Listen To This: We're a Club in the Woods - Bears and Lions

I've already talked about how Florida's Bears and Lions strode into Kindiefest 2013 and knocked us all over with their slightly anarchic energy.

Well, it's taken nearly a year, but their debut album We're a Club in the Woods can now be streamed so everyone can hear for themselves their gloriously goofy stories about pancakes and dogs and much more.  (Official album release is in mid-May.)

At the very least, give "Pancakes" (the first track) a spin with your kids and tell me at least one of you isn't shouting "PAN-CAKE SWEEP-STAKES" by the end.

KidVid 2014 Tournament Semifinal #1: Alison Krauss vs. Frances England

Well, the voting for the initial stage of the 2014 edition of the KidVid Tournament from my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013 has ended and the top vote-getters are (alphabetically)...

Duke Otherwise - "Brussels Sprout Shout!"

Frances England - "Day You Were Born"

Karen K and the Jitterbugs - "(I Woke Up in a) Firetruck"

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm"

But there's little time for the four of them to rest on their laurels as we move directly in the final, er, four.  Semifinal #1 features Frances England's stop-motion collage video (from Antonina Clarke) for "Day You Were Born" from Blink of an Eye going up against a bunny's courageous trip home in Keith Boynton's video for Alison Krauss' "End of a Summer Storm" from Sandra Boynton's Frog Trouble.

As always, the rules are brief and simple:

1) One vote per family.

2) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Thursday night West Coast time.

3) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, watch both videos and vote!

Frances England - "Day You Were Born" [YouTube]

Alison Krauss (via Sandra Boynton) - "End of a Summer Storm" [YouTube]

My Annual Post About "Felt Around the World"

A couple years ago -- exactly two years ago, April 1, 2012, I shared one of my favorite all-time posts here on the site, the world premiere of "Felt Around the World," which was "We Are the World" for a new (puppet) generation.

Last year I shared how the song had generated hundreds of dollars for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  Now, I'm happy to report that the world's greatest song performed by Fabricated Americans has generated thousands of dollars for St. Jude's.  That's right, thanks to album sales and radio plays, we (that is, me and the folks at Recess Monkey, who coordinated the video and the musical contributions from our puppet friends) have now contributed more than $2,200 to St. Jude's.

Contributions keep trickling in, and you can still purchase the track at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon.  Thanks again to everyone who produced, purchased, or listened to the song.  Enjoy -- I still smile when I watch and listen today.

Hand Aid - "Felt Around the World" [YouTube]

KidVid Tournament 2014!

Yes, it's back.  The Internet's favorite almost meaningless bracket-based competition featuring kindie videos!

IT'S KIDVID TIME!  (Let's get ready to.... wait, is that phrase trademarked?)

Anyway, in hopes of reducing the amount of craziness and time KidVid Tournament takes up of my life, I'm running the whole thing this year.... and dramatically reducing the participants.  How am I doing that?  Well, I'm not doing that at all.

You are.

Just fill out the survey below with your 4 favorite kids music videos of 2013-ish (as selected by me in my list of favorite kids music videos of 2013).  The quick rules:

1) You must pick 4 -- no more, no less.

2) One vote per family.

3) Deadline to vote is 8 PM Wednesday night West Coast time.

4) Top 4 videos move on to the semifinals.

5) Be nice, play fair, have fun, don't get obsessed with it.

With that, let's watch and vote!

Weekly Summary (3/17/14 - 3/30/14)

Baseball Songs for Kids (2014 Update)

It's been about 3 years since I last posted a list of baseball songs for kids, and it's time I updated it, methinks.  Unfortunately, my team is winless even though the season hasn't even started yet, but why should that dampen your kids'  enthusiasm for America's pastime?

As always, leave comments below -- i.e., additional suggestions -- if you've got 'em...

-- "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (well, duh) -- try Wiggleworms Love You, from the Old Town School of Folk Music (nicely bipartisan, cheering for both the Cubs and White Sox), or also the Hold Steady's version.

-- "Baseball Dreams" -- off At the Bottom of the Sea, by Ralph's World (Cubs all the way in this one)

-- "I'm Gonna Catch You" -- off Under a Shady Tree, by Laurie Berkner (it has one relevant line -- "So I jumped into Saturday / And I had a baseball batter-day" -- yes, this one's a bit of a stretch)

-- "Pop Fly" -- off Justin Roberts' album by the same name, about a daydreaming boy playing the outfield...

-- "Centerfield" -- off Centerfield, by John Fogerty (not kids' music, but a great song anyway). See also Visqueen's rendition on the Desoto Records kidscomp Play!

-- "Talkin' Baseball -- off countless albums by Terry Cashman, who just re-recorded and updated his song every few years -- baseball history lesson in 3 minutes

-- "Big Train" -- off the RTT's Turn It Up Mommy!. About Walter "Big Train" Johnson. I'd probably disagree that he's the best pitcher ever, but that's another blog. Good song.

-- "Right Field" -- Peter, Paul and Mary.

-- "Cryin' in the Dugout" -- off Daddy-A-Go-Go's Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate album. A humorous song, "Baseball Dreams" played for laughs instead of nostalgia.

-- "The Greatest" -- Kenny Rogers.

-- "Roll Around" -- Peter Himmelman, off of his My Lemonade Stand CD. A fun, rollicking song about a baseball who retires, then comes back to his true calling.

-- "Baseball Tips with Professor Buckley -- Peter Himmelman, My Green Kite, an amusing little spoken-word piece.

-- "Baseball" -- Milkshake, off Play!. Guest-starring Cal Ripkin, Jr.

-- "The Challenger Baseball Song" -- Ben Rudnick and Friends. All about the Challenger Division of Little League, for kids with mental and physical disabilities.

-- "Baseball, Baseball" -- Stephen Cohen, off Here Comes the Band.

-- "Hey! Batter!" -- Hank Cooper, from Playground Fortune Teller -- all about the language of baseball...

-- "High Five" -- They Might Be Giants (at least in part anyway, and the video features some baseball players -- and c'mon, the team sponsored a Little League baseball team...)

-- "Bruce Springstone's" version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

-- Kathy Kallick's "brilliant refashioning" of Count Basie's "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball"

-- "Bring 'Em In" -- the Deedle Deedle Dees (off their American History + Rock 'n' Roll = The Deedle Deedle Dees album)

-- "I Love Baseball" -- Jim Cosgrove (off Ooey Gooey)

-- "Home Run Ronnie" -- Debbie and Friends (off More Story Songs and Sing-Alongs)

-- "Lullabye with Baseball and Trains" - Peter Himmelman (off My Trampoline)

-- "Cool Papa Bell" -- The Deedle Deedle Dees (off Strange Dees Indeed, watch an early Lloyd Miller rendition here)

-- "Tommy Got in Trouble Today" -- the Bazillions (off Rock 'n' Roll Recess)

-- "Not So Good at Baseball" -- Barry Louis Polisar (off Old Enough to Know Better)

-- "Catfish" -- off Bob Dylan's Bootleg Series. I am unfamiliar with this one. But it's Dylan.

-- "Joe DiMaggio’s Done it Again" -– Wilco and Billy Bragg, from their Mermaid Ave Vol. 2 (not "kids music," per se, but totally OK.  Great, even)

-- "A Dying Cubs Fan’s Last Request" –- Steve Goodman. See "Talkin' Baseball," above.

-- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- Brave Combo.  It's Brave Combo, how could it not be fun?

-- "Jackie" -- Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band (from Lishy Lou and Lucky Too).

-- "My Baseball Bat" -- The Boogers (Let's Go)

-- "Jackie Robinson -- Ellis Paul (The Hero in You)