"Glycerine" Is Really A Kids Song: Gavin Rossdale on "Rock Star Dads"

OK, not really. Gavin Rossdale, the former lead singer for Bush, who's now a solo artist and parent with Gwen Stefani, chatted with NPR's Rob Sachs on being a "rock star dad." Best quote: When Sachs asks Rossdale what he does when his son asks about the dicier lyrics in his tunes, he says "sometimes I'll tell him in Spanish." I'm amused mostly by the idea that "what music would you play for your kids" is a decision that is somehow dangerous enough that it's for a blog devoted to "life's most trying dilemmas, but not those life-or-death dilemmas, more the quandaries we face every day... the personal territory others fear to tread." Um, not really. I spend a lot of time thinking and listening to kids music and music with kids, but it's not something worth overthinking for, like, the rest of the world. Not to mention pretty easy.

I Don't Recall My Elementary School(s) Rocking Like This

Nor were the faculty or guest musical artists nearly so nattily attired. Nascent Seattle band The Not-Its! played a set at an elementary school in Seattle recently (one of their members, Tom Baisden, teaches at the school) and preserved a couple of the performances on video for posterity. In general (not just here), I'm really digging their crunchy power-poppy goodness and lyrics for the under 4-foot set. And here, they make the kids go all boppity. Here's the band running through their theme song, "We Are The Not-Its!" One more video...

Kevin Bacon Is A Kids' Musician, Too

Nell Minow is known online as The Movie Mom, a role in which she's basically doing what I do for kids' music, except she does it for movies and has done it for at least twice as long as I have. Anyway, she doesn't just watch movies; late last week Nell was nice enough to include me in her list of Top 10 Family Entertainment Blogs. And sure Warren was on her list as well, but I feel pretty sure that Warren isn't two degrees of separation away from Minow, as I (and she) discovered after chatting via e-mail. Small world, I guess.

What Kind of [Fill In The Blank] Are You?

Last night on Kids Place Live, "re-percussionist" Billy Jonas made an appearance plugging his upcoming family CD Happy Accidents (due out next month). And for those of you who find "What Kind of Cat Are You?" ridiculously compelling ("Kat..hmandu"), you're in luck -- there's a sequel. "What Kind of Dog Are You" makes an appearance, and on the radio, Jonas went through a whole list of animals (e.g., cows), not just dogs. Clearly, Jonas has stumbled upon a song format which he'll probably be playing for, like, the next 20 years. In case this confuses you, watch (OK, just listen) to this:

Video: "The Alphabet Song" - Big Don

One of the very few disappointments of this year's trek to the Austin City Limits Festival is that I didn't get to see Austin's own Big Don perform at the Austin Kiddie Limits stage. I hear he had a nice crowd, as the local act usually draws well. Anyway, he just posted a video for his "The Alphabet Song" track. It's a simply produced video and the song goes on maybe 30 seconds long, perhaps, but it's one of the better alphabet-based songs I've heard, and for an ex-Austinite, it's got some nice shots of the Austin skyline (taken, if I judge my directions correctly, not too far away from the Austin City Limits Fest stages... Big Don - "The Alphabet Song"