Well, perhaps it's not quite as exciting as "Weird Al" Yankovic releasing his new song on iTunes days after its conception, but it's close, especially for the 3-to-5-year-old set and some of their parents, too.
Laurie Berkner will be hosting her first-ever webcast tonight at 8 PM Eastern. Go here to watch. Letters will be read, "Rocketship Run" will be played acoustically. Fun will be had (presumably) by all....
I realize the week is early, and "dorky" probably covers a good third of my material here, but sometimes I get press releases that make me chuckle.
Your (and my) calendar might say that today is the first day of the month of September, but according to the folks at Sirius Kids Stuff, it's -- wait for it --
"Septem-Berkner!" Get it? Get it? Yeah, well, anyway, I laughed. Sometimes that's all it takes.
All month, the channel's featuring Laurie Berkner-related activities, including an in-studio performance. You can watch a video of "Victor Vito" here which makes me wonder if when Berkner's 60 she'll still have to play that song like the Rolling Stones are still playing "Brown Sugar" and "Satisfaction." I think I'd still rather watch Berkner.
In this era when kids are supposedly growing up too fast, it isn't necessarily easy being Laurie Berkner. Even if they're not growing up any faster than their parents did, some kids born after her last release, 2002's Under a Shady Tree are already pretty much too old for Berkner.
So after a lengthy layoff reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino's after Pulp Fiction, here comes Laurie Berkner with her fifth album for kids, Rocketship Run. In many respects, the album bears the marks of someone successful -- check out the lovely album packaging, for example -- lots of major-label releases albums aren't produced with this level of care. And there are many layers to the production; suffice it to say, there are several songs with strings and orchestration in the mix.
Unlike the packaging, which looks far better than that on Berkner's first couple albums, the production doesn't always serves her well. "Walk Along the River," which Berkner first recorded for a CD accompanying her We Are the Laurie Berkner Band DVD, gets a children's chorus added to it. It's a beautiful, tiny little pop song, and the chorus just sort drags it down. There were times throughout the disk -- not always, just sometimes -- when I wished it was just Laurie and Susie and Brian (or, now, Adam) without everything else.
And while I'm kvetching, I might as well say that the album's traveling concept doesn't work all that well. It's a bit too loose to have much of an effect, and it doesn't help that the "Going on a Hunt" song -- probably the weakest song on the album -- is played 5 different times (albeit in different musical forms).
But those downsides are outweighed by Berkner's strengths -- the overall songwriting and her voice, which are undiminished here. "Mouse In My Toolbox" has got a driving chorus -- "There's a paw on my saw / and an eye on my drill / And her little tail is wrapped around my pliers" -- that will stay lodged in your brain for some time. "Five Days Old" is an obvious and worthy homage to Woody Guthrie's "One Day Old." "Candy Cane Jane" is a sweet tune that with its name alliteration and rhymes is almost as catchy as "Victor Vito." Berkner continues to write songs that are targeted to kids without so much as a wink or a nod to the parents, but still without driving those parents away.
I've also long felt that Berkner has one of the great voices in kids music, and she sounds fabulous here, especially on songs like "All Around My Room" or her cover of "Fly Me to the Moon" where it's basically her voice and guitar. She very much needs to continue to explore those kid-friendly covers of classic songs.
Credit is also due to Berkner for more fully integrating longtime collaborators Susie Lampert and Adam Bernstein into the album, most notably by including 5 of their songs on the disk. If none of them are quite as catchy as, say, "Walk Along the River," they're all good, particularly Lampert's "Pigbasket" and Bernstein's "Jump and Fly." You do feel like crediting the album to "The Laurie Berkner Band" (rather than just Berkner herself) is the right choice.
Kids ages 3 through 6 will most appreciate the music here. You can listen to a couple of the new songs at the band's Myspace page.
If there isn't a song as enduring as "We Are the Dinosaurs" or "Victor Vito" on this album, that's probably too high of a bar to set. Rocketship Run is Laurie Berkner's most consistent and ambitious album to date and should attract a whole new set of fans to her music. Here's hoping it's not another six years before her next release. Definitely recommended.
Sometimes I get stuff in my inbox and don't get a chance to post until the next day. So in today's first example, I present to you Laurie Berkner's Soundcheck performance. Now, some people have spent almost as much time talking about the sponsor -- SUAVE! A Unilever brand! Plus Walmart! -- as on the show.
And so in response, I'll probably do the same. To be clear, aside from a five-second ad at the start of the full performance and a tiny logo in the lower right-hand corner and occasional glimpses of "Suave" from the rotating camera, it's definitely not a hard-sell. I'm not a fan of corporate sponsorship -- as far as corporate sponsorships go, this isn't bad.
Anyway, tracklist for the 20-minute video is after the jump. There are four videos from this week's release Rocketship Run, plus two Laurie classics. The interview, as others have mentioned, is worth watching.
Laurie Berkner might just be the biggest superstar in kids' music. Plenty of artists can claim the hipster cred, a number of artists (or at least characters) certainly have the merchandising going on, but Berkner's the closest thing to a superstar (who's a real person) the genre has.
Which explains why I still feel the need to review a CD of hers that is, oh, 9 years old at this point. Victor Vito, Berkner's third album, was released in 1999, just about the time that the genre really started to come back. For some reason, it never became a staple in our household the way her first two CDs did, and I as I complete my Laurie Berkner review work here (for the time being), I went back to see if I could figure out why.
It's certainly not because there aren't good songs here. The title track is a stone-cold, know-it-from-the-first-spin classic. An earwormy tune, silly (but understandable) rhymes, it's one of those songs that you could retire happy knowing you just wrote that one song. But it's joined by a number of other great originals -- the simply lullaby "Moon Moon Moon," the stomp-encouraging "Boots," the quietly hysterical "The Goldfish," with its classic line, "Wait a minute, we're FISH!" Berkner also focuses somewhat on kids' feelings, as on "The Story of My Feelings" (natch) and "I'm Not Perfect." It's not easy to write songs like that which take a necessarily direct approach for preschoolers and have it not sound incredibly dull to adults, but Berkner succeeds. And Berkner's renditions of traditional songs such as "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" and "Zodiac" -- where the fat man is not from Calgary as Raffi suggested long ago, but from Tennessee -- show off her fine voice and simple but organic musical arrangements. (This may be the album that most closely shows off her debt to Raffi's path -- she is indeed a worthy successor to his mantle.)
If there's a downside to the album, is that it's too long. The album is exactly 60 minutes long, and it seems about twice as long as it needs to be. There are two pretty good 30-minute CDs (or one incredible one and one decent one) to be found here, but at an hour, there just aren't quite enough great songs or musical variety to sustain interest over the entire time. I also don't think it's quite as goofy as her first two CDs, which was one thing I always appreciated about them, but that's probably a personal taste thing.
As with Berkner's other albums, this one is targeted at kids ages 2 through 6. Samples of the tracks are all over the web. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of families have made Victor Vito a common part of their family's musical rotation. And while our family might not be among those, I'd be a fool not to recognize how many excellent songs can be found here. Definitely recommended.
Years from now, when there are sections in amusement parks called LaurieWorld, in which you can ride the "Buzz Buzz" bumblebee ride (you must not be any taller than 48" to ride) and eat a "We Are The Dino-Chicken Nuggets Family-Pack," younger families might wonder when exactly it was that Laurie Berkner became a kids' music superstar.
The answer, of course, is her appearances on Jack's Big Music Show, the Noggin televison show centered around some music-loving puppets, which first aired in September 2005. The more logical (or obsessed) of the families might then try to figure out what CD might have led the producers to think that Berkner would be such a good fit for the show. Those families' searches would lead them to Berkner's 2002 album Under A Shady Tree.
One of the ways in which kids' music is different from most other genres is that its primary audience -- the kids -- don't really care about artistic progression or the order of album releases. Your kids probably can't tell you what order Berkner's CDs were released. But you can tell that Berkner's stretching out musically a bit here. She adds horns to the mix on "This Hat." "Mahalo" has Hawaiian influences, natch, while "Boody Boody Ya Ya Ya" has a pensive, non-major-chord sound. In short, the songs and arrangements here might be the most intriguing Berkner has written.
They are not, however, instantaneously catchy, or at least compared to the high bar Berkner had previously set. There is no lightning-bolt of a classic like "We Are the Dinosaurs" or "Victor Vito" here. "Rhubarb Pie (Hot Commodity)" has some sweet harmony, but it's no "Doodlebugs." "I'm Gonna Catch You," "Who's That?," and "Running Down the Hill" are fine enough, but the title track is one of those too-simple songs that parents will tire of quickly. The album's 52-minute runtime doesn't help matters -- there are too many songs here that are interesting but not necessarily must-hears.
The album is most appropriate for kids ages 2 through 7 and you can find it pretty much anywhere CDs are sold.
If I sound negative here, it's because I think Berkner set such a high standard for the genre with her earlier CDs, particularly her first two CDs. There are still a number of good songs here, and if your family liked Laurie Berkner's earlier work, you'll probably enjoy this. Under A Shady Tree is not where I'd start out exploring Berkner's music, however. It's recommended, but not essential. (But your kids will probably love the "Running Down the Hill" play area of LaurieWorld.)
... and Joe Johnston.
Did you know that Laurie Berkner teamed up with Steven Spielberg to film a very expensive video for "We Are the Dinosaurs"? Neither did I.
It's the kids' music equivalent of "Thriller"!
Warning: NSFK (Not Safe For Kids, at least those in Laurie's core demographic)
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.)
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.
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...
For those tuning in late...
Songs 41 through 45
Songs 46 through 50
On to the songs...
40. "The More We Get Together" - traditional: "Traditional," but when the single most influential kids music artist of all time starts his very first album off with this song, it's forever owned by Raffi. (Listen to a cheesy government-funded instrumental version here. Shudder. Or another version here. I'm not even gonna try it. Clear out your brains with a 30-second sample of the classic version here.)
39. "Mr. Rabbit" - traditional: "Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Rabbit / You've been in my cabbage patch / Yes, my friend / And I ain't never comin' back / Every little soul must / Shine shine shine." Excuse me? What? That's, like, 3 non-sequiturs of a lyric. And somehow it's still catch and popular. (Sorry, no links. Johnny Keener's got a nice version on Elephants Over The Fence.)
38. "Rainbow Connection" - Kenny Ascher and Paul Williams: This would be a lot higher on the list, but I tell ya, that key change halfway through is just a difficult one to handle. Kermit's version is classic, of course, but almost too banjo-y, if such a thing can be said to exist. I think I actually prefer the Dixie Chicks' version on Mary Had A Little Amp. (Watch Kermit on YouTube.)
37. "My Hair Had a Party Last Night" - Trout Fishing in America: They've had a bunch of good songs ("Alien in my Nose" came close to making this list), but this is the one that's been covered a number of times already. "It started out friendly but there must've been a fight." (Listen to a sample of a live version here.)
36. "Pig on Her Head" - Laurie Berkner: One great thing about Laurie Berkner is that she writes kids songs that parents can actually sing. Admittedly, she's writing for toddlers, so that's on purpose, but we still sing this song with our youngest and occasionally oldest kids. Great imagery. (Imagery illustrated by the Noggin video, which can be accessed on this page.)
I will stop talking so much about Laurie Berkner soon, but The Lovely Mrs. Davis' post on Laurie and the reasons for her success couldn't go unresponded.
Typically Amy and I are pretty sympatico on our musical opinions, but we've never quite seen eye-to-eye on Berkner. (Though we've never actually "talked" about Laurie in any sense.) But I think the thing that tweaked me about Amy's post is twofold:
1. Laurie's not talented
2. Laurie's not "indie" (and that somehow is bad)
Amy's view is that there are "numerous other artists whose talent for writing and performing kids' music far surpass Laurie's." Taste is, of course, subjective, but I can't think of many artists for preschoolers who are better than Laurie -- she writes good melodies, lyrics, and has one heck of a voice (if you think she can't sing a "regular" song, check out her duet on "Happy Trails" with Buck Howdy on his Giddyup! album). In her videos (don't know about her concerts), she has an engaging personality. (OK, her albums are a bit underproduced, I'll grant you that.)
Her focus is a bit narrower than other artists who might try to hit the elementary school crowd, and I wouldn't play her albums for myself like I might with some other kids' music artists, but Laurie is very, very good at what she does and I'm not sure who'd rank above Laurie for the preschool set. Raffi, perhaps.
As for the "indie" argument, I've always found that argument rather tired. "Indie" has always meant more than the source of the music -- it's meant the approach. But, taking the argument at face value, is it true?
First off, Razor and Tie would qualify as an "indie" label for most people ("New York-based Razor & Tie is one of the fastest growing independent entertainment companies in the United States." -- from Razor and Tie's website). If it's somehow not an independent label, that means such artists as Elizabeth Mitchell (Smithsonian Folkways), the Terrible Twos (Vagrant/Paquito), Gustafer Yellowgold (Little Monster), or Peter Himmelman (Rounder) don't count as "indie," either. "Doing their own marketing" isn't a good way of describing "indie," either, as artists such as Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, and Brady Rymer all have talented publicity people working for them.
Even if you disagree with my definitions and think Razor and Tie is not "indie", the simple fact is that Berkner is recording her albums on her own dime -- she's just using Razor and Tie for the "production and distribution" of her Two Tomatoes albums. She's like 99% of kids' artists out there -- just with a far, far better distribution arrangement, and one that I guarantee most would take. It's sort of like the Wiggles discussion...
Amy does bring up a good point regarding marketing to kids, and I have no disagreement there.
So I still think Amy's fabulous and lovely. But in this case, I'm gonna have to disagree. Thoughts?
I know someone who says it should be a goal to learn something new every day.
So, in that spirit, and thanks to the Laurie Berkner/"Farm Song"-related clarifications of Deb in SF and Katy L, here you go (thanks, Wikipedia!):
Bongo drum: Percussion instrument made up of two small drums attached to each other
Conga: Tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum of African origin, probably derived from the Congolese Makuta drums.
This is my favorite factoid: "Someone who plays the bongos is called a bongocero." "Bongocero" sounds cooler than "conguero."
Bongocero. It's my new favorite word.
If it doesn't quite have the propulsive energy of last year's "Walk Along the River," Laurie Berkner's new song "Farm Song" does have farm animal noises and Berkner's sweet voice.
Not at the same time, luckily.
It's 2 minutes and 30 seconds of animal noises, mad bongo conga drum skillz, and tons of kids' animal costumes. (Jack evidently has a very large costuming budget.) An appealing enough video and a song that'll probably end up on a Laurie "greatest hits" CD someday in the future.
View the video here. Read a profile in the New York Times here. (Who knew therapy could produce a popular kids' tune?)
Many of you may already be heading to other locales for Thanksgiving, but here are some items worth your time, either before you sit down at the table or while fighting off your desire to take a 3-hour nap after dinner.
Charity and the JAMband have a sweet song, Thank You, available for download here. It's from an upcoming book/CD set, The Birthday Suite, for which the band did the music.
As reported here previously, Laurie Berkner will appear on the Fisher-Price float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Look for her to reach Macy's Herald Square at about 10:11 AM Eastern time. Despite the fact that the occasion clearly demands her song "(I'm Gonna Eat on) Thanksgiving Day," they're apparently going to play "Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)." That Laurie, tool of the honey industry.
And finally, Dan Zanes has recorded a special song and filmed a video for Heifer International. You can see the YouTube video (which includes a plea for the organization in the middle) here or go to iTunes for purchase. It lacks the star firepower of "Do They Know It's Christmastime," but it's a better song.
Wherever you are this weekend, I hope you are able to count your blessings and celebrate with people important to you. Thanks to you, readers, for reading and commenting, and thanks to all the artists that have helped us to share musical experiences with our families.
... don't mean they're not after you.
Or, as Nirvana might say, had they turned their attention to a kids' music blog instead, just because information is in a ever-so-slightly-over-hyped press release or newsletter, doesn't mean that it's not actually news.
Here, then, some recent PR news. For each artist, you decide which statements are true and which are false.
Justin Roberts: With a spiffy new website (including the Willy Was a Whale video from Noggin), why wouldn't the Today invite him and the Not Ready for Naptime Players to play on Aug. 22nd? (That's, uh, tomorrow!) Katie Couric's coming back just to see him!
Laurie Berkner: With a spiffy new website (not including the Willy Was a Whale video from Noggin), why wouldn't Good Morning America invite her and the Band to play on Aug. 26th? (That's, uh, Saturday!). And she's going to be on the Fisher Price float in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And there's going to be a 65-foot inflatable Laurie in the parade, too!
Milkshake: Will be seen on PBS Kids and Discovery World ("ToddWorld") with new videos and new music. They will also be appearing on C-SPAN2 providing musical commentary on U.S. Senate coverage.
Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck: Will also be appearing on PBS KIDS with new videos. Christopher Walken will appear in their next video.
(C'mon, I'd pay to see Christopher Walken in a video for "It Wasn't Me!")
Welcome to those of you finding us because of the Salon article on "kindie rockers". (Welcome also, as always, to people looking for downloads of and lyrics to "Great Big World," from Hoodwinked. I still can't help you with those, despite your insistent pleas.) Thanks, Salon, for the link, and for posting some fabulous mp3s from said rockers. (Scott Lamb's article is worth sitting through the Honda ad non-subscribers will have to watch in order to read the article -- it's a nice summing up of the current state of kids' music.)
If you're new to the site, I encourage you to look around -- links to other kids'-music-related blogs as well as to every full album review (including Justin Roberts, Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, and Milkshake) can be found on the right. If you're wondering what to get that 4-year-old nephew for his birthday, check out my page of album recommendations by age. I treat kids' music the way any parent who really likes music would -- with my own set of interests but with an understanding that perhaps not every song off Spoon's Gimme Fiction is going to appeal to my 5-year-old (let alone my 1-year-old).
There's so much great kids' music being made, and not just by the rockers mentioned in the article who have made their way to kids' TV screens. Dig in -- you're bound to find something you and the kids in your life will really like.
Saturday AM edit: You know, I could actually help readers "dig in" if I specifically mentioned a few artists and albums that readers might not be familiar with if they're only sticking to the TV/Noggin crowd. No disrespect meant to the Noggin crowd -- Zanes, Roberts, and TMBG, in particular, are all among my favorites kids' artists -- but these four albums are tremendous, too.
Silly Reflection, by Lunch Money (review)
If You Ever See An Owl, by the Terrible Twos (review)
Fascinating Creatures, by Francis England (review)
Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD, by Morgan Taylor (review)
David Byrne recently posted a few thoughts on the past, present, and future of album art. Byrne's main point? We shouldn't necessarily mourn the loss of album art (which was often designed without the artist's input) with the rise of the iPod et al. Bryne posits a future in which recorded music is free while graphic designers develop ways to entice those listeners to pay for other stuff (merchandise, etc.) associated with the artist. (Thanks to Stereogum for the original reference.)
What does this have to do with children's music? I don't know whether many children's music artists spend much time considering album art. Even if they do (and they probably do), the results often doesn't show that. Raffi's early albums, while pretty darn good, could hardly be considered to have great album art. Those covers are pretty good compared to some I've seen. Aside from the Wiggles, who have very consistent art direction (THE WIGGLES! SMILING! FUN, BRIGHT COLORS!), there aren't a lot of kids' artists whose art direction I love. Dan Zanes is a conspicuous exception (it helps if your brother-in-law is an artist), and there are some other exceptions, too. (The packaging of Lunch Money's Silly Reflection is fabulous, for example. By the way, do you have that album yet? Why not? Go!)
I think much of children's music is trapped behind packaging that screams "you, the adult, will tolerate this and that's all." And I think that may explain partially why certain albums do or don't do well. Flipping through the small kids' music section at your local Borders... what are you going to choose? If you're trying to decide what to give as a gift for your niece's 4th birthday, what are you going to choose? How about looking at covers online? (Yes, I realize that, considering the current plainness of this website, this is a bit "pot-calling-the-kettle-black.")
While bad album art won't always win (Raffi's CDs are still very popular), it takes an awesome album to overcome that art. While Byrne may be right that album art in general may fall by the wayside, I think that day is further away for kids' music than for most music.
And just because I dig the Talking Heads, here's a page with some Talking Heads audio samples. The obvious choice for this site is "Stay Up Late," a funky tune from Little Creatures, but how can you not listen to something from Remain In Light? Go have fun.
What's your favorite children's music album cover/packaging?
Google has introduced a beta version of Google Trends, which tracks the popularity of certain search terms. What can this tell us about the popularity of children's music? A lot (though it means nothing to me in terms of what our family actually listens to).
Here's Dan Zanes. A spike in mid-2005 -- I'm guessing there must've been some Noggin-related activity around then. The graph only appears to go through early-April, so there's little evidence of a Catch That Train! bump in the available data. Looks pretty good until you compare him to...
Laurie Berkner. Note the spike in early 2006 -- that would be the release of We Are... The Laurie Berkner Band DVD. Again, looks pretty good until you compare her to...
They Might Be Giants. I'm guessing the spike in mid-2004 has to do with the release of The Spine, their last non-children's release of new material. So they have the advantage of non-kids-related stuff, too. But you don't need that if you're...
The Wiggles. Hoo-boy, those other lines are getting mighty flat. But even that's not all that impressive once you type in...
High School Musical. Breaking Free, indeed.
"Folk Playground is neither 'folk' nor 'playground' -- discuss."
The Putumayo label got its start a number of years ago putting together mix tapes for use in its clothing store. They have since abandoned the clothing store, focusing solely on music, and have developed a kids' music label, Putumayo Kids. The latest entry in the Putumayo Kids series of CDs is the 2006 release of Folk Playground, to be released on Tuesday.
The 33-minute CD may confuse folk purists while also confusing some parents new to the children's music scene. The key component in the definition of "folk" seems to have been whether or not acoustic guitar was included on the track. The "playground" songs -- "This Old Man," "Froggie Went A Courtin'," -- aren't necessarily "folk music" in execution (or, if they are, it sort of stretches the definition.) The term "Folk Playground" is marketing and stretches the definition of what's actually on here.
Now, if you are a devoted children's music listener, you may already have half the songs (or at least half the artists) already in your collection. The problem with the selections from the more familiar artists is twofold. In some cases, the selections are not very representative of the artist's work (Justin Roberts' "Roller in the Coaster," while a nice little song, is a less common type of song for him, compared to the rave-ups; Laurie Berkner has made a name for herself for her originals, not covers. Neither would be considered folk artists.) In other cases, the songs are more representative of the artists' overall work, but not necessarily a highlight from their catalog (Dan Zanes' "Hop Up Ladies," Trout Fishing in America's "Fill It Up," Elizabeth Mitchell's "Crawdad"). These songs are perfectly fine, but I could probably have come up with a half-dozen songs each that I'd've preferred to see on here. (I do think Brady Rymer's "It's All How You Look At It" is pretty good, though.)
Of the less familiar artists (kids' related -- Leon Redbone is hardly an unfamiliar artist), the clear standout song on the CD is Zoe Lewis' "Sheep," about her musings while seeing sheep from far above in an airplane ("I wonder what are you thinking as your little pink lips go round and round and chew / Does night time bring you dreams of spring, mutton, mint sauce, leg of lamb or stew? / (Sorry, sheep)"). It's a sprightly melody, sung with whimsy, and mixed with tin whistle, among other instruments. Forget about the less familiar artists -- it's the best song on the CD, period.
The album is probably most appropriate for kids age 2 through 8. You can download lyrics and listen to sound samples at Putumayo's page for the release.
In the end, after listing all my criticisms, you might be surprised to read that I like the CD. It's a case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Putumayo's history as a mix-tape creator serves it very well here as Folk Playground is a CD which will serve as a very pleasant soundtrack to a session of coloring or game-playing. While there are few standout tracks here, the overall listening experience is nice.
In honor of the release of Dan Zanes and Friends' Catch That Train! (review here), I thought I'd list a few songs about trains for kids.
(Note: references to the Island of Sodor will be summarily deleted.)
(Last updated May 23, 2006)
"Catch That Train!" - off of Dan Zanes and Friends' (DZ&F) Catch That Train!, of course
"Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" - also try DZ&F's Catch That Train!
"Wabash Cannonball" - many, try DZ&F's House Party
"Guysborough Railway" - try DZ&F's Night Time
"Rock Island Line" - try DZ&F's Family Dance
A whole bunch of songs on DZ&F's Parades and Panoramas
"Freight Train" - try Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Flower, also (reader-recommended) on Enzo Garcia's Breakfast with Enzo
"Little Red Caboose" - many, try Elizabeth Mitchell and Lisa Loeb's Catch The Moon
"I've Been Working on the Railroad - many, try Laurie Berkner's version on Buzz Buzz
"New River Train" - try Raffi's New River Train
"Choo Choo Train" - try Ralph's World's debut Ralph's World
"The Little Engine That Could" - try the Hollow Trees' self-titled debut (sorry, Greg!)
-- Yosi also has a "Train Medley" on Under A Big Bright Yellow Umbrella that includes some (if not all) of the songs listed above.
-- Reader BethBC also notes that James Coffey has an entire CD of train-related songs called My Mama Was a Train.
I'm sure there are more, but this is a decent start -- if you post 'em in the comments, I'll add them above.
I don't like to change posting dates, but I'm adding so many songs here, and this predates the time a lot of people started visiting the site, so I'm making an exception here. A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, or something like that. Originally posted April 2, 2006. Last revised May 16, 2006
I'm ignoring the fact that the baseball season is one game old. Baseball starts Monday, during the day, and nobody can tell me otherwise.
There are very few sports-related children's songs that come to mind. I can understand why, as sports like football and hockey require a lot of equipment and are typically for older kids (this is especially the case for football). Basketball and baseball are easier to play, perhaps -- less equipment, introduced at an earlier age. Since the major sports typically become mostly a spectator sport as we grow up, perhaps it's good that there isn't much children's music about sports since a song about watching other people do something is kinda depressing as a kids' song. (It does make me think that the genre of children's soccer songs is a niche waiting to be filled.)
In any case, the list of songs about baseball for all ages is reeeeeeaaaaalllllllly short. (OK, not so short anymore) Here goes:
-- "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (well, duh) -- try Wiggleworms Love You, from the Old Town School of Folk Music (nicely bipartisan, cheering for both the Cubs and White Sox)
-- "Baseball Dreams" -- off At the Bottom of the Sea, by Ralph's World (Cubs all the way in this one)
-- "I'm Gonna Catch You" -- off Under a Shady Tree, by Laurie Berkner (it has one relevant line -- "So I jumped into Saturday / And I had a baseball batter-day" -- yeah, I'm really reachin' here)
-- "Centerfield" -- off Centerfield, by John Fogerty (not kids' music, but a great song anyway)
-- "Talkin' Baseball -- off countless albums by Steve Cashman, who just re-records and updates his song -- baseball history lesson in 3 minutes
-- "Big Train" -- off the RTT's Turn It Up Mommy!, as noted in the comments. About Walter "Big Train" Johnson. I'd probably disagree that he's the best pitcher ever, but that's another blog. Good song.
-- "Right Field" -- Peter, Paul and Mary. Again, see the comments.
-- "Cryin' in the Dugout" -- off Daddy-A-Go-Go's upcoming Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate album. A humorous song -- "Baseball Dreams" played for laughs instead of nostalgia.
-- "The Greatest" -- Kenny Rogers. See the comments.
-- "Roll Around" -- Peter Himmelman, off of his My Lemonade Stand CD. A fun, rollicking song about a baseball who retires, then comes back to his calling.
And finally, an artist reviewed here on this very site wrote me to suggest four more songs, including at least one I'm miffed I forgot... the comments in quotes are the artist's, not mine.
-- "Catfish" -- off Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. I am unfamiliar with this one. But it's Dylan.
-- "Joe DiMaggio’s Done it Again" -– Wilco and Billy Bragg, from their Mermaid Ave Vol. 2
-- "A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request" –- Steve Goodman – "Classic, and very funny." See "Talkin' Baseball," above.
-- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- Brave Combo - "two very cool versions... wacky and fun." It's Brave Combo, how could it not be fun?
If any of you have more suggestions (or can point me to a family-friendly soccer song), leave me a comment.
In order to write this review, I must reveal a shocking secret:
I shot J.R.
Uh, wait, sorry, I'm confusing my shocking secrets. That wasn't me. Let me try again.
We don't have cable television.
That's right. No cable, no satellite dish, just a big ol' antenna on the top of our roof.
Why is that so important to this review? Well, Laurie Berkner is the biggest superstar in the children's music industry and I think that can probably be traced directly to Laurie's constant appearances on Noggin, Nickolodeon's preschool TV channel. Her videos and appearances on Jack's Big Music Show introduced her to the country at large and had to have been a major factor in Starbucks' decision to inaugurate their entry into the DVD market with this DVD.
And it's something that's been completely irrelevant to my experience of Berkner. So I watched these videos with the eye of someone who hadn't seen these videos a hundred times. (Heard the songs perhaps a hundred times, but that's a different matter.)
Here, then, are some notes on the videos:
1. These are very simple videos -- the band, some kids, and the occasional graphics or set design. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video, this is not. Of course, when you think of the target audience -- 3- or 4-year-old kids -- this is entirely appropriate.
2. The band has an appealingly friendly attitude in the videos. Brian and Susie mugging to the camera, and all three (especially Susie) not being particularly concerned with matching their instrument-playing to the music. This is not a criticism as it allows them to show themselves having fun playing music.
3. The band has taken all the colors the Wiggles don't wear in their outfits, found the brightest clothes in those colors, and wear them all simultaneously. By the way, if there's a cow farmer out there missing a purple or orange cow, I think Laurie slaughtered them to make her leather pants.
4. These videos are very similar but not identical to those that are actually on Noggin. (See the originals here. I actually watched those to check.) The band rerecorded the songs and the videos for this DVD, but kept both much like the old versions. Now, they're close enough that they're likely to fool the little ones, but for adults, the difference may generate a bit of cognitive dissonance a la the switching of Darins on Bewitched. [Edit: In the comments, Laurie's "PR Mama" points out, correctly, that not all of the videos on the DVD are actually shown on Noggin. That's correct, only 4 of them are (or, at least, only 4 of them are available on Noggin's website). I apologize for not being clearer in my text.]
5. The DVD is a bit like a greatest-hits album for Berkner, containing all of her big hits -- "Pig on Her Head," "Victor Vito," "Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)". Berkner's knack for melodic hooks and fun lyrics are on full display. When a song doesn't quite work (for me, it's "Under a Shady Tree"), the video doesn't work, either. (In addition to being a boring melody to me the lyrics mention the grass under Laurie's feet when there's no grass around.)
6. Unlike many requisite new songs on greatest-hits albums, "Walk Along the River," is a great song -- it should be a pop hit. (I cannot, try as I might, get the phrase "I take a step / I take a step / I take another step" out of my mind.)
7. The DVD is about 30 minutes long with maybe another 8-10 minutes of "bonus" videos.
In the end, reviewing this DVD is a bit like reviewing the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. You either like the movies or you have no interest, and a review isn't going to sway you either way. As an overview of Berkner's work, it's very good. As an occasional "babysitter" for mommy and daddy (raises hand), it will probably get your kids to jump up and interact with the TV. (And of course it's even more likely to do that if you join in, which I've done, too.)
Again, if you're unfamiliar with Berkner's work or the videos, check the originals out here. If you like those, you'll like the DVD. I like Berkner and I like the DVD.
Hi! You're probably here because you heard me talk with Melissa Block about children's music on today's (Friday, April 7th) edition of All Things Considered. (If you did, can you please let me know how I did? I haven't heard the interview myself yet. East Coast bias...)
If you've developed a nasty twitch in your eye because you absolutely cannot stand the music your preschooler or elementary-aged child is listening to, take a few minutes to look at the reviews here, linked on the right-hand side or search on "review" up top. You may find an artist you're not aware of making music for kids and adults that you just might love. Or, at least, not hate. (We're pretty flexible around here.)
Find a list of albums reviewed here, organized by age, here. Here are my reviews of the Justin Roberts album Meltdown! and the Brady Rymer album Every Day Is A Birthday, which were discussed in the NPR piece. Reviews of the Laurie Berkner DVD and new Dan Zanes album are forthcoming.
You can also find links to people thinking and writing about (or even playing) kids' music on the right-hand side.
If you're a children's musician, I'm always on the lookout for good music I haven't yet heard. Find out how to get in touch with me here.
We'll be posting new stuff every week. I hope you'll stop by again another time to discover or discuss other music you and your kids can both enjoy.
Thanks,
Stefan
We recently received a copy of Brady Rymer's latest CD, Every Day Is A Birthday, and the first thing my wife said when she saw the CD was,
"Wow. Do we have any other kids' CDs with the artist's actual picture on the cover?"
This amused me, because it was the exact same thought I had the first time I saw a picture of the cover.
And, really, if you think about it, most children's music artists do not have a particularly large presence on their album covers. Ralph's World? Even on his latest CD Green Gorilla, Monster & Me -- Ralph is a tiny, animated man. Dan Zanes? Slightly less tiny, slightly less animated. Laurie Berkner? A little less tiny than Dan, a little less animated. And that's pretty much where the progression ends. (I guess Laurie's DVD has her featured a little more prominently.)
Progress in the children's music world is typically on the level of Justin Roberts' Meltdown! CD, in which the animated child on his fifth kids album now looks much more Justin-like.
Frankly, this probably doesn't matter much. This industry is probably significantly different than "adult" CDs, in which mass marketed CDs almost always come with the artist's picture prominently displayed (think of rap or country CDs, or U2 or the Rolling Stones). And even though the faces aren't there, there's often a graphical consistency to the cover art.
But with the increasing folding in of "serious" children's music artists such as Berkner, Zanes, and Covert into major record distribution, it wouldn't be surprising to see more faces and fewer cartoons on CD covers.
Laurie Berkner's e-mail list informs us that "Laurie Berkner, Susie Lampert and Adam Bernstein will be closing the show [March 10's Today Show] by playing a selection from the band’s new DVD."
This indeed is great news! I've been waiting to hear Adam Bernstein for the longest time!
(What? He's not even the regular band member? Brian Mueller is? And it's Laurie Berkner I should be excited about. Oh. Yeah. You're right.)
I got an e-mail from Laurie Berkner the other day. Well, technically speaking, it probably came from her webmaster and not from Laurie herself, but still. It said that the new Laurie Berkner DVD, We Are the Laurie Berkner Band, would be released on February 14 and come packaged with a 5-song bonus CD (4 songs previously released). And that would have pretty much been the extent of this post, except that I found the following article from Billboard, via the Arizona Repubic.
In the article, we find out that...
1) Starbucks is co-releasing the DVD through its Hear Music division.
2) It'll be available at Starbucks stores.
3) Berkner's albums have sold a total of 359,000 copies.
4) The DVD will feature a song called "Mocha Mocha Grande Latte."
(OK, I was kidding on that last point.)
An article in Sunday's New York Times notes that Dan Zanes now has a deal with the Playhouse Disney network to produce his own music show. No word on when the music show will actually make it to the air.
The article also notes that Laurie Berkner has signed up to be in Jamarama, a Lollapalooza-esque traveling kids' music festival starting this fall. What's intriguing to me about the festival is the locations -- classic rock and alternative rock venues. ("Daddy, tell me again about the time you saw the Pixies here...")
Saturday, October 29 Morristown, NJ Community Theater
Sunday, October 30 New York, NY Roseland
Sunday, November 6 Chicago, IL Rosemont Theater
Saturday, November 19 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
Sunday, November 20 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Of all the well-known children's music artists currently recording, Laurie Berkner has made the most effort to rescue toddler/pre-school songs from the detritus of many years of neglect. She does this in two ways:
1) She has fun singing kids' classics.
2) She records new songs actually aimed at toddlers.
Berkner's first CD, Whaddaya Think Of That? shows her strengths in both types of recordings. This CD doesn't have many "cover versions," though her renditions of the "Alphabet Song" and (especially) "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" are lively and joyful, with just enough "something new" to make the tired songs fresh. Her rendition of the classic "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is also lots of fun. She makes these songs fresh and fun even though she's rarely accompanied by more than a guitar and (sometimes) piano.
But more than most kids' artists, Berkner writes songs for toddlers and pre-schoolers without many concessions to adults. Even the song most likely to draw a smile from parents ("Doodlebugs," for reasons that I'll not reveal here for fear of ruining the surprise) works perfectly for the kids. Unlike many songs that encourage participation but which are bland on record, Berkner's songs such as "What Falls In the Fall?" and "These Are My Glasses" work fine even if you're just listening. And "We Are the Dinosaurs" is an instant kids' classic, if there can be such a thing. Indeed, one of the strengths of Berkner's work for younger kids is that the songs are simple enough that parents (and kids) can sing them later on, when the CD isn't playing.
There isn't much difference between this CD and Berkner's follow-up Buzz Buzz. Whaddaya is perhaps a little more limited in instrumentation, but not by much. Basically, if you like one of the CDs, you'll like the other. (And I recommend them both.) The CD is targeted mostly at kids between the ages of 2 and 6. You can buy Berkner's CDs at her own label, Two Tomatoes, or online or in finer book- or children's stores.
The simplest kids' songs are sometimes the most effective -- Old McDonald's farm is not all that complex of an environment, yet it's a rare toddler or even pre-schooler who isn't somewhat amused by the song, particularly if it's delivered with gusto.
The best songs on Laurie Berkner's Buzz Buzz exemplify that truth. My all-time Berkner favorite, "Pig on Her Head," is about Berkner's family, who has a whole menagerie of animals on their noggins. (Heck, it's the sequel to "Old McDonald Had a Farm!") "I Really Love to Dance" is about a young kid who tries lots of different things but keeps coming back to dancing. Those originals are lots of fun. The covers are also performed with fun arrangements, such as the guitar, bass, piano, and kazoo used to provide a jaunty "I've Been Working on the Railroad." And her version of "There's A Little Wheel A-Turning In My Heart" uses the whole "change-one-thing-in-each-verse" to great effect.
Slightly less successful for me were longer songs that I think are more clearly designed for an interactive performance (e.g., "The Pretzel Store," "Lots of Little Pigs"). They're longer, so they're not quite as good if you (and your kids) are listening to the CD in the car. But if you're at home, and can convince your kids to act along, they'd be cute.
This is a fun, (mostly) upbeat CD and is recommended for children aged 2 to 6 years.
Berkner's CDs are available at her website, Two Tomatoes or all the finer book- and music stores.