Kidrockers: Indie Rock Concerts For Kids
Posted on Mar 09
So you want to expose your kid to live music but you don’t want to have to sit through cheesy kid’s music concerts with songs about balloons and happy places. You can’t take them to most rock shows because, let’s face it, the sound is way too loud, the crowd too rowdy, and the second-hand smoke just may give them a second-hand high as well. What to do? Check out Kidrockers, which puts on all-ages indie rock shows that are kid friendly as well as cool. From their site: “These all ages shows are designed to bring families together to experience some of the most engaging and vital artists in indie music and comedy.” But be warned, childless music lovers: all adults must be accompanied by a kid (and vice versa)!
Past shows have included performances by Silversun Pickups (doing an acoustic set with kids storming the stage), Neon Indian and Nada Surf. There are upcoming shows in Chicago on March 13, Los Angeles on March 14 and New York on March 21. It’s a chance to introduce your kid to some great indie music about to go mainstream. You’ll enjoy it just as much as your children.
Prince VS Spell Check: War of the Words
Posted on Feb 16
Teachers complain that most teenagers today rely on Spell Check instead of learning proper spelling, but I would argue that the true culprit is Prince. Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958, the man is responsible for some of the greatest pop music of the last 30 years. He’s given us “Purple Rain,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.” He also wrote “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “I Would Die 4 U.” For some reason Prince does not like to spell things out.
It began with his 1982 album 1999, with a track called “All The Critics Love U in New York.” Since then it has gone downhill, even calling his 1999 album Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic. The worst example of Prince reworking the English language was probably his latest album in 2009 which he called LOtUSFLOW3R. At this point it seems Prince has given up on letters altogether and is attempting to spell using numbers. Prince’s reach has spilled over to the next generation as Fall Out Boy took it to another level when they released “Thnks fr th Mmrs” off their 2007 album, Infinity on High. That doesn’t even sound correct.
It is safe to say that no other musical performer alive today is able to make a guitar do what Prince can make it do and for that reason alone it’s worth letting your kids hear his awesome music (but make sure it’s the clean songs.) Just try and keep them away from the track listings and album covers when listening to UR music.
Lullaby Renditions of Journey Out Today!
Posted on Feb 09
Don’t stop believing in peace and quiet! Visit your favorite cool baby boutique or our website to get yours.
Check out this exclusive full-length sneak peek of our new addition and let us know what you think.
Don’t Stop Believin’
The Seven Dwarves Rock Out with Los Lobos
Posted on Feb 03In what has to be one of the most exciting children’s albums of the year, L.A.’s own Los Lobos put on mouse ears to take on classic Disney songs in their inimitable, Latin-flavored, guitar-driven style. Check out this great video of Los Lobos rockin’ Epcot Center with the Seven Dwarves! Grumpy’s having so much fun, he’ll have to change his name.
Stuff We Like: Learn to Speak Music by Broken Social Scene’s John Crossingham
Posted on Nov 16
Have you ever wanted a good way to get your kids more involved with music? We think we may have found just the thing: Learn to Speak Music: A Guide to Creating, Performing, and Promoting Your Songs, written by the singer-songwriter John Crossingham of the popular Canadian indie band Broken Social Scene. “Learn to Speak Music helps kids learn the simplicity of this universal language by exposing every nook and cranny of how music is made.” Playlists are listed throughout the book to offer examples of musical elements such as dynamics, lyrics, classic live performances, and to demonstrate the difference between lo-fi and hi-fi. We are also eager to see the tips in the margin from musical artists (and fellow Broken Social Scene members) such as Feist, Emily Haines and Kevin Drew. Pick up a copy of the book and help your children discover the exciting world of music!
p.s. Help out with the learning process by creating a mixtape of the songs from each playlists then sit down with your kids and explore them together.
Ghostly Sounds: A Brief History of the Halloween Record
Posted on Oct 22Now please welcome our newest guest blogger, Keith Winton, who will be joining Lorelei and the crew at Lullaby World Headquarters to share his perspective on cool and odd kids music and activities. Just in time for Halloween, his post on classic spooky sound effects records should bring back some memories:
I believe that the Halloween recording is truly a lost art form. During the 70’s and 80’s hundreds of LPs were issued capitalizing on the kids horror market, chock full of tape echo and theremin and packaged in garish and cartoony images meant to grab youngsters attention. Every October, the rack jobbers would stock the wire racks next to the checkout at the local Thrifty’s with these LPs, forcing mom or dad into many an impulse purchase. Pickwick Records, a label who fed entirely on cheap fads, issued quite a few greats. Both the Legend of Sleepy Hollow / Rip Van Winkle (a personal childhood favorite) read by Boris Karloff and the outright terrifying Sounds Of Terror LP were issued buy Pickwick. The comic book tie in label Power Records issued many book & 45 sets featuring Dracula, Wolf Man and other infamous characters. They also issued LP sized collections of the stories.
Peter Pan records issued super low budget kids records. The quality was all over the map. During his terrible twos, my son’s favorite LP was a Peter Pan “masterpiece.” I can’t remember the title, but it was a horrible bunch of songs sung by a screechy mixed chorus that made MSR song poem singers sound like quiet storm stars. I’ve often pondered what life was like for the people making a living off of such recordings. Anyhow, Peter Pan issued many Halloween LPs, including my favorite, Ghostly Sounds. This little gem was recorded by Gershon Kingsley & Peter Waldron. I can’t find much on Mr. Waldron, but he has a perfectly whacked out delivery that keeps his yarns ridiculous enough to entertain, but not completely terrify. Gershon Kingsley, as you may already know, rose to fame as the composer of Hot Butter’s mega hit “Popcorn” and his song “Baroque Hoedown” was reworked into Disneyland’s Main St. Electrical Parade Theme. Kingsley’s classic modular synth patches run throughout Ghostly Sounds. The track “Goblin Dance” features some great rhythm box and fat Moog bass, but it also has some pretty creepy moans so your littler ones might get a bit spooked out.
Do Kids Still Relate to the Beatles? One Dad Finds Out.
Posted on Sep 24
In the age of Radio Disney, does classic rock & roll still speak to children? One very clever dad decided to find out. Will Hodgkinson from the Times Online (UK) wondered if the current round of Beatlemania was being lost on his kids. He bribed them with toffee to participate in a very unscientific focus group where played them Beatles classics to get their thoughts. We have to say it’s one of the funniest things we’ve read in a long, long time! Here’s a sampling:
Apart from Rowan, who claims only to know about the beetles in her garden, panel members are vaguely aware of the Beatles. “They look like me so I like them,” offers Otto, proud possessor of a mop-top bowl cut.
“They are a rock band from olden times,” adds Isabella. “They did lots of songs,” says Pearl, somewhat unhelpfully, but then Pearl’s musical interests are focused entirely on the soundtrack to Mamma Mia!, so she can be forgiven.
Resolving to give the study session a chronological overview, I begin by putting She Loves You on to the record player. “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah,” sing Lennon and McCartney on their Number One smash from 1963. “No she doesn’t,” Otto says.
“I thought it was quite strange,” comments Rowan when the song is over.
“It’s different from most of the songs I’ve heard.”
“I loved it,” says Isabella. Why? “I don’t really know.”
After musing for a while, index finger lodged in nostril, Fred concludes: “It’s good.”
Read the rest here!
Want to start ‘em young? Check out Rockabye Baby! More Lullaby Renditions of the Beatles.
Steven Tyler Loves Trash!
Posted on Sep 17Because this is Aerosmith week on The Rockabye Baby Blog, we have to play you this awesome Steven Tyler rendition of a children’s music classic — I love Trash, the theme song of Oscar the Grouch! This recording is from Elmopalooza. Check it out!
And, just because we can never get enough Sesame Street, here’s a super early version, from when Oscar was orange!
Be sure to check out our new release, Lullaby Renditions of Aerosmith, featuring liner notes by Steven Tyler! Dream on, and on and on…
New Album from They Might Be Giants: Here Comes Science
Posted on Aug 25In honor of the release of Here Comes Science, the new kid’s album and animated DVD from They Might Be Giants which comes out September 1, here is a classic video from one of our favorites, the Grammy-winner Here Come the 123s.
John and John present the days of the week, with Never Go To Work:
The 5 Weirdest Kid’s Albums of All Time
Posted on Aug 14
We’ve given you the best, now here’s the rest! Presented for your listening pleasure, the top 5 weirdest kid’s albums of all time. Take issue with our list? Is this something you can share with the rest of us, Amazing Larry? We wanna know! Leave your suggestions in the comments.
5. Mr. T — Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right)
Okay, this mother-loving rap is actually from a 1984 video starring the mohawked A-Team star and friend of Nancy Reagan called Be Somebody… Or Be Somebody’s Fool! Mr. T did release an incredibly weird kid’s album called Mr. T’s Commandments, which is also worth hunting for at your local used record hut. It is his touching ode to momma that lives longest in our memories, however. Like a twisted embroidery sampler, Mr. T spells out all the ways his mother sacrificed for him:
“M is for the moan and the miserable groan from the pain that she felt when I was born… Mother, there is no other.”
There are no words, just watch. And treat her right, people.
4. Cheech Marin — My Name Is Cheech, The School Bus Driver
This is a fun album by Cheech Marin of Cheech and Chong fame, with a great theme song. We’ve sung this one at the top of our lungs many a time. However, some might be horrified by the thought of a schoolbus driven by the star of Up In Smoke. Sadly this album is out of print. Bring it back! Kids are missing out! To hear the full song clip, which is highly recommended, click on the link in the player below.
Alvin & the Chipmunks get all edgy, if you count Billy Joel as edgy. Which we didn’t, even when we were ten and lipsynched to this album evey day in our bedroom. We were pretty sure that Tom Petty didn’t count as punk either. But who cares? This was our favorite album for a geekily long time. With the legendary ‘munk falsettos of Alvin, Simon and Theodore taking on Blondie, The Knack, The Cars, Queen and other early ’80s rock radio staples, this ridiculous album was kid heaven.
2. Sing with Little Marcy at Home
Little Marcy is a ventriloquist’s dummy who sings Christian children’s songs in a voice so high it makes Alvin, Simon and Theodore green with envy. Do we need to continue?
Ali and His Gang Vs. Mr. Tooth Decay
