind of Joke? last summer than he preps The Family Garden, due out this April. No wonder he's illustrating the video for a song off Joke, "The Sky Floats (And So Do Boats)," so quickly. He doesn't have much time, people! As for the video itself, on one hand, it makes the lyrics crystal clear. On the other... it doesn't help at all. Billy Kelly - "The Sky Floats (And So Do Boats)" [YouTube]

Video: "My Valentine" - Recess Monkey

Ahhhh... Valentine's Day, the day when little boys' thoughts turn to that of Transformers Valentine's tattoos to distribute to their preschool friends. And thoughts of fish. Or maybe that's just Recess Monkey for that second part. Just in time for Valentine's Day, the band's released the first video from their eagerly anticipated June 14 release Flying. It's called "My Valentine," and it's an ode to a fish. It features ukulele and some nifty big band assistance from Johnny Bregar and Dean Jones. What's not to love? Recess Monkey - "My Valentine" [YouTube]

Video: "Balloons" - Skyboat

Your child's need for balloon-related videos will be completely satiated by this video from Skyboat. Big balloons, small balloons, balloons inflating, balloons deflating, plain balloons, fancy balloons -- really it's all here in a nicely-edited digital video. The song, from their debut On Trinity Street, has a nice marching band feel that is definitely different from a lot of other kindie releases. Skyboat - "Balloons" [YouTube]

The Ketchup Report, Vol. 6

Another collection of random bits from around the kindie-webs... -- Perpetual Grammy nominee Bill Harley is offering up another free track. This one is - gasp! - a quarter-century old. It's "I'm On My Way" from his 1986 album 50 Ways To Fool Your Mother and it's a nifty re-working of the old traditional tune... -- The long-in-the-making "We Are the World"-style jam "A World of Happiness" is finally making its way to the light of day. Joanie Leeds and Tor Hyams released a YouTube video explaining the project, which basically boils down, "a whole bunch of kindie artists lending their talents to a single song to raise money for charity." That works for me. Originally pegged as a Haiti-relief song, now the charity of choice will be picked by a vote. -- The Wales-based animation studio Planet Sunday, best known here probably for their animation work for The Hipwaders and Debbie and Friends, also helps run their Animation Academy. The Academy (now a non-profit organization, shows kids ages 8 and up how animated films are made and gives them the chance to make their own films. Their most recent workshop resulted in a music video for The Hipwaders. According to Planet Sunday founder Greg David, "The kids and parents really got a lot out of it, and it really improved the format of the day." They've got two workshops lined up this month, on the 23rd and 25th February. One band is already interested, but they're looking to get someone else on board -- i.e., another kindie band. While David says they try to keep the costs down for kids as much as possible by getting grants and other funding to cover the cost of equipment and materials, etc., if a band would like to make a donation of either money and/or goodies for the kids it'd be much appreciated. (And, I suppose, that would go for anyone, regardless of their kindie-rocking status.) If interested, drop 'em a line here. -- I normally wouldn't like this video from L.A.'s Mista Cookie Jar -- it's way too overdone for my own tastes -- but they all combine into something... else. It's probably the tune, which is earwormy, and downloadable for free (or donation) right here... Mista Cookie Jar - "Joey the Dogg" [YouTube]

Video: "Think About Your Troubles" - Harry Nilsson (from The Point!)

ThePoint.jpgForty years ago today, ABC debuted The Point!, a cartoon with a story and music by Harry Nilsson. When the album was released later that year, it was arguably the first mid-career kids music album released by a major pop/rock musician. As an album, it still holds up many years later, everyone from the Barenaked Ladies to Adam Levy to Todd McHatton have cited Nilsson and The Point! as inspiration. The Asylum Street Spankers covered Nilsson on Mommy Says No!. And I think it's fitting we're celebrating that movie about someone making their way in a new world the same day we're world-premiering a video about someone making their way in a new world -- Gustafer Yellowgold is very much a spiritual heir to Oblio. So in honor of Harry, here are a couple songs from the cartoon... Harry Nilsson - "Think About Your Troubles" [YouTube]