hip tunes for cool parents

music has always been a priority in our household. good music, new music, innovative music. pop ? uh, no thanks.boring and overly commercial. (with the exception- for running purposes only...hello salt and peppa--embarassing to admit)
so in short, we were/are music snobs. what's a new parent to do when you're faced with childrens' music choices? after all, this is going to be your life-soundtrack for the next three-five years.
let me introduce to you some musicians that you may even listen to sans bambinos. my absolute, hands down fave was and is david weinstone's music for aardvarks and other mammals like a lot of us, weinstone grew up listening to The Ramones, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Lou Reed and Nirvana. "If some of my songs seem over-the-top to a few people I say "buy something else." I'm not crossing a line. Hopefully I'm erasing one."
yah. you tell them man.
laurie berkner is another good one. laurie isn't quite as intellectual in her humor. she's a little sillier and goofy (just look at the woman). but not bad to listen to, certainly. no dumbing down just goofy, catchy songs.
dan zanes.
who can forget the del fuegos? i know, considered pop but none the less, love dan zanes. and since having a daughter of his own, he's ventured into kid music. his cds have guest appearances by sheryl crow, roseann cash, amiee mann and lou reed to name a few.
now-a-days, we're getting into a sad music stage. my children have a love for hilary duff.
i'll take any advice as i move into this stage

Comments

Leah said…
We used to take our son to David's "Music for Aardvarks" classes when he was little and we lived in Brooklyn. Super-fun for the kids, and not nauseating in the least for us raised-on-punk parents.

Glad to hear he's gaining some national renown!

Kid music aside, though, the Beatles are pretty much fail-safe for even the youngest kids.

Leah
72 and sunny said…
that's funny leah, because i first found about music for aardvarks thru my brother who lived in brooklyn and was taking a class with david. it was in the mid 90s.

wonder if you guys ran across each other?

i in turn, shared it with all of my mom friends in sf. it quickly became a classic among all of us.
Anonymous said…
Music lessons Megan, that's the next step, Clare started taking guitar at 9, I took her to hear live music a few years later. We just saw Ben Kweller with all of the girls and had a blast!
Mrs. Blandings said…
why can I not think of the guy who did the music for Curious George - I listened to that in my car by myself. Not Ben Harper, but...

As for the girls - really, no Madonna stage for you? They will evolve.
72 and sunny said…
jack johnson.

oh ya, i went through my madonna 'complex' i even cut my hair to look like her first album. and then tied the lace in the hair and of course 'o' rings up the arms.

i believe that would have been her 'like a virgin' era.
Mrs. Blandings said…
yes, jack johnson - and you don't have to remind me about the rest - I was there, remember?
72 and sunny said…
oh ya. you were. but i don't remember you cultivating the madonna look as hard as i did.

rob, good advice. delilah's already playing the violin. that's a start. and charlotte wants to play the cello.
katiedid said…
You crack me up. Yeah I love the Jack Johnson. And my kids loved the Beatles when they were younger: Blackbird, Obla Di, Lucy in the Sky, Yellow Sub...
At the moment they have graduated to anything Japanese Techno. Just wait.
Anonymous said…
I played the cello...I wish I practiced harder & stuck with it. I think my mom wasn't tooooooo disappointed when I gave it up.

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