Most Bill Harley material is good stuff, so even a random free track from him would have a good chance of getting mentioned here.
But "Down in the Backpack"? One of Harley's most well-known songs? Almost guaranteed to get a grin out of your 7-year-old? (And probably you, too?)
Just go here, where "Down in the Backpack," the title track from Harley's 2001 album, is free 'til the end of the month.
I know that with Labor Day coming up and schools back in session, many areas of the country may see a decrease their use of playgrounds, but in the desert climates of Arizona, Labor Day means that the first month of school is in the books and it's possible to use playgrounds after 9:30 in the morning. So playground usage actually goes up 'round here.
In honor of this fact, and celebrating playgrounds generally, here's a list of playground and play-inspired songs. Or songs from play-inspired albums. Or songs from albums with "playground" in the name (excluding Putumayo Kids).
Humungous Tree - Barenaked Ladies (Snack Time!)
Multiplication Treehouse - Duplex (Ablum)
Jungle Gym - Jack Johnson Feat. G. Love (Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies For The Film Curious George)
Sign My Cast - Justin Roberts (Jungle Gym)
Hopping And Sliding - Music Together (Bells)
Water Balloon - The Okee Dokee Brothers (Take It Outside)
My Trampoline - Peter Himmelman (My Trampoline)
How Fast Can You Run? - The Quiet Two (Make Some Noise)
Playground - Ralph Covert (The Amazing Adventures Of Kid Astro)
Treehouse Orchestra - Ralph Covert (The Amazing Adventures Of Kid Astro)
The Great Outdoors - Ralph's World (All Around Ralph's World)
Swingset - Ralph's World (Green Gorilla, Monster & Me)
Ice Pack - Recess Monkey (Field Trip)
The Sandbox Song - Recess Monkey (Tabby Road)
Playground - Rocknoceros (Pink!)
Playground!!! - Roy Handy & the Moonshot ((I'm Gonna Be) Your Best Friend)
Little Sally Walker - Suni Paz (Songs For The Playground)
Playground - The Terrible Twos (Jerzy The Giant)
Ooh La! Ooh La! - They Might Be Giants (Here Come the 123s!)
The Bare Necessities - Tony Bennett (The Playground)
Little Buckaroo (w/ John Langford) - Elizabeth Mitchell (Sunny Day)
Who Needs Sleep - Todd McHatton (Sundays at the Rocket Park)
Blue Bear - Lucky Diaz (Luckiest Adventure)
It's A Long Haul - Pete Seeger (Tomorrow's Children)
The More We Get Together - Kathryn Claire (Kinderqueen)
Jump In The Air - The Diggity Dudes (My Science Project)
Stinky And Squeaky - Richard Popovic (Huckleberry Party)
What Are the Odds? - Meredith LeVande (What Are the Odds?)
A Sticky Situation - Chris Propfe (When I Was Your Age...)
Change My Luck - The Not-Its! (Time Out To Rock)
The Goat And The Goose - Nadia Sunde (Homespun)
Everybody's Got Their Underwear On - Billy Kelly (Is This Some Kind of Joke?)
Speak The Truth (Featuring Gift Of Gab) - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (Underground Playground)
Hero - The Okee Dokee Brothers (Take It Outside)
Cookies and Milk - Frances England (Mind of My Own)
Pirate Or Parrot? - Flannery Brothers (New Explorers Club)
Gray Dog - Brian Vogan (Sing A Little Song)
Pink City - The Ditty Bops (The Color Album)
Eh La Bas - Oran Etkin (Wake Up Clarinet!)
No Time Like The Present - David Tobocman (Lemonade School)
Sitting Up Straight - Matt Clark (Funnier Little Fella)
This list is random, and, due to internet broadcast rules, you'll hear them randomly on air as well...
]]>'Til now. Late last week, Pandora announced the creation of genre stations, and it includes 4 "family" stations -- "Lullaby," "Toddler," "Tween," and "Children's Folk Songs." The good news is, well, that there are 4 family radio stations on the popular service. And from skimming 3 of the stations (I didn't feel the need to spend my time with "Tween"), they've done a good job picking out songs that match the category. And they do have a mix of big-name (Sesame Street, Disney, Raffi, etc.) and indie (Elizabeth Mitchell, Frances England, Dean Jones).
But what about those kids who need to rock? What about them, huh? Who'll think of the children?!
[Edit: Jeff points out that Pandora's had a series of pre-programmed kids' stations for a couple months. The basic point, though -- that there's no kids rock genre on Pandora's station -- still remains.]
]]>
NYC musician Jeremy Zmuda, AKA Jeremy Plays Guitar has his new album Use Your Words coming out Sept. 28th and while he's had some sound clips from the new album up for a little while, I think, the offer of a free track from the upcoming album is new. While the album features languorous Madeleine Peyroux on a track (not to mention Kirk Douglas from the Roots), the free track -- "Jump So High," featuring Joy Dragland on vocals -- is anything but languorous. Ska for the wee ones -- pick it up here.]]>
In any case, the previously-recorded Mega Music Fest will make its broadcast premiere Labor Day -- Monday, September 6 at 8 PM ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
There were a lot of press clips of the performance available for posting, but unfortunately they're mostly just 30 seconds in length... so here's 30 seconds of the Laurie Berkner Band playing "My Family."
For those of you looking for a little more Laurie time in advance of the show, she'll be part of an online "Mega Music Party" at ParenstConnect on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 11 AM ET.
But there was one clip definitely worth watching even at 30 seconds in length...
]]> Really, the best clip available from the show is actually this self-contained promo featuring Questlove from the Roots and Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba!, which made me chuckle... ]]>Dan Zanes - "House Party Time" (instruction) [YouTube]
]]>
As previously reported, Nick, Jr. greenlighted Season 2 of their show The Fresh Beat Band. And now their "hijinks and high-energy music" (which, y'know, is not a bad description of the show) will be featured in four new Season 2 episodes premiering Monday, Aug. 30 - Thursday, Sept. 2, at 11:30 a.m. ET/PT. And while future episodes promise that the band will "learn and play new styles of music, including Jazz, Conga, Bluegrass and Motown," for now fans will have to be satisfied with these 4 shows.
The Fresh Beat Band - "You Got It" [Posted with permission of Viacom]
PR descriptions of the 4 premiere episodes after the jump. Note: one sentence in each description may be less than totally truthful.
Tuesday, Aug. 31 "Honk Honk" - The Fresh Beats decide to order a new car online. However, when it’s delivered, it comes in 57 boxes and they can't figure out how to put it together. Shout rallies them to put the car together by following the instructions one step at a time to build a rockin’ new car! The state revenue authorities then seize the car for failing to pay use tax.
Wednesday, Sept. 1 "Camping with the Stars" - It's summer and the Fresh Beats go camping and hope to spot a shooting star. They bring their acoustic instruments so they can jam along with the sounds of nature. But it’s Twist’s first time camping and he has a lot to learn – until he saves the day by staying up and spotting shooting stars! However, since the Fresh Beats failed to bring any caffeine, they are totally grumpy the next day.
Thursday, Sept. 2 "Singin' in the Rain" - When it starts raining, Twist, Shout and Kiki run for cover, but the rain sounds inspire Marina to write a new song. When the rain suddenly stops, Marina can't finish her song. Twist, Shout and Kiki help Marina and they create an authentic "rhythm-of-the-rain" sound. In the rain, Marina kicks off a cool song and dance number with everyone wearing bright colored raincoats, hats and carrying umbrellas. The ghost of Gene Kelly shows up and tells the band that they're close to violating copyright infringement statutes.
]]>In spite of all this, The Secret Mountain has put together The Little Blue Doggy, a book lovingly illustrated by Marie Lafrance including a CD with songs by Daunais performed by Canadian musician Michelle Campagne and her family. You can get an idea of what you're in for by watching the video below. (Warning: includes pipe smoking.) The Little Blue Doggy is out in October.
Michelle Campagne and Family - "The Little Blue Doggy" [Vimeo]
The Little Blue Doggy from The Secret Mountain on Vimeo.
(Yay for HTML5!)
]]>The Deedle Deedle Dees with Dean Jones - "Sojourner Truth" [YouTube]
Following the jump, another tune from the show, a raved-up (relatively) version of a track from the Dees' latest album, plus their contribution to Many Hands
]]> The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Tub-Tub-Ma-Ma-Ga-Ga" [YouTube]The Deedle Deedle Dees - "Zora" [YouTube]
]]>Matt Clark: Funnier Little Fella (Aug. 28)
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo: Underground Playground (Aug. 31)
Meredith LeVande: What Are the Odds? (Aug. 31)
Bill Harley: The Best Candy in the Whole World (Sept. 14)
"Doc" Dauer and others: The Body Rocks! (Sept. 14)
Oran Etkin: Wake Up Clarinet (Sept. 14)
The Squeegees: Meet the Squeegees (Sept. 21, Target exclusive)
The Boogers: Title TBA (fall)
Jeremy Zmuda: Title TBA (fall)
Laurie Berkner: Let’s Hear it for The Laurie Berkner Band! DVD (Sept. 28)
Elizabeth Mitchell: Sunny Day (Oct. 5)
Jim Cosgrove: Swimming in Noodles (Oct. 5)
Maria Muldaur: Barnyard Dance: Jug Band Music for Kids (Oct. 12)
Flannery Brothers: The New Explorers Club (Oct. 19)
Keller Williams: Kids (Oct. 26)
Caspar Babypants: This Is Fun! (Nov. 2)
Buckwheat Zydeco: Buckwheat Zydeco's Bayou Boogie (Nov. 2)
Frances England: Mind of My Own (Nov. 9)
Jamie Broza: I Want a Dog (Nov. 23)
David Weinstone: Title TBA (November)
Didi Pop: Didi Pop Goes to Hawaii (Dec. 1)
Meredith LeVande: Monkey Monkey Music: The Videos with Meredith LeVande (DVD, Dec. 1)
Gustafer Yellowgold: Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock (Feb. 22, 2011)
Others working on albums with potential 2010 releases? Lunch Money (Original Friend), Ella Jenkins, Big Don
]]>The Bazillions - "Preposition" [YouTube]
]]>Frances England w/ Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton - "That's What Friends Are For" [YouTube]
After the jump, Mitchell's contribution, featuring a nice violin solo from Mitchell/Littleton (and Jon Langford) compatriot Jean Cook...
]]> Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends - "Bright Morning Stars" [YouTube] ]]>Probably worth 99 cents just for the idea of writing a song called "Bookmobile Submarine" and then talking about microfiche, which is a joke that I think you have to be, like, at least 23 years old to get. Decent animation, it's a fun little 2:30 video.
John Hadfield - "Bookmobile Submarine" [YouTube]
]]>
Billy Kelly is the whoopee cushion of kids music. Last year he stormed (politely) onto the kids music scene with Thank You For Joining the Happy Club, featuring the instant classic "People Really Like Milk" and other songs that usually brought smiles and occasionally laughs to listeners nationwide. For his just-released follow-up Is This Some Sort of Joke?, a self-described musical comedy album, he dials the funny up to 11.
The album starts off with poppy Is This a Joke?, which in just 2 minutes and 45 seconds, exhibits most of the Billy Kelly style -- nifty rhymes, fancy words, and a song you actually have to think about and listen to carefully if you're going to catch every reference. (I've listened to the album at least a half-dozen times, and I still think I've only caught 90% of the humor.) I say "most" of the style, because that song avoids the self-aware humor Kelly employs often. It's OK -- he uses it elsewhere, such as on "Me and My Brand New Haircut," on which Davy Jones sounds like he totally gets the joke. The chorus on the dance tune (natch) "The Dance From Outer Space" is like the best Greek chorus ever. Kelly hits more musical styles than he does on his debut (I especially liked the funk-sampled "Everybody's Got Their Underwear On"), but it's all in service to the lyrics. If you've heard the album, the lyrics "I already told you I can see you," "Thank you for saying you're welcome," "What's wrong with that guy over there," and "Where is the turtle wax?" will bring big smiles to your face. It's a bit darker than Happy Club -- instead of a song called "Springtime: It's My Favorite" there are songs about an alien dance taking over the world and swamp creatures threatening to take over the world -- but nothing too dark.
And "The Legend of Johnny Box," which owes a big debt, unsurprisingly, to the Man in Black. Wow -- it's one of those songs that starts out unassumingly, builds up to something big, then somewhere east of Poughkeepsie takes a turn into something silly, then epically silly, then beyond silly into that realm few people are willing to go. Let's put it this way... it's more than seven and a half minutes long, and it's worth every second.
As with his debut, it's going to be older kids who most appreciate the dense wordplay and humor Kelly packs in here, say ages 7 on up. You can hear some of the songs at his Myspace page or samples of all the tracks here. I should note that the first 1,000 copies of the album in physical format come hand-signed and packaged with an erasable marker and an incredibly dense maze in poster format that might take your kids the better part of an afternoon to work through.
Like some mutant offspring of the Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown songwriting team and Spike Jones (or possibly "Weird Al" Yankovic's cousin), Billy Kelly has written the album that precocious third graders have wanted all their life and just didn't know it. Their parents didn't know it, either, but now they do. No joke -- this is a seriously fun album. Highly recommended.
]]>