We spend most of our time here at Zooglobble talking about the good stuff, in part because there's a lot of it and why spend too much time talking about the bad, y'know?
I present to you the self-titled song from "The Fishy Wishies."
The ears, they bleed, right?
A Gentle Warning...
OK, maybe not a warning, but at least a request.
I really do appreciate that people are excited about the Top Kids Music Albums of All Time Poll and are e-mail folks and putting it on Facebook, et cetera. But as I review submissions, I'm beginning to wonder if some artists are starting to cross the line.
For better and for worse, I tacitly accept the craziness of the KidVid Tournament, where encouraging folks to vote for your video happens (and, you know, it's a competition).
But this poll is something different -- it's not a competition. Look at it this way -- rules for public radio business support are pretty clear -- you can't have qualitative language (e.g., award winning, leading, Pulitzer Prize Winner, etc.) or state facts that cannot be proven, you can't use comparative language (e.g., better, best, oldest, largest, etc.), and you can't have a call to action ("Visit our store…"Call xxx…etc.).
The announcement in Bill Harley's latest e-newsletter was just about perfect, I thought:For those who are just looking for a fun family-music activity, Stefan Shepherd... is looking for your list of top 10 kids albums of all time! Here's your chance to make a wonderful list of all the family music you love and share it with other! It's easy to do and will certainly be fun. Check out the details here!Anything more than that, and I think you've crossed the line. Sure there's qualitative language and calls to action, but none of it is directed at Bill -- it's just a heads-up about the poll. It's like a public service announcement.
So, kids music artists, please don't encourage fans to vote for you. It cheapens the poll, I don't like it at all, and it makes big-eyed puppies very sad.
And everybody else without a stake in the end result, please do vote -- the more people who vote, the better the result will be.The Decemberists Play... Kids Music?
A band whose leadoff single from their latest album featured a narrator singing about how he killed his three kids might not be my first choice for playing for kids. Until you suggest that it's Portland's Decemberists. They're kicking off the "You Who" series, a new monthly "children's rock variety show" co-created by the band's Chris Funk. The second-best part (besides, you know, the Decemberists), is the "beauty salon where kid's [sic] are the stylists and then go on parade!" And if they get Spoon's Britt Daniel to play, I might just have to fly out to Portland.
Update: More details on the series here
And, you know, since International Talk Like a Pirate Day is tomorrow, here's a video from a band I once compared to the Decemberists, Captain Bogg & Salty.
Captain Bogg & Salty - "Pieces of 8ight"
Dan Zanes' 76 Trombones Set for Nov. 17 Release
Dan Zanes' list of guest artists would make just about anybody envious -- Suzanne Vega, the Blind Boys of Alabama, the Kronos Quartet, just to name a diverse few.
Well, the Broadway album Zanes previously mentioned now has a name (76 Trombones), a release date (November 17), and a guest list that just adds diversity -- Carol Channing, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Matthew Broderick, Broadway stars all.
The album reflects songs from MPL Communications' extensive library of Broadway songs and will include “Hello Dolly” (featuring Carol Channing, of course), “I Like Everybody” (from The Most Happy Fella with Mitchell), “I Don’t Need Anything But You” (from Annie), “I Can Do That” (from A Chorus Line), “Before the Parade Passes By” (from Hello Dolly with Broderick), and “Tomorrow, Mañana” (from Annie). Plus a bunch of other guest artists. No word on which Meredith Willson track Zanes is playing...
Given that Zanes hasn't even formally released his next album (the Fine Friends Are Here DVD) before finalizing this release, I'm kinda thinking he needs a nice vacation.
Kids Music Fights H1N1 Flu
That's right, folks, nothing like the onset of the cold and flu season as an excuse to watch two excellent kids music videos.
The first is "Nice 'N' Clean," and it's from Chromeo, a band that you will not typically listen to with your kids. But Yo Gabba Gabba has a way of getting folks to do all sorts of songs you wouldn't expect. This song is all about washing your hands, and has a funky synthesized video to go along with the funky synthesizers. There's no embedding, but it's worth going here and watching it with the kiddos.
And then, yeah, you have to do the elephant.
The Jimmies - "Do The Elephant" [YouTube, also on the forthcoming Trying Funny Stuff DVD]
Concert Recap: Chuck Cheesman (Phoenix, September 2009)
Another fun set of shows at the Children's Museum of Phoenix this past weekend, this time featuring Flagstaff's Chuck Cheesman. The set we saw was a nice mix of originals, familiar tunes (Woody Guthrie, the Beatles, Joel Frankel), and movement stuff appropriate for preschoolers. To avoid copyright concerns, Chuck and I decided not to post covers. Unfortunately, that's usually when I happened to push "record" on my Flip. Little Boy Blue deleted another video, leaving me with this. It's not that I don't like this particular song (the last time we saw Chuck, we said "Ahoooooooy, mateys. Arrrrrgh!" for, like, a month). It's just that it doesn't quite show off his wonderful voice to best effect. Anyway, those of you in preschool (OK, and those that mind them) will appreciate this.
For Arizona-area folks, Chuck's playing (as is Laura Freeman) at the Pickin' in the Pines festival up in Flagstaff this weekend. Weather should be awesome.
Chuck Cheesman - "The Pirate Song" [YouTube]
