Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Music For Kids

Sadly, there are people out there who do not like kid's music. Daniel sent me an article today about this very subject, where the author complained about bands such as The Wiggles and the Laurie Berkner Band. Personally, I think kid's music has taken quite a turn since my Raffi days (over 20 years ago). There's actually some very good music out there for kids these days. Not that Raffi wasn't good. I'm just saying that his songs get stuck in your head in a bad way, and now there are kid's songs that get stuck in your head in a good way.

So why, then, does McDonald's insist on putting CDs like Kidz Bop in their Happy Meals?? Abby rarely gets Happy Meals these days, since we're trying not to eat fast food that much. Well, the other day I gave in and bought the kids Happy Meals. Inside I find that CD. And do you know what was on that CD? Songs about boyfriends and money, but sung by kids. There was even one controversial song on the CD that is arguably about a very adult feeling. In other words - nothing that I want my kids to hear.

But, back to the good kid's music. Here are a few of my favorites, along with some new ones that the article introduced me to.

The first one, by The Board of Education, actually addresses a great mystery that I've pondered since I was five...




Now for one of my absolute favorite children's musicians, Dan Zanes. He's pretty awesome, and you can catch his videos every now and then on the Disney Channel, then head to Starbucks to buy them!



And my favorite Dan Zanes song, "Smile":




Now a favorite from my teenage years - Reality Bites, anyone? Here's Lisa Loeb, now doing kid's stuff:




Even though I'm pretty sure this is the type of kid's music that the article was condemning, I really like this song. The kids and I love to sing it, and look forward to hearing it every day on Noggin.




Maybe on Halloween I'll share my favorite Candy Corn song with you guys! Until then, open your eyes up a little bit to kid's music. It's fun, almost always about a positive subject matter, and I don't think you'll have to worry too much about curse words (!).

Are there any other good ones I missed?

1 comments:

Tina said...

OH my -- YES!! The Imagination Movers rock!!! They were a band before Disney gave 'em their own little show -- which, by the by, is also pretty good -- and their CDs rock. We especially love Juice Box Heroes at our house; "Please and Thankyou" is positively addictive. There are also a few good tunes from They Might Be Giants, but some of that stuff is downright weird.

 
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