Once again, somebody asked when the next entry in this series would be posted just as I planning the post. My readers are nothing if not persistent and possibly endowed with mind-reading abilities. Just another side benefit of reading this website.

With this entry, your opportunity to enter my contest to guess the Top 5 is rapidly disappearing. All entries are due before I post songs 16 through 20, which I expect to do this upcoming week. Winner gets a free CD. You might want to look at the previous entries...

Songs 26 through 30
Songs 31 through 35
Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50

25. "Teddy Bears' Picnic" - John Walter Bratton (music) / Jimmy Kennedy (lyrics): Amazing what you learn in putting these lists together. Did you know the music for this song was written exactly 100 years ago? And then when words were added 25 years later, the resulting recording sold more than one million copies? (Thanks, Wikipedia!) The lyrics are probably what amuses the kiddos, but I love the way the melody bounces up and around. Recorded by many (Trout Fishing in America and Garcia/Grisman, among others), but why not listen to the original million-seller here?

24. "We Are the Dinosaurs" - Laurie Berkner: Long after Jack's Big Music Show has ended production, long after CDs have stopped production for some method of music distribution we can't even fathom, little kids will be singing this song. The earworm-y beginning -- "we are the dinosaurs, marching, marching, we are the dinosaurs..." followed by the "WHADDAYA THINK OF THAT?!!" and the timpani drum is, well, the opening strains of Beethoven's Fifth of the late 20th century kids' music resurgence. (Watch Laurie's Noggin video here.)

23. "This Little Light" - Traditional: It's a Christian hymn, but it's been used in the civil rights struggle of the 1960's and in countless other secular situations. Can I hide this song under a bushel? No! (You can listen to one of my personal favorite renditions -- the very first song on Elizabeth Mitchell's very first kids' album You Are My Flower -- on Mitchell's website. Click on "flower," then "listen".)

22. "Row Row Row Your Boat - Traditional (lyrics), Eliphalet Orem Lyte (music): While I'm not quite sure I agree with Wikipedia's existential explication of the lyrics, it's definitely not the most mind-easing set of lyrics if the parent is really paying attention to the lyric. Luckily, the words are so ingrained in our brain we don't need to pay attention to it in order to sing it. (And, as a result, there is absolutely no need to give you a sound clip. It's already stuck in your brain now anyway.)

21. "Baby Beluga" - Raffi and Debi Pike: This is the biggest hit from the biggest children's musician of all time. Shouldn't this be, like, #2? I feel bad putting it at #21 instead of somewhat higher, but I don't think it's the easiest song for kids to sing by themselves. But there are a bunch of kids who are singing it with their parents (who sang it with their parents). (Listen to the song at Raffi's Myspace page.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A request from a reader who is disdainful of capitalization (but that's ok, i am too sometimes):

i am hoping you can help me put a name to a musician i remember from
my childhood... here are all the details i can remember:
> early 70s
> it was on a cassette tape (possibly from sears)
> the cassette had a face on it, with the reel holes being eyes
> folk songs interspersed with short narration about the songs
> the only songs i can remember for sure: someone's in the kitchen, jimmy crack corn, something about flies (shoo fly ple?)
> mostly (if not all) guitar and maybe banjo

A brief Google search on my part turned up nothing -- I think this is going to have to rely on a reader with a long memory. Any suggestions? Leave 'em in the comments.

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Our second semi-final for KidVid Tournament 2007 is the underdog side of the bracket -- two artists that knocked off #1 seeds. We've got a #2 seed, "Tricycle" from Frances England, going against "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox, the #3 seed. These are both cute videos, but for completely different reasons. Another tough call.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

[Note: As I've said before, sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]

"Tricycle" - Frances England

To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.

"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox

To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (40)

Regular readers will know that the occasionally history-obsessed Deedle Deedle Dees recently released their excellent second album, Freedom in a Box (review).

When I talked with Lloyd Miller (Ulysses Dee) recently, he mentioned how a lot of the new kids music is still out of reach for a lot of kids -- meaning (and these are my words here) that it costs money to see the artists in concert or buy their CDs, of course, and that's not doable (on a regular basis at least) for many families. As a result, they don't get exposed to as much (or any) music that's particularly age-appropriate. It was something I've thought about as well, but Miller really crystalized my thinking.

So while we've let readers win a lot of stuff here (and don't worry, your chance will come again very shortly), for this contest, we want to give the Dees' latest album away to a school or library -- some place that will let a lot of kids be exposed to some pretty cool music.

Here's the skinny: in the comments below, describe what North American historical event or personage you'd like to see the Deedle Deedle Dees write a song about. I will pick one entry at random, and then ask that person to designate a public school, charter school, or library system to which they'd like to donate a copy of the CD and the accompanying book. (If you'd like to mention your designee in your entry that's fine, but not required.) All entries are due by 11 PM-ish (East Coast time) Thursday, April 5.

Thanks and good luck! Your local kids are counting on you to enter!

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I'm an "authority" now. So says a YAKMA in tomorrow's Philadelphia Inquirer.

Actually, my quotations look rather dull compared to Mr. Livewire himself, David Weinstone:

"If I'm driving to Cape Cod with three kids in the back and have to listen to children's music, will it make me purposely crash the car into a tree? Or will we get there?"

Zooglobble: Preventing car crashes and lowering your insurance rates since 2004.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, I actually spent last weekend with my wife and away from the kids, which was very relaxing. And fun. Amazing how long of a conversation you can have.

But it's also clear that last weekend's Spare the Rock / AudraRox hootenanny and the Park Slope Parents concert in Brooklyn was a blast. So to stave off any thoughts of jealousy I'm only going to provide the links here once.

Yeah, I know Gwyneth beat me to this, but I blame that on laziness on my part, not lack of creativity. Besides, for some reason I can't explain, some of you still aren't reading her site. You people. (Besides, I've got some new stuff here, too.)

-- The artist list for Saturday night, along with a picture from Bill. (Edit: More thoughts and pictures here. Warning: Takes for-freakin' ever to load.)
-- Amy's inital thoughts here, with pictures from both concerts here.
-- Gwyneth's thoughts and photos.
-- Yosi's thoughts and a few photos.
-- Warren weighed in.
-- Hilltown Familes made the trek -- here are their photos (those may be gone -- try here instead). Also, Hilltown Families also put together a sweet collage.
-- Photos of Saturday's hootenanny here, from Susan Fox, who clearly left early because, you know, she was putting on Sunday's concert.
-- A video of Audra and Jen from AudraRox doing "D is for Drums" with Marty Beller [warning: very large file]
-- Speaking of Sunday's concert, see a long slideshow with a fun though unrelated rendition of "Enjoy Yourself" here. Note: Adam from Astrograss just let me know they played "Enjoy Yourself" as a group finale.
-- Here is another slideshow with (studio) versions of songs from the compilation.

Now to check in on the other hootenanny/fests in the works...

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

For those of you who would like to be able to delete all those Jack's Big Music Show episodes from your Tivo (so you can leave more room for 24 or something), good news.

A DVD may be on its way.

The always-amusing Chag started out looking for additional JBMS merchandise for his two-year-old but ended up interviewing the head honchos at Spiffy Pictures, the creators of the show. And he got this nugget out of them:

Currently the only merchandise available from Jack's Big Music Show is the CD. What other types of merchandise will we eventually see in stores?
We think a second CD and a DVD with four episodes on it, one of them never seen before! (cool, huh?)

My only question is why they would stop at four episodes. I guarantee you they could put out a 2-DVD set with the complete series and it would sell like hotcakes.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Little Monster Records released Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World earlier this week. I originally reviewed the DVD nearly a year ago. I've updated the review below -- if you already have the earlier version of the DVD, go to the end of the review for my comments on this new version.

An innocent wandering through the world is hardly an original concept for a story. The Who's Tommy, for example, or countless first novels.

To say that Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World borrows the concept, then, is no knock on this "Musical Moving Book," as it's called. The concept may be borrowed, but the execution is quite unique and wonderful.

Gustafer Yellowgold is the brainchild of New York-based songwriter and illustrator Morgan Taylor. Taylor has previously self-released several CDs but here has combined his songwriting talents with his illustrating skills to produce a concert which combines live music from Taylor and a small band of musicians with illustrations projected on large screens. It's the music and illustrations behind this live "moving book" which are captured here on the 24-minute DVD. There isn't much of a plot; it's more of a series of character sketches.

Gustafer is an alien from the sun who tells his story of life on the sun in the opening song "I'm From the Sun." It's an uptempo number which shows exactly how difficult life can be on the sun. ("No snowflakes on the tongue" is one of the complaints.) It's a jangle-pop tune with bongos, giving it a little Guster-like feel. The best song on the DVD is the concluding "New Blue Star," which is about, well, a new blue star, but could just be easily interpreted as a love song -- it's a gentle midtempo rockersworthy of Matthew Sweet in his less guitar-focused work (think Blue Sky on Mars without all the synthesizers). Another one of my favorite tunes is "Pterodactyl Tuxedo," a friend of Gustafer's who may be exasperating at times but is also a true friend ("He's always had the time / To pick up the phone / When you're calling way too late / He's always been the kind / To help you pickin' bones / When your faith begins to fade.") The music is hard to peg, but besides the bands listed already, there are hints of the Beatles (in the slow songs), World Party (yeah, a Beatles tribute band, virtually), and the Flaming Lips.

The lyrics here make it sound rather serious, and there's an undercurrent of sadness in Gustafer's story. His eel Slim ("Your Eel") will leave one day. The "Mint Green Bee" is sad and cries. But this emotion also pays off in unexpected ways. The new concluding track, "Rocket Shoes," is all about escape, and Gustafer's actions in the video with another character allow Gustafer to repay some kindness he's previously received. It's genuinely moving.

Even within the songs the sadness is leavened by the whimsical illustrations. This isn't really animation; particular animations are moved around the screen to give a primitive sense of animation. It might not sound compelling, but it's quite engrossing. It's used to particularly good effect in the surreal, vaguely They Might Be Giants-like "I Jump On Cake" ("I jump on cake from up above / I step on pie so warm and lovely / It's mine to punt, vanilla bundt / All freshly baked, I'm on your cake"). A picture of Gustafer moves (with blinking eyes) from up above onto a tempting cake. Pies explode like fireworks.

In my original review, I said the following:

"I'm always one to find nits to pick, and the only thing I can come up with here is that it's a DVD only. Perhaps in the future they'll consider bundling the DVD with an audio-only CD. Other than that, it's great."

Sure enough, this release includes a CD of all ten tracks. While the visuals do add something special, the tunes hold their own without the visual. So I guess this makes it great.

The album is probably best for kids age 3 through 8. You can see (and hear) video clips from "I'm From the Sun" and "Your Eel" here. For the moment, the DVD is a Barnes & Noble exclusive. You can also listen to a number of tracks and watch clips of many videos at Gustafer's Myspace page. Of note as well is the ability to sing along with the video, karaoke-style -- not sure how popular that will be, but since the videos all have the words on the screen, it's not inconceivable that it'd be used. (My guess is that the Spanish subtitles might actually get more use.)

Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World is a work of great creativity, visually and musically. It's worth your time to check it out and is definitely recommended.

****************

[To those who already have the (original) DVD, we salute you. And tell you whether or not this new set is a double-dip.]

If you have the original DVD, I don't need to convince you of the DVD's wonder. But is it worth the $12 or so you'll spend to double-dip?

In brief, probably. Depends on how much you want the music on CD, because that's the primary difference between that and the original version. As I note above, the songs hold up well even without the video.

As for the video itself, the new version includes "Rocket Shoes," "Cooler World" (a 1-minute "opening credits" of sorts), and a very amusing "trailer" of sorts. They're all nice, though I doubt that's enough to get you to buy the new video by itself. The new videos are in the same animation style as the original, though the animation does look sharper and a little fancier. More of the same, just ever-so-slightly... better. The eight original animations are unchanged except for the captions, which are redone slightly to accomodate the Spanish subtitle option. You would never notice unless you're obsessively comparing for review purposes.

Oh, and there's a poster. If you care about those things. (I don't, really.)

Of course, you could also get the new version and donate your current version to your local library. That would be a win-win all the way 'round...

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, we're down to the final four, and the first semifinal pits a couple of #1 seeds, both of whom cruised through their first two rounds, against each other. This matchup sees "Willy Was A Whale" from Justin Roberts competing against "Pieces of 8ight" from Captain Bogg & Salty. I'm really looking forward how these two fun (but completely different) videos do when pitted against one another.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Thursday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Willy Was A Whale" - Justin Roberts

"Pieces of 8ight" - Captain Bogg & Salty

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (72)

Yeah, I know there was a show or two in Brooklyn last week, but I would be remiss if I did not direct you to Belinda and Hova's recap of their Grease Ball on March 18th. Doug Snyder of the Jellydots played, and Captain Bogg and Salty played at least one new song, "Don't Drink Sea Water."

Another report can be found here. I can't decide if their description of one of Doug's songs ("a song about multiplying by three") was either very laconic humor or surprising lack of pop-cultural knowledge, but in either case it made me chuckle.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Remember when I said that I thought there was room for some more small kids' music labels?

Well, Dan Zanes has obviously been thinking along the same lines, because in his latest newsletter he's announced that he's signed up both Barbara Brousal and Father Goose to do albums for his Festival Five label. Now, Zanes has released a couple less-kid-specific albums of his own, and re-released an old album featuring David Jones, but this is the first step toward creating a family music empire and total Zanes-ian domination.

Or maybe it's just a couple CDs from his bandmates. CDs which ought to be cool, to varying degrees.

I'm going with the latter option.

Anyway, it more than made up for hearing that Brousal won't be making the Tucson stop on his upcoming tour. (Oh well, Charlie Faye's voice is pretty good, too.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The last quarterfinal in KidVid Tournament 2007 is here, and duking it out for bragging rights in the Pete Seeger Region are "Let's Shake" from Dan Zanes, the #1 seed, against "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox, the #3 seed.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Wednesday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Let's Shake" - Dan Zanes

Watch the video on Zanes' website by going here and clicking on "Let's Shake."

"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox

To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

You might be avoiding your NPR station this week (just pledge already!), but if you are, you would've missed a nice 7-minute interview with Kid Pan Alley founder Paul Reisler on this morning's Morning Edition.

I love this quote from the piece:

"In general, when I've worked with high school kids, the songs are not as good as the elementary kids because they're thinking linearly and logically as opposed to in image and metaphor."

Linearly and logically? No wonder I'm a lousy songwriter.

(Here's my review of the Kid Pan Alley CD.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

One of the downsides to the recent increase in attention paid to kids' music -- what, there are downsides? -- is a proliferation of music that uses kids' songs as jokes, applying traditional songs to non-traditional song forms. The albums aren't so much for the kids as they are for the adults.

CandyBand plays punk music for kids and their recently-released fourth album, Calling All Kids is a fine example of why this band rises above the kids-music-as-source-of-amusement genre to make kids' music worth listening to.

To begin with, the Detroit-area band actually rocks. Paula Messner (or, er, "Almond Joy") has nifty guitar work throughout the album, particularly on songs like "Simon Says" and the "Eenie Meenie Song." And the rhythm section of Anita Kelly and Tammy Ristau, along with Daniela Burckhardt's vocals, are strong, too. None of which would matter if the songs weren't any fun or any good, but a lot of them are. For the most part, the band is writing its own songs at this point. While there might not be something as great previous CandyBand songs like "Ken Lost His Head" or "Get Up Already," families will definitely have fun with the bouncy "Octopus On My Head" (the chorus of "I've got an octopus on head / It's messing up my hair / It's sleeping in my ear / I've got an octopus on my head / And I hope it won't make breakfast of me" will live your head for a loooong time). "It's Your Birthday" is deservedly destined for many 5-year-old birthday party mix CDs. And the band re-records an older tune, "Monsters," except this time they go all "American Idiot" on us and add strings from the Detroit Symphony Civic Youth Ensembles.

Kids ages 3 through 7 will probably enjoy the songs here the most. In true punk fashion, the album is brief, running through its 10 tracks in less than 22 minutes. You can hear the first couple tracks here.

CandyBand is a great example of kids' artists who are melding their non-traditional kids' genres to kids' themes and songs in ways that respect kids while providing something for the parents to latch onto as well. If your family sits on the rock side of the pop-rock divide, you'll particularly enjoy Calling All Kids, but even if you don't have the complete Clash and Green Day discography, it's an album worth checking out. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The third quarterfinal matchups sees "Willy Was A Whale" from Justin Roberts, the #1 seed in the Woody Guthrie Region against "Toenail Moon" - Wee Hairy Beasties, the #3 seed.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Tuesday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Willy Was A Whale" - Justin Roberts

"Toenail Moon" - Wee Hairy Beasties

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Ella Jenkins, First Lady of Children's Music, who's been recording music for kids for 50 years, has sadly been virtually absent from music downloading.

Until now. You can now get, oh, about 500 Ella Jenkins songs at the Smithsonian's Global Sound website. And the songs will soon make their way to other music download sites (such as familiar ones starting with the letter "i" or "e").

And while you're tooling around that website, make sure you check out this page and the "Children's Music" program (#16). It's a quality, 54-minute introduction to Smithsonian Folkways' kids' collection -- it includes not only the classics (Ella -- with an interview to boot, Woody, Lead Belly, Pete) but some other unfamiliar stuff, like an awesome "Brown Girl in the Ring" by Lord Invader and the Calypso Orchestra about 22 minutes in. Worth checking out if you've got the time.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Take a toy instrument-obsessed guy, mix in some classic kiddie records, and through in a whole both of sampling technology, and what do you get?

Twink.

The brainchild of Mike Langlie, Twink is his project for mixing together samples from kiddie records a good half-century old with modern samples and drum loop. Langlie's third Twink album, The Broken Record (2005), showcases the results.

Sadly, this is one of those ideas that doesn't sound quite as cool as it sounds, if you know what I mean. In other words, I had high hopes that the recontextualized sounds would result in something eminently listenable, sort of a Odelay for the kids. And, you know, sometimes it works out exactly like that. "Pussy Cat" is a nifty tune, mixing a whole bunch of kitty-related lyrics with a Tin Pan melody on top of a bunch of drum beats. I also liked "Hip Hopera," which as you might expect from the title sets "March of the Toreadors" to a hip-hop beat.

But more often than not, the funky mixtures don't hold up so well as songs in repeated listenings. So many different snippets are crammed in that the songs themselves don't hold together well. The spoken-word tracks are not particularly compelling. The tracks are interesting, perhaps, intellectually, and it might be fun to play "spot the snippet" with your kids, but as a listening experience, it's a definited mixed bag.

The album is definitely an all-ages affair, but I think younger kids, ages 2 through 6, might enjoy it more so than others. You can hear samples from all of Twink's albums at Langlie's Music page.

Langlie's putting together a full band for his upcoming album, so I've got higher hopes for that album. I think it might have some of the consistency between tracks that this album doesn't really have. While The Broken Record shows a very creative mind at work, it doesn't necessarily compel the listener's ongoing attention in the long run.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The second quarterfinal matchup of KidVid Tournament 2007 features the final in the Ella Jenkins Region, pitting the #1 seed "Pieces of 8ight" from Captain Bogg & Salty against the #3 seed, "Ya Gotta Have Pep" from John Lithgow.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Pieces of 8ight" - Captain Bogg & Salty

"Ya Gotta Have Pep" - John Lithgow
Click here here to choose the format you want to watch on Razor & Tie's website or click below:

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (33)

Peter Himmelman has recorded the latest version of the Land of Nod Nodcast Podcast. Himmelman, who ranks with the best in his enjoyment of words and his ability to look at familiar things from unfamiliar angles, is every bit as skewed -- in a good way -- on podcast as he is on record. The podcast includes three of the best tunes from his My Green Kite album, plus a couple others recorded live.

And in the small-but-burgeoning genre of songs-specifically-written-for-radio/podcasts, Himmelman's tune might just be the best.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Round 1 wasn't enough -- now the popular videos start going head-to-head.

Round 2 of KidVid Tournament 2007 kicks off with the final in the Lead Belly Region, pitting the #1 seed "I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" from Steve Burns and Steven Drozd against the #2 seed, "Tricycle" from Frances England.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Thursday 11 PM-ish East Coast time.

[Note: As always, sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]

"I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns and Steven Drozd
When the more-accessible version inevitably gets removed (again), go to Jack's Big Music Show player to watch. Currently it's the video that plays whenever you go to the page, but if it's not the case later, just roll over the picture of a balding guy with the "I [Heart] Ground" shirt and click.

"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Is Professor Schnoodle ready for his close-up?

Amongst all the talk of songwriting workshops and sold-out song camps, I dropped Robbie Schaefer a line this week to see if he'd be doing something similar. The answer was no. Why? Turns out Robbie will become the last on-air personality for XMKids, the kids' channel for XM Radio. They've been running ads for the past couple weeks, but I've missed 'em -- he'll be broadcasting from 7 to 11 PM East Coast time Monday through Thursday and 10 AM - 2 PM Saturdays. If the show is half as amusing as Songs For Kids Like Us or how Schaefer is in interviews, it should be, well, moderately-to-definitely amusing.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know if the New York-based band The Deedle Deedle Dees are the most erudite kids' musicians currently recording, but they certainly wear their erudition on their sleeves more proudly than anyone else. One listen to their 2nd album, the recently-released Freedom In A Box (2007), will make that abundantly clear. Here is a random sample of topics covered and phrases used on the album: sampan ("Is that a boat? It's a Chinese boat!"), aphids, the Niebelungenlied, Teddy Roosevelt's charge up San Juan Hill, and the short arms of a tyrannosaurus rex.

And that's just scratching the surface.

Led by Lloyd Miller and some fellow NYC-area music teachers, the Deedle Deedle Dees are, as you might suspect from the short list above, a little obsessed with history, and it's the history tracks that initially grab your attention, telling the story of Nellie Bly's trip around the world ("Nellie Bly") and of Teddy Roosevelt's transformation ("Teddy Days"). And if you're not familiar with the band, I know what you're thinking -- that sounds really dry. But you'd be wrong, because what makes these songs different from most kids' history songs is the rollicking and earthy musical approach. The could-be-a-hundred-years-old "Nellie Bly" starts out with a "doodley-doo-wah" singalong that instantly lodges in your head while "Henry Box Brown" tells the compelling story of Brown, who mailed himself to freedom in a box, with "This Side Up!" printed on the side (the "This Side Up!" being another great singalong). "Henry Box Brown" is probably the best of the history songs here. Some listeners may find the lyrics overly precious at points, and the other songs succeed to varying degrees depending on how much they're telling stories (I think the country-rock "Aaron Burr," which retells the story of the Burr-Hamilton duel, is pretty awesome, but "Teddy Days" just tries to cram too much in, lyrically). Some listeners may find the lyrics overly precious at points,

Now, the band isn't just obsessed with history, and only about half of the 13 tracks on the 39-minute album are history songs. There are nature songs, for example, including the midtempo folk-poppy "Vegetarian Tyrannosaurus Rex" and "Obedience School," which is just about the most punk kids' song you'll hear all year. There are simpler music/movement songs, too (the very simple "Play Your Hand" or "Drum!"). While the band may mix all the songs together in concert, on the album it doesn't blend perfectly -- it just seems to lurch back and forth. Your thoughts may vary, but I'd've probably ordered the tracks differently.

Musically, however, it's all good, with the band taking a mostly Americana/rock approach, throwing in a few curves along the way (the Beck stylings on "Baldy," for example). The band sounds great together and along with their guests the album has an appealing raggedness. (Except on the completely awesome "Major Deegan," a beautiful, slow paean to New York City's traffic -- that fever dream of a song is not like the rest of the CD, but it's a perfect final song.)

Given the range of topics here, the album is appropriate for kids ages 2 through 12 (parts of some of the history songs will go over the heads of the youngest listeners, but are boogieable enough and with musical hooks enough for those youngsters to enjoy). You can listen to four full tracks at the band's Myspace page or samples of all the tracks at the album's CDBaby page. When you order the CD, you'll also get a coloring book with lyrics. That book, along with the information found at the band's Blogspot page for the album, serve as a great resource not only for teachers using the CDs, but interested families, too.

So here's the deal: if you teach American history in the K-12 system, you need this album. If you're interested in history, you need this album. But if history isn't quite your thing, you still probably need this album, too. Even the songs that don't work out are energetic and fun. It's one of the most ambitious and diverse -- not to mention fun -- kids' CDs of the year. Definitely recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Final day of first-round competition and final matchup pits "Willy Was A Whale" from Justin Roberts, the #1 seed in the Woody Guthrie Region against "Polar Bear" from The Quiet Two, the #4 seed.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Wednesday 9 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Willy Was A Whale" - Justin Roberts

Watch the video on YouTube here.

"Polar Bear" - The Quiet Two

To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player and click on the right arrow. Roll over the picture of a kid in a polar bear costume.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Final day of competition pits "Let's Shake" from Dan Zanes, the #1 seed in the Pete Seeger Region against "Wigglin' Blues" from Pam Blanchard and the Sunny-Side Up Band, the reader-nominated #4 seed.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Wednesday 9 PM-ish East Coast time.

"Let's Shake" from Dan Zanes

Watch the video on Zanes' website by going here and clicking on "Let's Shake."

"Wigglin' Blues" - Pam Blanchard and the Sunny-Side Up Band

Watch the video here (direct YouTube link here).

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

Spring is virtually here. (How do I know? My wife is sneezing All. The. Time. Poor woman.)

As a result, it's time to update our list of spring songs. We did this initially about a year ago, but there's been a lot of music come down the pike since then.

Because there aren't all that many songs that specifically take spring as their subject, what follows is a list of spring-ish songs. Flowers and bugs and a little rain. Songs with "Spring" in them. Rain isn't necessarily for spring alone, but we've gone without much rain this winter and spring and so it's a bit of wishful thinking. (Sadly, that sentence is copied directly from my post last year but is just as true.)

I've added the new songs here.

Raffi, "Robin in the Rain" (Singable Songs for the Very Young)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "You Are My Flower" (You Are My Flower)
Laurie Berkner, "In the Clouds" (Buzz Buzz)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "Ladybug Picnic" (You Are My Sunshine)
Lisa Loeb and Elizabeth Mitchell, "Butterfly" (Catch the Moon)
Ralph Covert, "The Ants Go Marching" (from Songs For Wiggleworms)
Dan Zanes and Dar Williams, "Wild Mountain Thyme" (Night Time!)
Dan Zanes, "On the Sunnyside of the Street" (Rocket Ship Beach)
--- new ---
The Sippy Cups, "Springtime Fantastic" (Electric Storyland)
Enzo Garcia, "Spring is Here" (LMNO Music (Green))
Ryan Hipp, Kevin Kammeraad, and Friends, "Spring" (A Curious Glimpse of Michigan)
Ralph's World, "Puddle of Mud" (Happy Lemons)
Erin Lee & Marci, "Waiting For It To Grow" (Snowdance)
Elizabeth Mitchell, "Pom Na Tu Ri (Springtime Outing)" (You Are My Little Bird)
I'm sure I've missed some -- add your suggestions below

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The Sippy Cups and Daddy-A-Go-Go went back to the late '60s in namechecking the past at SXSW this weekend. The Jellydots didn't go quite that far back. Think late '80s. Think rappers wearing large clocks.

Doug Snyder threw a little Public Enemy (who apparently had quite the set at Auditorium Shores) into "Race Cars Go."

A Public Enemy reference. At a kids' show. (But appropriate for kids, in any case. Not like he sings "911 Is a Joke" or anything like that.)

Jason Molin, who wrote the reggae-fied "Lake Rules" the band recorded on Hey You Kids! also caught Doug and the crew doing "Mr. Cookie."

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Our other matchup on Day Three of the KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #1 seed in the Ella Jenkins Region, "Pieces of 8ight" (or "Pieces of Eight," for those of you not paying attention) from Captain Bogg & Salty against the #4 seed, "Picnic in the Graveyard" from Uncle Rock.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Tuesday 6 PM-ish East Coast time.

[Note: Hey, I can embed both videos here, too! Thanks once again, Internet-friendly kids' musicians and labels!]

"Pieces of 8ight" - Captain Bogg & Salty

"Picnic in the Graveyard" - Uncle Rock

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (29)

Our first matchup on the third day of KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Woody Guthrie Region, "I Found It!" from Brady Rymer against the #3 seed, "Toenail Moon" from Wee Hairy Beasties.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Tuesday 6 PM-ish East Coast time.

[Note: Hey, I can embed both videos here! Thanks, Internet-friendly kids' musicians and labels!]

"I Found It!" - Brady Rymer

"Toenail Moon" - Wee Hairy Beasties

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Well, Day 2 of Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2007 is also in the books. Frances England's "Tricycle" (#2 seed) beat out Sir Jerry's "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" (#3 seed), while in a small upset (a phrase I'd use with caution considering the relative lack of thought that went into the these) #3 seed AudraRox with "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" trumped Gustafer Yellowgold's "I'm From the Sun."

Thanks to everyone who's voted so far. The next set of matchups will be posted Monday midday.

And if you haven't yet voted for the as-yet-unfilled 16th video slot, go here and do so before Monday night. The competition is heating up.

Posted by SAShepherd at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not sure that Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix are the best artists to show off the future of kids music, but you blog with the YouTube video you have, not the YouTube video you need.

See what an intrigued parent chose to upload to YouTube after the break.

First, it's the Sippy Cups' version of Pink Floyd's "Bike," one of the Cups' first songs in their repetoire:

I love the way the parent says he "was so caught off guard I damn near stepped on all the little ones trying to glide my way to the front for good footage" -- you'll see exactly what he means as you watch.

Second, it's Daddy-A-Go-Go's 12-year-old son Max Boydston turning out a very respectable rendition of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" -- nice touch considering they probably weren't playing too far away from the statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose version of the tune was well beyond "very respectable."

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been thinking for some time about whether kids music can co-exist peacefully -- or even prosper -- with record companies. David Bryne's presentation "Record Companies: Who Needs Them?" (first presented in Montreal last fall, which really started my thinking about this, and at SXSW Thursday) is a fairly stinging indictment of the current record company model.

So allow me to be snark-free for a little bit -- how relevant are his arguments to this particular segment of the music industry?

Let me start out by outlining how the current record company model fails even more spectacularly with the artists we cover here.

To begin with, some of the most prominent kids' musicians are persons who have had varying degrees of success in other segments of the music industry. Some, like Dan Zanes and Brady Rymer, had some moderate levels of (commercial) success in bands on major labels. Others, like Justin Roberts and Laurie Berkner, never made it to a major label. Ralph Covert had some success... but on his own label. And They Might Be Giants? Well, they've had success on every type of label you can think of.

What I'm suggesting here is that many of the musicians now making music for kids and families have already gone through the major label wringer -- or never even it made that far -- and are a result probably less willing to go through that hassle again. They have no desire to put up with major label demands, onerous contracts, or silliness in general. They're just not going to mess with it.

Why wouldn't they? Thousands or artists shoot for that brass ring every year -- why not this group? I would surmise that a major reason for many -- though certainly not all -- artists is the very reason they got into the genre in the first place: kids, especially their own. If you have a child and enjoy spending time with your kid(s) so much that you want to make music for them (or others their age), I'm guessing you have a low tolerance for the high risk/high reward payoff that a major label contract entails. You no longer need the mansions on the hill -- your perspective at 35 is much different from that at 21. And you're probably pretty sensitive to obligations that would take you away from your kids for long periods of time. Even if you don't have kids, those extra years of maturity may help you recognize what you do and do not want from a music career.

In addition to these artist-specific reasons, consider the overriding fact that the amount of money any artist on a major label can receive per album sale is miniscule. David Bryne puts it at about 10% of a $16 CD. If you sell 10 million copies, OK that works out well. If you sell 10,000 copies, well, then, that's not so hot.

What has happened is that the function of the label as "bank" has become much less relevant as the costs of recording an album has diminished. And in kids' music, which tends to be recorded on an even smaller shoelace, that function is just that much less important. Nobody needs a $50,000 advance to record a CD, let alone a $500,000 advance to film a couple videos to go along with it.

You can get 1,000 CDs printed for a couple grand and sell them easy-as-pie through CDBaby or Amazon. That's a capital start-up cost that you don't need EMI for -- it can pretty much be financed by Aunt Emily. Since most kids' artists probably make the bulk of their money through touring and playing in schools, the CDs aren't even that important, distributionally -- it's a return to the early days of rock'n'roll, when albums were produced to gin up interest in the tours, where the real money lies.

And all that doesn't even address what might the biggest concern for music in general -- the public seems to be moving toward a more singles-based, electronic product. Albums don't seem to be very relevant any more.

All of which begs the question, why even bother with record companies? This is where I'd like to suggest three ways in which record labels can remain relevant for the kids' music industry.

The first is in album design. I often harp on album design here, and the reason is that it matters. People still like to give CDs as gifts, especially to new parents, and a bad album cover or packaging can be the single biggest factor in driving someone to another album for gift-giving purposes. Nifty packaging suggests that somebody has taken some thoughtful time to put together an album, that it's not just another slapped-together product. Nifty packaging can even give the gift-giver this feeling of, "I'm about to give you something very special, not just another random item off your baby registry." And labels can provide that guidance and expertise in creating packaging that will give the purchaser enough confidence to give it as a gift (or take a chance on it for themselves).

The second way is in distribution. I think most kids musicians would tell you that distribution is the hardest nut to crack. You've got a great CD, but unless you can find a distributor from your product, you're pretty much going to be limited to CDBaby, Amazon, maybe a few niche e-stores like The Pokey Pup and Land of Nod, and your local stores (if you're lucky). Maybe in some Borders and Barnes and Noble bookstores. What you don't have generally is placement in other physical locations -- in Targets and Best Buys, for example. It would be very interesting to see exactly where Dan Zanes sold his 100,000+ copies of Catch That Train! -- I bet quite a few of them were sold in Starbucks stores. The trick, friends, is to get the CDs where the parents are, and at the moment, too few of the albums are in those physical locations. Labels would help in getting placement with distributors. I'm not suggesting there'd be a "Zooglobble"-approved aisle at your local Target, but the only albums currently there are Disney albums, with maybe a few Rounder or Razor and Tie CDs thrown in the mix.

The third way is more nebulous, but also important, and that's as an indicator of taste. Disney has served this function for many, many years. You may love or you may hate Disney-produced music, but there's no doubt that you know you'll get something of a certain style and with a reasonable degree of production quality. But aside from Disney there's not much else out there. Rounder's got a sizeable artist roster, but not much familiarity. Razor and Tie doesn't really have any familiarity outside of its KidzBop series. Little Monster Records could be there in a few years, but it's just starting out. What I'm suggesting is that there is definitely room for a label to become the Matador or Merge or SubPop of the kids' music scene -- not necessarily in terms of style of music, but just as the label which is always bringing new and interesting music to people's attention.

I definitely think album design, distribution, and indicators of taste are valuable and while they won't turn your current 1,000-copy run into a 3-million best-seller, they are probably things that can turn good albums from 1,000-copy runs to 5,000 or 10,000-copy runs. And that seems to me to be a worthwhile risk for some artists to take.

Now I don't think we'll ever see a return to the days where the label owns the music and the artist just gets a cut. Labels will have to be satisfied with taking, say, a 15% or 20% of album sales if they help the artist from start to finish. And, frankly, they will probably have to become more like artist management like Nettwerk, where they provide the artist with as much (or as little) help as they want, for a sliding fee. Maybe they offer design consultation for a set fee or for a percentage of album sales. Distribution could be purchased separately, or production, or whatever. It's music production dim sum.

Obviously labels would have to carefully consider which artists they choose to "sign up" and release or risk diminishing their value as an arbiter of taste. And there's no way that someone could choose to get into this field and hope to make millions of dollars. If you were able to put together 10 artists that could sell 5,000 copies of an album each year, you'd be talking maybe $750,000 in revenues, of which you'd be lucky to take home more than $100,000. That's not even worth mentioning to major labels. But to a person who's really interested in kids music and who maybe has a connection or two in the industry, it might be worth the effort.

I've got more thoughts along these lines, but I'll stop for now right here. Have I forgotten something? Artists, have I gotten something completely wrong? Let me know...

Posted by SAShepherd at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Well, Day 1 of Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2007 is in the books and while there was no equivalent of the VCU upset over Duke, we already have a slight upset -- John Lithgow's #3 "Ya Gotta Have Pep" winning out over Laurie Berkner's "Farm Song". In the other matchup, #1 seed Steve Burns and Steven Drozd's "I Hog the Ground" handily beat a #4 seed, Farmer Jason's "Forest Rhymes."

Today's contests are a pair of 2-vs-3 matchups: Frances England's "Tricycle" going up against Sir Jerry's "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" and Gustafer Yellowgold's "I'm From the Sun" against AudraRox's "I Hope My Mama Says YES!". Go forth and vote there by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.

And if you haven't yet voted for the as-yet-unfilled 16th video slot, go here and do so. (And, yes, "Pieces of 8ight" is already in the other 15 videos.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other matchup on the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Lead BellyRegion, "Tricycle" from Frances England against the #3 seed, "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" from Sir Jerry.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.

[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]

"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.

"Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" - Sir Jerry
To view this video, head to Sir Jerry's website. After clicking to "Enter the Website" and the website loads, click on the blue-skied landscape in the lower-right-hand corner. You want the video, not the live clip.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Moving on to the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007, this matchup pits the #2 seed in the Pete Seeger Region, "I'm From The Sun" from Gustafer Yellowgold against the #3 seed, "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" from AudraRox.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.

[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]

"I'm From the Sun" - Gustafer Yellowgold
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.

"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The second competition in KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Ella Jenkins Region, "Farm Song" from Laurie Berkner against the #3 seed, "Ya Gotta Have Pep" from John Lithgow.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday noon-ish East Coast time.

"Farm Song" - Laurie Berkner
To view this video, go to Jack's Big Music Show player. Click on the right-facing triangle, roll over the picture of Laurie in a yellow shirt and click.

"Ya Gotta Have Pep" - John Lithgow
Click here here to choose the format you want to watch on Razor & Tie's website or, if you prefer, on YouTube.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

The first competition in KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #1 seed in the Lead Belly Region, "I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" from Steve Burns and Steven Drozd against the #4 seed, "Forest Rhymes" from Farmer Jason.

Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday noon-ish East Coast time.

"I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns and Steven Drozd
In spite of the Viacom-YouTube lawsuit, the video is still available there if you know where to look. When that inevitably gets removed (again), just go to Jack's Big Music Show player. Currently it's the video that plays whenever you go to the page, but if it's not the case later, just roll over the picture of a balding guy with the "I [Heart] Ground" shirt and click.

"Forest Rhymes" - Farmer Jason
Click here to view on Rhino's website or on the larger YouTube screen.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

There are two kinds of critic-proof kids' music albums.

The first kind are albums from, say, Barney or the Wiggles or Baby Einstein. Setting aside whatever you (or, more importantly, I) think of the artistic merits of their music (and it's not necessarily what you think), clearly critical opinion won't move the sales meter one iota, up or down. (Note: I'd love to see what Oprah would do with kids' music, though.)

The second kind is an album such as this one, Road Trip, the second album from the Boston-area group Girl Authority, released earlier this week.

Now, seeing as their first album has reportedly sold more than 100,000 albums -- if not High School Musical-type sales, certainly more than enough to hold their own with the Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkners of the world -- there's something of the first kind of critic-proof-ness in here. But the bigger reason this album is critic-proof is this:

Your kids can -- and do -- buy this album.

Listen, if every parent who claims to be sick of the Wiggles just stopped buying their CDs, their sales would drop dramatically. Why? Because 3-year-olds aren't walking into their local Target, plunking down their credit card, and buying the latest CD.

This album, however, isn't targeted at you (or me). It's targeted at your 9-year-old daughter. Who, while she probably doesn't have a credit card (unless you've got a waaay different approach to parenting than I have), does probably have an allowance and could pick this up at the mall or ask you to get it the next time you order something online. And, let's face it, you're probably not going to listen to the CD very much as she'll listen to it in her room or with headphones on.

Still, you (or some well-meaning relative) might be interested in knowing, well, is it any good?

And the answer is, uh, mostly. The positives here are that the 9 girls (ages 9 through 14) who make up the group are good singers -- at least a couple are really good (singers on each track aren't specifically identified). In other words, this isn't KidzBop chorus-shouting. And on the flip side, there's really not any overemoting going on.

Of the 19 tracks, 5 are originals, and none of those are bad. Oddly enough, it's not the Vince Clarke track ("Let's Get Together," on which he "borrows" his "Just Can't Get Enough" keyboard line) or the Tanya Donelly track ("This Is My Day") that's particularly memorable -- I preferred "Rhythm of the World," which has a Latin-pop feel. And some of the covers are pretty good -- "Reach" and "Shine" (from Cyndi Lauper) are a good fit for the group. And unlike the KidzBop series, there's very little that a parent would complain about lyrically here?

On the other hand, does the world really need another cover of "Life is a Highway" or Madonna's "Holiday"? They're perfectly fine covers, but they hew closely to the original -- why listen to their version of the Go-Go's "Vacation" when the original works so well? (And I'm surprised to think that kids born in, say, 1998 might want to hear, let alone sing, "Car Wash" or Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop," but kids can always surprise us.)

I also can't say that I'm that enthused about the personas adopted by the group -- the identities ("Glamour Girl" or "Party Girl") seem more closely associated with looks or shopping. Where's "Environment Girl" or, well, "Authority Girl?" I know that those are strange dreams to expect 10-year-olds to have (or to adopt as their "identity" in a pop album), but as a parent of a daughter who's rapidly approaching this group's target audience, I guess those things matter to me.

I'm going to peg the target audience here at girls ages 7 through 13. (Strictly based on the music, boys might find it tolerable if their sister has control of the car radio on a, er, road trip, but they won't pick it up of their own accord.) You can hear clips of the CD at any major e-tailer or the group's website.

While I've pointed out a few downsides here, Road Trip is a far sight better than what 9-year-old girls could be listening to these days. You probably won't hear much of this CD, but if it's on when you go into their room, maybe you can dig out your old Belly CDs and share with them a Tanya Donelly song that really rocks.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It's mid-March, which means it's almost time for our nation to ignore work, significant others, and child-rearing responsibilities in lieu of watching people running and jumping around with orange balls in their hands on large televisions.

Well, here at Zooglobble, we'd like to bring families together. By watching people running and jumping around with variously-colored guitars in their hands on small computer screens.

So I'm happy to announce Zooglobble's first (and maybe last, depending on how well this goes) KidVid Tournament. That's right, over the next 2+ weeks, we'll be pitting 16 of the best kids' music videos from the past year or so head-to-head with readers voting to determine the best video of the year.

Who was the selection committee which decided the 16 best? Well, it's a committee of one -- me. I picked videos that showed some level of production value and had a decent song. I stayed away from live cuts. I also was limited to picking videos whose complete versions are available on the Internet (so you Ralph's World fans can blame Disney for Mr. Covert's absence here).

Here, then, are the seedings:

Lead Belly Region:
1. "I Hog the Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns / Steven Drozd
2. "Tricycle" - Frances England
3. "Bees, Butterflies, and Bugs" - Sir Jerry
4. "Forest Rhymes" - Farmer Jason

Pete Seeger Region:
1. "Let's Shake" - Dan Zanes
2. "I'm From the Sun" - Gustafer Yellowgold
3. "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
4. ????

Woody Guthrie Region:
1. "Willy Was A Whale" - Justin Roberts
2. "I Found It!" - Brady Rymer
3. "Toenail Moon" - Wee Hairy Beasties
4. "Polar Bear" - The Quiet Two

Ella Jenkins Region:
1. "Pieces of 8ight" - Captain Bogg & Salty
2. "Farm Song" - Laurie Berkner
3. "Ya Gotta Have Pep" - John Lithgow
4. "Picnic in the Graveyard" - Uncle Rock

Sharp readers will notice that I've listed just 15 videos. Well, in addition to you voting on the videos in general, I've left room for a "play-in" game for the #4 seed in the Pete Seeger Region. Who will be this tournament's Niagara? Well, that's up to you, too. To nominate videos, click here.

The first two matchups will be posted later today. Come back and vote for your favorites.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As I discuss elsewhere, we're running Zooglobble's first KidVid Tournament over the next couple weeks or so. I'm looking to readers to pick the 16th video. (It's a play-in game!)

Nominate your favorite(s) in the comments below. The video with the most comments will be picked, as long as the video conforms to the following rules (there are always rules, aren't there... it's a parenting thing):

1. The video has to be publicly accessible on the internet -- sites requiring registration to view the whole video will not be accepted.
2. The whole video has to be available (I call this the "Ralph's World" rule because the Disney website only includes 1-minute selections of his videos).
3. The video has to be from the past year or so. The song doesn't have to be, though.
4. Artists with a video already in the tournament (see list here) are ineligible for this final slot.

I reserve the right to modify the rules above to account for things I'm not bright enough to anticipate.

Deadline for nominations/votes: 8 PM West Coast time / 11 PM East Coast time Monday, March 19.

Power to the people! (Or something like that.) Show me what I've missed.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (32)

Hey, everyone, it's a kids' song about death!

Really.

Actually, this song is one of my favorites from Uncle Rock's Plays Well With Others album just because it's a disarming approach to the subject of death.

I'm not sure the "hey, lookie, it's your dead Aunt Petunia" part of the video will advance that concept with all but the most metaphorically advanced of kids (or with those who, well, believe in ghosts), but this is a great video to show how to put together a compelling video on what looks to be a relatively small budget.

Check out the glasses on the dad character -- I kept on expecting him to rip off the glasses and become Superman.

Or Uncle Rock.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We are finally completing the "Others Receiving Votes" section of The Top 50 Kids Songs of All Time. Except, of course, unless Top 25 college rankings, we actually rank items 26 on down. (Somewhere 'round here I actually have an "others receiving votes" listing for song #s 51+.)

A few mid-majors with strong performances, a few songs close to not quite at the top of the major conference standings...

In case you're tuning in late, here are the previous entries:

Songs 31 through 35
Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50

There is still time (but not so much) to enter the contest to guess the Top 5. Winner gets one million dollars a free CD.

30. "Buckeye Jim" - traditional: This is just such a delightfully weird song. "Way up yonder in the sky / A blue bird lived in a jaybird's eye" the song starts off, and the meaning gets no clearer. Wonderful imagery, though I'm not sure the original songwriter was in a completely happy place when writing. (Elizabeth Mitchell and Dan Zanes do the song; so do The Hollow Trees -- click on track 17.)

29. "Marvelous Toy" - Tom Paxton: This is one of the few songs on this list that's old but not traditional -- Tom Paxton wrote it but Peter, Paul and Mary made it famous. John Denver recorded it, too. (And apparently it was the Chad Mitchell Trio's biggest hit, but, uh, I've never heard of them.) I like the mystery about the toy -- "It went "Zip" when it moved and "Pop" when it stopped / "Whirrr" when it stood still / I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will." Indeed. (Listen to Amazon's miserly 30-second clip here.)

28. "All the Pretty Little Horses" - traditional: Oooooh. A lullaby that's not in a major key! Despite that the fact that the narrator's basically bribing the baby to go to sleep ("Hushabye, don't you cry / Go to sleep, little baby / When you wake, you'll cake / And all the pretty little horses"), I sing this quite a lot. (Did you know Olivia Netwon-John recorded an album of lullabies? I didn't. Anyone care to tell us how good it is? Even just the "All the Pretty Little Horses" sample?)

27. "Hot Potato" - The Wiggles: Yeah, deal. It's simple enough for kids to master, it's got hand motions, and 4 guys from Australia built a freakin' empire on this song. Sorry that this song will now be in your head today while you have that meeting with Terry from marketing. (Ah, YouTube, what would we ever do without you?)

26. "This Old Man" - traditional: Yeah, you're probably bored of singing it, but in the best folk song tradition, change the lyrics. At least the first line... "Britney Spears / She played one..." "John McCain / He played one..." "Shaquille O'Neal / He played one..." (No, I am not going to find a sample for you. If, however, you can find one of the three people listed above singing it...)

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Phredderiffic is the third album for kids from the uni-monikered artist whose six-letter name starts with the letter "P."

No, Prince does not have two other kids' albums.

This 2005 album is from Fred McNaughton, also known as, yes, Phredd. While there is no cover of "Starfish and Coffee" on the disk, there are a number of fun tunes here -- the sweet Beach Boys-esque lament for warm weather "Sled Dogs" and the countryfied "My First Haircut" (with the lament "Where in the world did they put all my hair?") in particular stand out. A number of songs also would lend themselves well to kids' movement, particularly the one minute of nonsense in "Zoobah Zoobah Diggity Zoom" or the silly Australian-accented (literally) "Stuffy Hunt." Other tracks do wear out their welcome -- I do not need to hear the reggae'd "Meet the Trolls" or the industrial "William Watermelon" ever again. (I would note for those of you with small collections of coffee-related songs, "If Coffee Smells So Good, Why Does It Taste So Bad?" is an amusing sea shanty.)

Without making too big of a deal of it, it's important that I point out track 5, "I Choose Love." This isn't the first album with religious references I've reviewed, and probably won't be the last, but since it's definitely an uncommon occurrence 'round here, I feel obligated to mention this. If you heard the disk without knowing anything about Phredd, you'd probably be a bit (or a lot) surprised to hear the phrase "God is love" woven into the chorus at the end of the song -- it's only a tenuous fit with the song itself, and nothing before (or after) really prepares you for it. If you're not prepared for it, it's a very "What the...?" moment that will have you scrambling for the CD packaging wondering if you missed something.

Kids ages 3 through 8 will probably enjoy this 39-minute album the most. You can hear samples at the album's CDBaby page or at his media page.

With his poppy tunes, silly lyrics, and skilled blend of programmed keyboards and real instruments (particularly the ukelele), Phredderiffic is a little bit Eric Herman, a little bit Steve Weeks, and an itty-bitty bit Veggie Tales. It's not a uniformly strong album, but fans of the above artists will likely find something to enjoy here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All of you who still hold fond memories of the Jerry Garcia / David Grisman CD Not For Kids Only, pay attention.

Did You Hear That? (2007) is that album's sequel.

OK, technically speaking, the album was released recently by the Wisconsin folk duo Fox & Branch, not by Garcia & Grisman, but seeing as Jerry Garcia passed away many years ago, it was probably a bit much asking for a sequel from the originals.

What I mean is that the spirit of that first CD (nearly 15 years old now) is continued here -- genial renditions of folk classics, smartly rendered. The organizing theme of the CD is that it features 15 different instruments (one for each of its 15 tracks), resulting in what the band describes not inaccurately as a musical version of Where's Waldo?. While you could easily listen to 14 of the 15 tracks and not be aware of that theme, that educational impulse is found throughout the disk (explaining how to do the arm motions for Woody Guthrie's "Bling Blang" or describing what the "Hambone" is on the track of the same name).

The duo have a definite sense of humor, which is hit-and-miss, especially if the CD's stuck on "repeat." Sometimes their humor and their willingness to keep folksongs alive by adding new lyrics works quite well, such as on the rhyme-trading "There Was a Man." (That keeping-alive aspect is one of the duo's most appealing traits.) There are other times, however, when the interplay loses its sparkle after repeated listenings (an overly long "Green Grass, for example). It strikes me that that interplay would be lots of fun if you were hearing it for the first or second time live -- at times it just doesn't work so well on the repeated play of the disk.

My favorite parts were probably the two least kid-specific tunes, an uptempo "Georgia Camp Meeting" and the slow waltz "Skye Boat Song." It's those tunes that show off the instrumental skills of the duo and their guests the best, though even simple songs such as "Bought Me A Cat" have nice arrangements. The duo's vocals are more Woody Guthrie than Pete Seeger, but vocal preferences are highly variable, so you may have a different take.

The album's most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7 (they're the ones who might most appreciate the "find the instrument" aspect of the CD. You can listen to samples at the album's CD Baby page. If you like that, you may also want to hear samples from their first kids' album Mama Don't Allow, which is similar in tone.

Did You Hear That? is a solid album in the folk tradition geared for kids. As noted above, fans of Not For Kids Only will very much enjoy this CD, and those looking for a gently educational component to their music (especially libraries and schools) will find this CD a good addition to their collection.

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's nothing about this video by Los Angeles-based Ellen and Matt that is particularly amazing. It's a live concert video of pedestrian video quality and decent editing. The song, however, is a catchy pop-punk tune. And the real reason to watch is the kids in the audience, who pogo hard. Those of you with kids will not be terribly surprised by the energy.

(Bonus amusing moment -- the kid with the spray-painted hair about 3:30 into the video. Looks like somebody removed his hair and put a big blob of cotton candy in its place.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 06:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, I think I've given Ralph Covert enough Ralph's World web space over the past two or three weeks to last quite some time, but Bill points out that Covert will be on today's (Wednesday's) All Things Considered.

Update: From NPR's daily rundown highlighting a piece from the next show (that'd be today's) - "In Ralph Covert's world, songs about psychic cats and happy lemons co-exist with songs about grumpy parents. He talks about his latest children's CD and how he writes songs for kids, adults and himself."

Update #2: Based on today's rundown, listen at around 50 minutes past the hour (which one depends on when your local station picks up the show) to hear the interview with Michele Norris live. Or just go here at 7:30 Eastern time to listen to a Windows Media Player version of the show (along with 3 tracks which if you're reading this you almost certainly already have). Or e-mail the heck out of the story and eventually it'll end up on NPR's most e-mailed stories list and possibly show up on an iTunes podcast.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The list continues. I'd been planning to post this entry this morning, so I found the fact that somebody just posted a comment on the last list of "Hey, whatever happened to the rest of the list?" amusing.

And to think I originally thought I'd crank these out in about two weeks.

In any case, here are the previous entries:

Songs 36 through 40
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50

And don't forget, there's still time to enter the contest. You can win a free CD!

35. "All Through the Night" - traditional: A traditional Welsh lullaby with less than straightforward lyrical hurdles to jump ("Soft the drowsy hours are creeping / Hill and dale in slumber steeping"), it's the melody that makes this classic. I'm amazed that this isn't covered more -- it's not like the lyrics are that difficult -- easily within the reach of a parent tired of singing more familiar lullabies. (Listen to a sample from Mae Robertson's rendition here.)

34. "Skidamarink" - traditional: Most uptempo lullaby ever. Actually, I'm not sure it's even a lullaby -- I just first heard it on a lullaby album. Compared to the very serious lullabies (see #35, for example), this is a refreshing alternative. (You can hear a sample of the version that introduced me to the song here. Listen to a sample from the Old Town School of Folk Music rendition here. A bit more uptempo.)

33. "Skip To My Lou" - traditional. There's the innocuous version ("Fly's in the buttermilk / Shoo, fly, shoo") and the embittered, scorned-preschooler version ("Lost my partnet / What'll I do?... / I'll find another one / Prettier than you"). (Raffi does the innocuous version, Bullfrog Jumped includes the other version.)

32. "If You're Happy and You Know It" - traditional. One of those songs that if you're the least bit cynical and tired you're just not going to appreciate. But it's a very simple song that kids have fun with -- who doesn't like clapping their hands or stomping their feet when they're 3? (The Old Town School of Folk Music -- who else? -- does a fun version on Songs For Wiggleworms -- sample here.)

31. "BINGO" - traditional. Actually, this is kinda hard for kids to completely master, though they'll have fun clapping. Now that I think about it, by the time the song gets to "clap, clap, CLAP CLAP OH!," I still have problems with it. Unfortunately, I can't think of any must-hear versions of the song -- it's too prescriptive for massive creativity. (Still, you can always go back to Wiggleworms Love You here.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Parent Place, the Orlando Sentinel's parenting blog (and Friend-of-Zooglobble, Media Division) has posted an interview with Ralph Covert of Ralph's World.

It includes a quotation from Covert talking about "the vision of, it ain’t Barney and it ain’t Disturbed. It’s the sweet spot in the middle that actually pleases everybody."

Covert's offering a third way, and while I'd certainly take Ralph's World over either extreme he offers, it's an interesting parlor game:

Barney or Disturbed?

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's no detail on the website at the moment, but The Green Apple Festival, a 3-city 200-artist music and arts festival schedule for Earth Day weekend (April 20-22, 2007) will include a free concert featuring The Laurie Berkner Band and Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could. Rymer will open up the Sunday, April 22nd show in New York City's Central Park at noon, with Laurie headlining at 1 PM. Should be pretty cool...

No word on who's scheduled to shout "The Sounds of Silence!....." into the deep Manhattan night.

Shows are also scheduled for Chicago and San Francisco -- I can think of a few bands in both places that might be a good Earth Day backing band...

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The advantage to the reviewer of an 18-minute CD, such as the 2006 self-titled debut from Southern California-based duo The SqueeGees, is that you can listen to the album a lot before putting fingers to keyboard to write a review.

The result of those repeated plays, however, is that some of the odd edges of this CD get rubbed away. Which is too bad, because it's those odd edges that help the CD stand out. Take "Ivan the Terrible," for example, which leads off with the lyrics "His beard is long, his eyes are wild / He terrorizes the town." It encourages the listener to growl. But after hearing it eight, ten times, it no longer seems so outlandish (even for a song in which we find out Ivan is not quite so terrible). Too bad, really. In fact, it's the conventional lyrics here that are sort of dry -- it's when co-singer/songwriters Samantha Tobey and Roman Bluem don't worry about the "point" of the song that the songs are at their most vibrant (the listing of fruits in "Apples, Oranges, & Peaches," all the different sounds in "The Elements").

Musically, the duo pack a lot into what is pretty basic folk-rock. A lot of this has to do with the vocals -- Tobey has a clear and distinct voice that is very inviting, while Bluem has a dry vocal sensibility. (That sensibility fits perfectly with "The Ol' WWW" -- "Saw a picture of a jet on the internet / The ol' WWW / Bid on a Chia pet on the internet / The ol' WWW" -- which will probably go way over the head of the target audience but will amuse their parents.) But they also craft some nice melodies --- "Nala the Chihuahua" is particularly ear-wormy.

Despite the claim on the CD cover that the CD is for "ages 0 - adult," I think kids ages 2 through 6 are most likely to enjoy it. You can download a couple tracks and listen to samples of others here, and there's always their Myspace page or CD Baby album page.

The SqueeGees is an album which takes a slightly skewed approach to fairly typical children's music material. The album is sadly too brief, but it does make me curious as to what they will come up with next. I hope it's even odder than this CD.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Thanks again to Bill and Ella for having me on this morning's Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child broadcast. I had a great time playing some rockin' tunes talking about the care and feeding of geckos with the two of 'em. And happy early birthday to Liam, too!

For those of you who care, my notes on my playlist...
1. The Call - Let the Day Begin -- I heard this recently and was reminded how much I like this song. An anti-lullaby song of sorts. In a good way.
2. Ralph's World -- The Coffee Song -- My wife loves (or at least needs) coffee while I can't stand the stuff. This is her favorite Ralph's World song.
3. Anne Hathaway -- Great Big World -- Our daughter loves this song and sings along. (Listen to the broadcast for my discussion with Ella on why you can't find it in stores anymore.)
4. The New Pornographers -- The Laws Have Changed -- The insane number of layers this song has sonically floors me. And it is, as far as I can tell, kid-friendly. (Bill says he's checked.)
5. Asylum Street Spankers -- Sliver -- I like this version better than the original.
6. Lunch Money -- I Want A Dog -- We do not have a dog, but lyrically Molly Ledford nails the pleading/hopeful voice of a child perfectly -- for any object. (It's about here that the show digresses into a gecko-fest. My wife wishes me to emphasize that gecko invasions only happen during the summer.)
7. Dan Zanes -- Rattlin' Bog -- A couple years ago when our daughter was obsessed with this song, she could track back the order better than I could.
8. Gabby Pahinui -- Aloha Ka Manini -- Our few slack key guitars CDs get a lot of play. They're excellent quiet time music.
9. Elizabeth Mitchell - Jubilee -- This song makes me feel warm all over.
10. Semisonic -- Closing Time -- Go ahead and guess what this song is about. (You'll have to listen to the broadcast, or read drummer Jacob Schlichter's excellent set of diaries on life as a musician on a major label, So You Wanna Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star, to find out.)
11. Justin Roberts -- Cartwheels and Somersaults -- There might be better songs by Roberts, but this is the one that meant the most to our family after our son's arrival
12. Talking Heads -- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) -- Because "Stay Up Late" was too obvious and "The Great Curve" wasn't nearly so kid-friendly. "Love me 'til heart stops. Love me 'til I'm dead." It might just be the best rock song about family ever.
13. They Might Be Giants -- Theme From Higglytown Heroes -- Our daughter has never seen "Higglytown Heroes," only the video promo on the "Here Come the ABCs" DVD. But she loves the song anyway. (Y'know, maybe it's because of the video promo...)

And just because it is a cool (and kid-friendly) video...

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Don't forget that tomorrow, March 3rd, Bill and Ella at Spare the Rock will have a certain long-winded visitor appearing on the program. We'll be discussing the effects of this week's stock market collapse on the world economy playing some rockin' tunes (and a few non-rockin' ones as well).

Do stop by and tune in.

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As regular readers are well aware, we don't typically do much Wiggles coverage 'round here. No particular reason other than my kids have never expressed any Wiggles interest.

But they're coming to Phoenix next week, March 8 to be exact. That date, a Thursday, already tells you two important things about the Wiggles: 1) they're obviously geared toward preschoolers, and 2) they are the rare, if only, pure kids' music act that can actually sell tickets for a weekday show.

In any case, Sam Moran, who's the new Yellow Wiggle (replacing Greg Page after his retirement for medical reasons) gave a brief interview with our major local newspaper and proved himself already a good interview. He deftly avoided answering a groaner of a question (you'll know it when you read it) while, in response to another question, getting off one of the zippier one-liners I've seen:

Q: How many times have you sung "Fruit Salad"? How do you keep it fresh?

A: "Fruit Salad"'s always better when it's fresh.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You think kids' music has taken off (again) in the past few years? Think about yoga. Seems like whatever available retail space isn't being taken up by a pharmacy is being occupied by a yoga studio. The idea of "yoga songs for kids," therefore, could very easily be one exploited for a quick buck, resulting in a horrible-sounding, goopy mess.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I found Kira Willey's Dance for the Sun (Yoga Songs for Kids), released in late 2006 to be, well, not horrible-sounding at all. In fact, it's kinda fun. Even if you (or your kids) don't do yoga.

(I should note for the record here that I'm in the "we have yoga DVDs at home that we still use on a mostly regular basis" camp, which means I like practicing it but have no deep and abiding need to take classes.)

Musically, the CD definitely exceeded my expectations. Willey did some performing in nightclubs (no, not of her yoga music) in New York City before becoming a certified yoga instructor and writing songs to use in her classes there. So rather than feeling like the songs were rushed together, they feel organic, like these were actually the best of the bunch. In particular, "Surfer Mama" is a great little doo-wop influenced surfing pop tune that would sound great on any album. You would never know it was a yoga-related song if there weren't yoga moves illustrated in the colorful liner notes. Willey's brother Tom Shields, who sings bass on "Surfer Mama" also sings on "Caterpillar Caterpillar," turning the song's title into a neat little counterpoint to the lyrics. The instrumentation is fairly simple on the mostly folk-rock tracks throughout, which draws attention to Willey's clear voice, though some tracks bring in a few more instruments (Willey plays the fiddle and is accompanied on clarinet and saxophone on the poppy "Midnight Moonlight," for example). If you're looking for reference points, think of a slightly folkier, more abstract Frances England.

Very few songs actually have a direct yoga reference in the lyrics -- the title track, for example, goes through the "Sun Salutation" series of poses. Willey could have called this album Movement Songs for Kids or just some other random title. I'm a visual learner, so the 40-minute-or-so "live" yoga class that follows the half-hour of studio tracks didn't really do much for me other than to think that a yoga class with Willey would be lots of fun -- she interacts quite well with the kids.

The CD is most appropriate for kids ages 3 through 7. You can hear samples of most of the tracks here.

Whether or not Dance for the Sun is a good album for helping your kids learn yoga depends on what kind of learner your kids (and you) are. But this album stands up on its own merits -- pleasant, occasionally poppy songs that encourage movement, even if it's just swaying along. Recommended.

Posted by SAShepherd at 04:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)