Veteran rock musicians’ sudden interest in making more family-friendly music is intriguing, but it does seem to make sense. There are fewer traditional rock stars out there today and more career, underground/indie label musicians raising families. As today’s generation of musical parents spend more time with their offspring, you can’t blame them for wanting to create an edgier alternative to traditional children’s music. I think they’re on to something. In fact, the stuff on Play and Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild World is cool enough that indie-rock-loving, non-parents could really get into it.
Download/Stream - Georgie James “Grizzly Jive” MP3 from Play
Download /Stream - Channels with Damon Locks “Always Check For Holes” MP3 from Play
Track List for Play:
1. Anna Oxygen “Born to Shake”
2. Channels with Damon Locks “Always Check for Holes”
3. Georgie James “The Grizzly Jive”
4. Sgt. Major “Nellie the Elephant”
5. Mudhoney “I Like to Make Noise and Break Things”
6. Mock Orange “Holiday Dinner Song”
7. Mirah and Tara Jane O’Neill “Green Up Time”
8. Young Fresh Fellows “Picnic”
9. Mary Timony “Clap Your Hands”
10. Soccer Team “I’ll Never Fear Ghosts Again”
11. Supersuckers “Rubber Biscuit”
12. The Cassettes “Truck on (Truck)”
13. Ben Davis & The Jetts “Bouncin’ Party”
14. Visqueen “Centerfield”
Track List for Gustafer Yellowgold’s Wide Wild Word:
1. Cooler World
2. I’m From the Sun
3. Tiny Purple Moon
4. Your Eel
5. My Dragon
6. Pterodactyl Tuxedo
7. Mint Green Bee
8. I Jump On Cake
9. New Blue Star
10. Rocket Shoes (Bonus Track)
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
Congrats! A link to this profile now appears on our Myspace Profile!
2 - Holly Hughes
I'm of two minds about this trend.
As a children's book writer, I've recently seen loads of big-name writers/celebs (Madonna, Jerry Seinfeld) drive out the specialists in the genre -- they're much easier for the publishers to market, so who cares whether these interlopers really understand how to write for children? It's particularly bad because they write those books off-handedly, as if "anybody can write for little kids." In fact there IS an art to it, and I resent having it belittled. And I resent having a proposal turned down because the publisher just spent a fortune on a celebrity children's book instead.
However, as a parent, I know I could throw up if I had to listen to another Raffi or Kidsbop record. Fresh, edgier product is welcome. My kids loved the They Might Be Giants stuff, but then, we'd had them listening to TMBG for a couple of years already. The line between their kid music and their regular stuff is fairly thin. You can't say the same for every band.
I just hope this won't be too crowded a bandwagon. The day Snoop Dogg records "Doggy Lullabies" will be a sad day for all of us.