KidVid 2014 Tournament Final: Karen K and the Jitterbugs vs. Frances England

It went from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 to voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament to voting in Semifinal #1 and Semifinal #2, and now we're at the final two: Karen K and the Jitterbugs and Frances England.

Karen K and the Jitterbugs' '70s-sitcom-aping video for "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck " from Big Ol' Truck crushed (in a kindly, kindie way) Duke Otherwise on Friday.  That video faces off against Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye, which had to go to overtime to defeat Alison Krauss (singing a Sandra Boynton tune).

Well, why wait any longer to vote?  As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Monday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

Weekly Summary (3/31/14 - 4/6/14)

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #2: Karen K and the Jitterbugs vs. Duke Otherwise

As noted yesterday, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

Yesterday featured England v. Krauss.  Today's Semifinal #2 features Karen K and the Jitterbugs' '70s-sitcom-aping video for "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck " from Big Ol' Truck facing off against a dinner party dressed as if they might do some jitterbugging later in Duke Otherwise's video for "Brussels Sprout Shout!" from Creepy Crawly Love.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Friday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!" [YouTube]

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck" [YouTube]

Listen To This: We're a Club in the Woods - Bears and Lions

I've already talked about how Florida's Bears and Lions strode into Kindiefest 2013 and knocked us all over with their slightly anarchic energy.

Well, it's taken nearly a year, but their debut album We're a Club in the Woods can now be streamed so everyone can hear for themselves their gloriously goofy stories about pancakes and dogs and much more.  (Official album release is in mid-May.)

At the very least, give "Pancakes" (the first track) a spin with your kids and tell me at least one of you isn't shouting "PAN-CAKE SWEEP-STAKES" by the end.

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #1: Alison Krauss vs. Frances England

Well, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

But there's little time for the four of them to rest on their laurels as we move directly in the final, er, four.  Semifinal #1 features Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye going up against a bunny's courageous trip home in Keith Boynton's video for Alison Krauss' "End of a Summer Storm" from Sandra Boynton's Frog Trouble.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Thursday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm" [YouTube]

My Annual Post About "Felt Around the World"

A couple years ago -- exactly two years ago, April 1, 2012, I shared one of my favorite all-time posts here on the site, the world premiere of "Felt Around the World," which was "We Are the World" for a new (puppet) generation.

Last year I shared how the song had generated hundreds of dollars for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  Now, I'm happy to report that the world's greatest song performed by Fabricated Americans has generated thousands of dollars for St. Jude's.  That's right, thanks to album sales and radio plays, we (that is, me and the folks at Recess Monkey, who coordinated the video and the musical contributions from our puppet friends) have now contributed more than $2,200 to St. Jude's.

Contributions keep trickling in, and you can still purchase the track at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon.  Thanks again to everyone who produced, purchased, or listened to the song.  Enjoy -- I still smile when I watch and listen today.

Hand Aid - "Felt Around the World" [YouTube]