Kids Want the Funk!

When I was pregnant, I vowed to expose my child to only great music.  Her little ears would be spared  insipid, syrupy tunes marketed to her age group.  Things were fine for a while, and one of my proudest moments was when I overhead my two year old singing “Dirty Old Town” by The Pogues.  But then the day arrived when my daughter asked,  point-blank, to PLEASE get her some “kids music.”  Ever since then I’ve been looking for the happy medium — music that doesn’t have me feeling all ‘Yellow Wallpaper’, but that also makes my kid feel like I heard her plea.  The compilation, FUNKY KIDZ, fits the bill.  The c.d. contains a variety of familiar family tunes, covered in New Orleans funk style.  My favorites are Ivan Neville’s (and his band Dumpstaphunk) version of “Zip A Dee Doo Dah” and Papa Grows Funk’s take on “Yellow Submarine.”  As for my daughter,  she’s partial to Theresa Andersson’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”  — a fine choice.