I'm starting to do a better job updating the
Zooglobble Radio station -- eventually I'll be updating the station's playlist (or a portion thereof) every week or so. This week's update is the first in a regular series called "Kindiegarten" -- songs about an ostensibly teachable subject, but selected mostly for their tunefulness. The debut playlist features songs about the alphabet, though that definition is stretched a bit to include a few songs that just happen to spell words out and a few songs about books. Yeah, homeschools and preschools should probably use this as music to play during the
breaks in their learning.
By the way, you can see when particular programs air by perusing the station schedule
here. This particular playlist airs in the morning for an hour, but the songs are also scattered throughout the day.
Playlist: Kindiegarten - Alphabet
Animal Alphabet Song - Alan Mills (
Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection)
Crazy ABCs - Barenaked Ladies (
Snack Time!)
S-N-O-W-M-A-N (Snowman!) - Billy Kelly (
Thank You For Joining the Happy Club)
Alphabet! - The Biscuit Brothers (
Family Favorites)
Alligators All Around - Carole King (
Really Rosie)
Let The S Go - Caspar Babypants (
Here I Am!)
Alphabet Dub - Elizabeth Mitchell (
You Are My Sunshine)
ABC's - Ella Jenkins (
Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection)
The Book I Like To Read - Frances England (
Fascinating Creatures)
My Dog Has Fleas - Heidi Swedberg and the Sukey Jump Band (
Play!)
A Counting Error - John Upchurch and Mark Greenberg (
John And Mark's Children's Record)
Favorite Names - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (
Rise And Shine)
ABCD Medley - Laurie Berkner (
Whaddaya Think Of That?)
I Love My Library - Lunch Money (
Dizzy)
Don't Look, I'm Making A Book - Monty Harper & Mr. Billy (
Let's Get Creative)
Dictionary - Muckafurgason (
Greasy Kid Stuff 2 - More Songs From Inside The Radio)
Bingo - Neil Bartoleit (
Wiggleworms Love You)
ABC - The Nields (
Rock All Day, Rock All Night)
L-U-C-K-Y - Opus Ditty And The Hoedown Gang (
Let's Go Fishing)
ABC's - Ralph Covert (
Ralph's World)
Apples & Bananas - Susie Tallman, Peter Maslen, Mark O'Connor (
Children's Songs, A Collection of Childhood Favorites)
Consonants - The Terrible Twos (
Jerzy The Giant)
Z Y X - They Might Be Giants (
Here Come The ABCs)
B.A.T.H - We Are The Not Its (
We Are The Not Its)
ABC - Ziggy Marley (
Family Time)
Due to internet radio broadcast restrictions, songs are broadcast randomly and displayed her in (iTunes-based) alphabetical order.
When I went to Austin in March to speak at SXSW, I of course saw literally dozens of performances during the rest of my time there. One of my favorites -- if not the favorite -- was that of Jeremy Messersmith, a Minnesota artist whose set on a chilly night at Central Presbyterian Church managed to both capture that chill and defy it in equal measure.
So what does this have to do with this website? Well, Zooglobble has always been a little idiosyncratic in reflecting my tastes (while it may cover a lot of artists it doesn't cover them all), and I've been listening to Messersmith's new album The Reluctant Graveyard (out tomorrow, May 4) a bunch since I was provided a copy of it a few weeks back. It's a great album, and thirteen big hit songs about death - perfect for a kids music website, right?
Well, beyond the album's appeal to adults, Messersmith has, for 3 years in a row, played Minnesota's 89.3 (The Current) Rock the Cradle event for kids alongside such artists as Adam Levy and Haley Bonar who've recorded for music for kids. So I thought it might be interesting to get a bit of a perspective on playing music for kids from someone who doesn't do it very often. Read on for Messersmith's thoughts on his musical upbringing, philosophical rambling, and the surprising lack of interest in Kermit the Frog and Spongebob Squarepants.
Zooglobble: What were some of your formative musical experiences?
Jeremy Messersmith: Well, I started the recorder at 5, maybe? I think "Baa Baa Black Sheep" was my first song.
I listened to a lot of church music - hymns, praise songs, and the like. The great thing about all that is that it's participatory. My dad would be in the front row, playing trombone; I was 3 or 4 when I was playing a wood block. They took inspiration from that Biblical text -- "Make a joyful noise" -- and thought everybody should join in.
When did you decide to become a songwriter?
Pretty late - not until college. But a friend of mine when I was a kid found me and sent me a copy of a song I "scaffolded" when I was 8 - I put new lyrics to an old melody. "A beast, a beast, rising in the east...". I must've been a jackass when I was a kid.
So how did Rock the Cradle come about?
Ninety-one years old today. I'm pretty sure that looking up the phrase "national treasure" in the dictionary will turn up a picture of 
