It's pretty simple, really. There's a big yellow truck goin' down the road. It's a long road. Rebecca Frezza drives the truck, the band piles in the back. (They're standing and playing instruments, which seems like not the safest method of travel, but the truck is animated and smiling, so I guess it's OK.) Lots of colors, cute animation, and a flute solo. Not complicated, but it works. The video's also on the band's new EP, Rockin', Ridin' and Rollin', out later this fall and which features Sesame Street's Gordon, Roscoe Orman, on the cool, instruction-following "Hey-O."
Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck - "Big Truck" [YouTube]
In Memoriam: Sam Hinton
When I first heard of the death of singer/folklorist/cartoonist/marine biologist Sam Hinton today, the first person I thought of was NPR's Melissa Block, who in one of my chats with her showed her enthusiasm for an album from her own childhood, Whoever Shall Have Good Peanuts. The album was re-released in 2006 on Smithsonian Folkways (review) and was a fine example just how far a good voice, a guitar, and a sense of humor could get you. In Hinton's case, really far.
I shouldn't have been surprised, then, when later today I heard Block chat on the air with Leanne Hinton, one of Sam Hinton's daughters, on Hinton's passing at age 92 last Thursday. By any measure, Sam Hinton led a full and wonderful life, managing to raise a family, give concerts, and help run the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. But of course, as is so often (sadly) the case, it takes someone's passing to truly appreciate a life, and that's the case here...
Video: "Put It To the Test" - They Might Be Giants
All things considered, "Meet The Elements" is my favorite video off They Might Be Giants' Here Comes Science DVD/CD. (I'll post that one some day when it gets stripped of all the Boing Boing folderol.)
But "Put It To the Test" is -- hands down (whatever that means) -- the funniest.
They Might Be Giants - "Put It To the Test" [YouTube]
Video (and mp3): "The Fine Friends Are Here" - Dan Zanes and Friends
As previously noted, Dan Zanes' next DVD, The Fine Friends Are Here, will be out next week. Zanes and his (fine) friends were recorded live at Brooklyn's Jalopy Theatre, and, yeah, they're all up there on that tiny stage.
Want the audio from the title track in a nice, portable mp3 format? Well, here you go. (Thanks, Razor and Tie!) For those of you more visually-oriented, check out the DVD video below. Like I said, tiny stage...
Dan Zanes and Friends - "The Fine Friends Are Here" [Myspace]
Dan Zanes and Friends - The Fine Friends Are Here
(You're also welcome to go here and order the disk with free shipping through the 22nd. Just enter "ZANESDVD" at checkout.)
(You're also welcome to go here and order the disk with free shipping through the 22nd. Just enter "ZANESDVD" at checkout.)
The First Gentle Reminder About the Top Kids Music Albums of All Time Poll
The reminders will probably become less and less gentle as the October 7 deadline for submitting your list of the top 10 kids music albums of all time approaches, but for now, I'll just say that I appreciate the number of folks who have already sent me their lists. And I also would like to thank Elizabeth Bird at Fuse #8 (whose idea for a Top 100 Picture Books poll she borrowed from someone else just as I borrowed from her) and the folks at friend-of-Zooglobble the Cybils Awards (a really great resource for keeping up on the best kids books of the year) for their nice words.
Go vote already (click on pic for details). No pressure, of course.Concert Recap: Todd Baio (Phoenix, September 2009)
A fun show this afternoon from Phoenix's own Todd Baio -- a whole host of instruments (you ain't lived 'til you've heard a "can-jo") and songs going back 150 years (or 500 if you count "Froggy Went A Courtin'"). Definitely a fun kickoff to the 2009-2010 season for the "Not Just For Kids" Concert series. Lots more to come over the next few months. Anyway, here's "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel," with a couple more familiar tunes after the jump (as soon as YouTube cooperates). More videos at the concert series' Facebook page.
Todd Baio - "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" [YouTube]
