What Your Kids are Listening To: Justin Bieber
Posted on Feb 24
If you have a young daughter between the ages of 8 and 13 you have definitely heard of Justin Bieber. He’s a baby faced singer who can shut down a mall with severe pandemonium on a single visit. His most recent hit climbing the charts is “Baby” and it features Ludacris rapping on it. When I heard that Usher had signed this little guy to his label, I was quick to dismiss him and his music because I felt it was going to be another slick youngster singing about things he had no experience with. I was only half right. Bieber’s “Baby” is definitely an overproduced attempt at a hit single especially with the rap verse, but at its core the song is an innocent track about young love. If you listen to the stripped down version without all the voice affectation, it could even pass as a throwback to those simple pop songs about love from the sixties. Pass on the studio version and give Bieber a chance. Your daughter will think you’re the coolest parent alive.
Great Kid Bands – Los Gauchos
Posted on Dec 03Sometimes words can’t do justice. Just watch this awesome Argentinian metal trio (with special guest vocals by their 3 year-old niece) take on Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” to see for yourself. Rock on, kiddos!
Want to learn more about this great kid band who have become an internet phenomenon? Read an Esquire interview with them here!
Learn about more great kid bands here.
Great Kid Bands – Da Hip Hop Raskalz
Posted on Jul 27
Dave Soldier is one of my favorite ambassadors of the world of music. He travels the world working with pretty much every kind of person (and animal – the man has recorded and released a CD of elephant music) in the world, and the results of his experiments are universally fantastic.
One of the best is the CD he developed with East Harlem grade school students. Soldier teaches the kids every step of the recording process, from drum programming and sampling to lyric writing and rapping. The results are spectacular, professional-sounding joints with amazing lyrics about candy, dinosaurs, and life in New York City. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
For more info, visit: http://www.mulatta.org/dhhraskalz.html
New Children’s Music From Rick Springfield and Ziggy Marley
Posted on Jul 21A number of grown-up musicians are dipping their toes into the kiddie pool this year, with varying levels of success. Here’s my quick overview of recent releases.
Rick Springfield – My Precious Little One: Lullabies For A New Generation
The “Jessie’s Girl” singer is long past his teen idol days, with a pair of sons in their twenties. This album, which contains newly recorded versions of songs he wrote for his kids when they were infants, is a far cry from the bombastic arena pop that he’s normally known for. The ten songs are remarkably gentle, sweet, and soothing, and Springfield’s voice works well with the subdued material. I think all parents make up songs for their kids (I know I do), but they’re rarely as memorable as these.
Ziggy Marley – Family Time
Reggae is just naturally kid-friendly music – the relaxed tempos, bouncing bass lines and fun sound effects grab kids by the ears and don’t let go. So it’s no surprise that the first kids’ album from Ziggy Marley, the heir to the throne of reggae legend Bob Marley, would be a success. “Family Time” is solid from top to bottom – almost. The album is full of guest stars, including a great Paul Simon spot, but who had the bright idea to close it out with not one but two Jamie Lee Curtis spoken word pieces? They fall embarrassingly flat and leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Bob Marley – B Is For Bob
Ziggy is sadly less successful on this other project, in which he remixes eight of his father’s best-loved songs to better suit younger ears. While a few of the tracks benefit from the tinkering, the majority of them were better (and just as kid-friendly) in their original incarnations. Most of Marley’s music is sonically fine for kids, so you’re better off going for the originals – or the Rockabye Baby Marley volume. One notable exception on this album is “Jamming,” which adds a crazy, danceable energy to the tune, but it’s not enough to recommend the record.
Great Kid Bands – Old Skull
Posted on May 11
Punk rock is tailor-made for kids to play – it’s a lot easier to bash out one-chord anthems when you’re hopped up on Sugar Smacks (as opposed to the other kind). The greatest prepubescent punk band of all time, of course, was Madison, Wisconsin’s legendary Old Skull.
Founded by ten year old J.P. Toulon and his nine year old brother Jamie, the pair recruited two friends and released the band’s debut, “Get Outta Skool” in 1989. Unfortunately, drummer Graham Lindsey’s parents gave him a month of detention for playing with the band without their permission, and the group split up soon after.
Tackling issues from homelessness to hot dogs, rumors swirled that the Toulon brothers had a little ghostwriting help from their father Vern, but the inept sludge punk was 100% kid-generated.
Great Kid Bands – Jr. And His Soulettes
Posted on May 01
For every Jackson Five that comes from the diabolical union of a Svengali father and a group of musically talented offspring, there’s a dozen other kid bands that don’t make it. One of my all-time favorites is Jr. & His Soulettes, a sibling quartet from Oklahoma.
The oldest member of the group, Harold Moore Jr, gets top billing, and his guitar plucking isn’t bad for a pre-teen as he leads his three sisters (on drums, bass and “waw-waw organ”) through fourteen original songs including the immortal “Thing, Do The Creep” and “Momma Love Tequila.”
Only three hundred copies of the album were pressed in 1971, and legend has it most of them were ruined from being shrinkwrapped on a meatpacking machine! Thankfully, a CD reissue bubbled up from the underground for all true fans of garage kid funk.
Listen here.
