Sesame Street’s Best Musical Guests

There’s no question that kids’ music about nine million times better than it was when I was a kid. Even when I was babysitting, Raffi (gag me) and such sugary sweet stuff was the order of the day. But we’ve got Dan Zanes, Elizabeth Mitchell, and even traditionally more grown-up oriented artists like Barenaked Ladies and They Might be Giants making music for kids.

And I credit Sesame Street. In its 40 years of kid’s TV awesomeness, they’ve had some amazing musical guests. And that continues to this day. I think seeing stuff like Stevie Wonder and Johnny Cash on our favorite TV show changed our perspective on what “kids’ music” actually is, and led to wanting, and getting, much better stuff for our own kids. And the musicians that watched it as kids were clearly also influenced and are including their own kids in their musical lives and taking our kids along for the ride.

The Houston Press marked Sesame Street’s 40th birthday this week by posting a list of Sesame Street’s top ten music guests ever. While I seriously disagree with some of them –Andrea Bocelli, really? Denyce Graves did a similar guest shot that was way better — any list that includes Feist doing a riff on “1-2-3-4″ with the Muppets can’t be all that bad (see it after the jump). Continue reading »

INTERVIEW: Imagination Movers Solve Our Problems

If anyone can knock the Wiggles off your tot’s TV rotation, it’s the Imagination Movers - four dads from New Orleans who solve idea emergencies on the Disney Channel.

The show grabbed a Daytime Emmy out of the starting gate for outstanding original song in the children’s show/animation category - and now the Movers are going back on the road for a forty-city concert tour.

We grabbed Imagination Mover Scott Durbin, father of two and former award-winning teacher in the Movers’ hometown of New Orleans, to talk about rocking out, raising kids who’ve been through Katrina and why standards-based education doesn’t work for America’s kids: Continue reading »

The Real Reason Abba is Still Making Money

I thought it was just my kid on the weird Swedish pop band-wagon until soccer practice a few weeks ago, when my friend’s daughter burst out in a tune from Mamma Mia. OK, the girls have weekly playdates - it could be her influence rubbing off.

Then this: SF Gate’s Amy Graff reported on a Mamma Mia sing-along for families. “Your daughter,” she warns, “might want to be Sophie . . . after seeing this movie.” Continue reading »

Stream the Where The Wild Things are Soundtrack!

Let the wild rumpus begin! The Where the Wild Things soundtrack is now streaming online in all its emo glory.

And although I’m sure it will betray some lack of musical breeding, I have to admit I dig soundtracks that incorporate clips from the action rather than straight songplay.

In this case, it gives us that extra taste of rumpus-ing and what not that the trailer hasn’t provided. Continue reading »

Kanye Interrupts Little Kids

A lot of the outrage against Kanye West last week seemed to center around Taylor Swift’s age. At nineteen, folks said, she’s just a kid.

Perhaps the outraged should have held off on the indignation. The rude rapper’s moved on to Strawberry Shortcake, Lazy Town’s Stephanie and some of our favorite kids.

A taste: Continue reading »

Five Best Videos of Kids Riffing on the Beatles

Between the Beatles Rockband reviews and the look at just WHY kids are Beatlemaniacs, we might as well say it: living is easy with eyes closed, but it’s much more fun when you have your eyes on these cute kids doing Beatle jams.

So let us take you down, cause we’re going to . . . our favorite videos of baby Beatles: Continue reading »

Why Kids Love the Beatles

One of my favorite stuffed animals when I was a kid was a raccoon. His name was Rocky, and yes, my parents named him.

Raised in the true Beatles generation,  it didn’t take a hard day’s night for my parents to hook their kid on John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Now, with all the hoop-la over Beatles Rock Band, there’s been a fair amount of debate over why they’re marketing an old band to today’s kids. And by all accounts, they’re expecting it to work. Continue reading »

How To Not Get Pregnant - The Contraception Opera

Let’s say you need to tell your kids about birth control.

Filmstrips? Filmstrips are so THEN. Bizarre operas combined with interpretative dance posted to YouTube? That, my friends, is NOW. Continue reading »

They Say: Roxanne’s Revenge Feel Good Story A Hoax

The internet was abuzz last week with the story of Roxanne Shante. The rapper responsible for the hit Roxanne’s Revenge allegedly had her brand of justice by getting her college education paid for by her record company via a “throwaway” line in her contract. It was a great feel good story about parlaying opportunity into a PHD from Cornell,  a story I myself wrote about with a twinge of awe. Inspiring, triumphant, and as it turns out, it may not be true. Continue reading »

Fall Out Boy Comics Signing

Like the band Fall Out Boy? How about comic books? Why not put them together?

Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley of the band Fall Out Boy will be at Midtown Comics in New York City today from 11:30am to 1:00pm.

Want to know why? Continue reading »