Songs For Playgrounds

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). And while you're at it, why don't you visit my playground blog? 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)

Radio Playlist: New Music September 2010

It's been awhile since my last Zooglobble Radio Station update. A bunch of music has crossed my desk over the past month or two, so much so I'm already working on October. This playlist airs in the mid-afternoons (West Coast time), but if you can't listen in the afternoon, the tracks are scattered throughout the day, too. 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...

Pandora Likes Kids, Rock, Kid Rock, But Not Kids Rock

Though I've been a Pandora member for many years now, I've never particularly listened much to the music there. Part of that may be that I have enough music to listen to, family and otherwise. The other part is that I know other folks love the often surprising song selections -- but that's not me. I want my radio experience to be more guided than Pandora's been. '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.]

Share: "Jump So High" - Jeremy Plays Guitar

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.

Laurie Berkner, Questlove, and Mega Music Fest

OK. Let's get it out of the way -- the cutest/oddest thing about Nick's Mega Music Fest are these backstage/VIP passes. I can't decide if they're exclusionary because, y'know, not everybody gets to go backstage, or inclusionary because, y'know, everybody can make one. 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...

Instructional Video: "House Party Time" - Dan Zanes

Dan Zanes continues on his family band promotional endeavors. As noted last month, he's started a series of YouTube music lessons covering his favorite songs. This week, it's "House Party Time," off House Party. As with his other lessons, they're not for the beginner, but even a beginner would appreciate the detailed explanation of what is probably Zanes' most famous family music riff, the bass run from the beginning of the song... Dan Zanes - "House Party Time" (instruction) [YouTube]