Friday Free-for-All # 12

Hot Peas 'N Butter, The Pod Squad

The Pod Squad is Hot Peas 'N Butter's fourth kids' CD, a collection of well-produced tunes performed in English and Spanish by Danny Lapidus and Frank Cotto and special guests. Standouts include originals "Beautiful Dream" and "Time to Fly", and traditional tunes "Ocho Candelikas" and "Peggy-O". But, for cryin' out loud! did they have to make the sponsor's name as big as the band's on the front cover?!?



The Learning Station, Brain Boogie Boosters

Perfect example of "don't judge a CD by its cover": At first glance I thought this was another mass-produced collection of impersonally-performed edutunes ... wrong! Written by Don and Laurie Monopoli and Dr. Becky Bailey, with performance help from Paul Opalach, these catchy songs encourage exercise, relaxation, and meditation. Great for classroom use!



The Jellydots, Changing Skies

On Changing Skies, Doug Snyder's Jellydots songs mature with his audience. Rather than continue with a carbon copy of his debut masterpiece "Hey You Kids!", Snyder writes deeper, sometimes darker, songs that fans of his first album will be able to appreciate lyrically and musically as they grow older. Check out "San Diego", the great pop song "Sunshine", and the string of five wonderful ballads in a row that close out the album. A chart-topper!

The calming touch

It's astounding how many children now suffer from Autism and sensory processing disorders. Sensory dysfunction can result in over-stimulation or under-stimulation to touch, taste, smell, sight, or sounds. These children often feel overwhelmed when dealing with the stimulation of their day-to-day environment and have difficulty staying on task. However, studies are showing that DPTS, Deep Pressure Touch Stimulation, can help alleviate some of this anxiety as well as enhance the ability to focus and sleep. Some examples of DPTS would be massage, joint compression, brushing with a therapeutic brush, swaddling in a blanket, and wearing pressure vests. If you would like more information about DPTS, you can find some great information on the web. If you have concerns about your child, you should refer to your local Occupational Therapist or Developmental Pediatrician for an accurate diagnosis.

Booking Summer Shows!

Add a little spice to your summer camp, summer reading program or special event with a performance by a children's musician. Summer is a busy time for children's musicians so contact them early to reserve that special date for your summer event!

Here is a helpful hint to make the summer performance go as well as possible; book the event indoors or under a pavilion if outdoors. The audience and the performer will thank you!

Zoo Train!

Congratulations to Jennifer! She guessed this month's "What in the World?" It was a turtle shell. I saw it at the Zoo over Spring Break and thought it would be just perfect in honor of our summer Zoo Train classes. All aboard for more fun! You never know what amazing thing Mrs. Aimee will see next!

It's the latest, it's the greatest, it's the library!

Who knew the library had a rally song? "The Library Song" was published in 1967 by Joleron Music Corp., and written by Fred Hertz and Joel Herron. This duo wrote and recorded five LPs as Frankie Stein and His Ghouls, issued on Power Records in the late 1950s. Hertz also co-wrote a couple of tunes on Two Sides of Leonard Nimoy, while Herron was best known for penning the songs "I'm a Fool to Want You" and "Sierra Nevada".

Here are the lyrics to "The Library Song":

"Oh, the place for you and the place for me is the local public library / They have books and things they lend for free, it's the latest, it's the greatest, it's the library / They have histories, they have mysteries, and for mother books of recipes / See a movie show, hear a symphony, it's the latest, it's the greatest, it's the library / Educational, informational, entertainment that's sensational / It's a way of life, it's for you and me, it's the latest, it's the greatest, it's the library."

Two things that popped out: 1) Seems the prevailing idea in 1967 was that only mom took the kids to the library, and then just to pick up the latest chicken casserole recipe; 2) The library is "a way of life"?!? Zowie! The cult of bibliography begins young...

TMBG @ NYPL

Here are a couple of photos from the They Might Be Giants show we attended a few weeks ago. To keep the grownups happy they played "Istanbul" and "Particle Man", while including a pretty even selection from all three of their kids' music albums. As you can see from Steamboat's picture, he already has the disgruntled "whatever, man" teenager look down pat.

***Frances England***

I love it, man! Kids' Music has gotten to the point where people are actually anticipating artists' upcoming releases, starting a buzz when even the rumor of a follow-up album is generated. A performer at the top of my list of "when's the next one comin' out?!?" has to be Frances England, and sure enough, Family Tree doesn't disappoint. Wait, I should say Family Tree "quietly destroys the competition", or "raises the bar to an almost impossible height". It's that good.

Here's the secret to Frances' success: these songs existed in her heart before they found their way onto this CD. Like several "kids' bands" I really dig ... Dog On Fleas, the Jellydots, Elizabeth Mitchell, Gustafer Yellowgold, Gunnar Madsen, Mr. David, ... Frances doesn't set out to record a children's album. She writes songs that she would have written anyway, tunes that have been floating around in the ether waiting to be channeled through her fingers, through the strings of her guitar, through our speakers.

Back in the early-to-mid '80s the indie rock scene was pretty closely knit: REM knew the Replacements knew Husker Du knew the Minutemen knew the Meat Puppets, etc., and all these bands learned from one another, listened to each other's albums, went to see each other's shows. It's no accident that Dean Jones from Dog On Fleas and Doug Snyder from the Jellydots make guest appearances on Family Tree. There's a movement goin' on here, people, and at the very least these fiercely independent bands and performers will be remembered years from now for the quality and vision of their work. At the very most, they will wrest control from corporate purveyors of obviously yet shamelessly crappy kids' music.

Now, on to Family Tree ... I probably can't do the album justice by typing a few words I looked up in a thesaurus, so here are a few gushing accolades from a blathering idiot: I love how she pronounces the word "baybeh", I love how the tempo speeds up in the middle of "Free to Be Me", I love the "ba dap ba" choruses on the title tune and "Animal Inside You", I love the perfectness of the oughta-be-a-hit-single "Spring Has Sprung" ... you just can't get more sincere than this, folks. Today is the release date for Family Tree, so find it, buy it, dig it, let Frances know how much you appreciate her presence in the children's music world.

12 germiest places

So what do you think are the 12 germiest places around? I had my own thoughts about it. Airplane bathroom? No big surprise there! Some of the other places I read about in a recent article did surprise me though. You can read the full article here. I'm going to wash my hands! :-)