When my kids were little I had to walk the fine line every parent does when it comes to music. You don’t want to drive around exposing your kids to Body Count or 2 Live Crew but you don’t want to torture yourself on a long road trip with three hours of Wheels on the Bus. Luckily around the same time I was in this situation often as a SAHD (Stay at Home Dad), so was Chris Ballew the lead singer/guitarist of the Presidents of the USA. His solution was to become a kids musician to make cool tunes for his kids & so he became Casper Babypants. I was fortunate enough to live near him and be able to take the kids to watch him play in the local parks on summer days.
It was also a good introduction to other silly non –kids music that I enjoy listening to like the Presidents or what became their favorite band Pain. We would often drive around singing this song & this is one of the only things I can play now that they are teenagers and not get the eye roll!
Fun quote from Chris ” One flavor of song that I love to write is about a parents love for their child and a child’s love for their parent. It is intense and unconditional and inspiring to me. A lullaby record is a way to facilitate quiet, loving, mellow times between little kids and their parents so the whole family can feel relaxed and grateful together. “
And then they become teenagers. Here is seventeen.
Great stuff.
Little Children – Giles, Giles, and Fripp
John Butler, who is an amazing guitarist and perhaps an even better humanitarian, plays his beautiful instrumental, “Ocean”.
Butler lets his nails grow long and uses them as a pick, which I’ve always found interesting. At 4:05 I feel like breaking into an Irish Jig!
Classical guitarists will grow their nails out and file them in different ways depending on what kind of sounds they’re trying to get.
I knew I succeeded in parenting when I introduced my son to The Clash and he liked it. He grew into a fully formed adult music nerd. His mother and I are so proud.
The Dead Kennedys came a couple of years later
As you should be! Congrats!
Alpinestars feat. Brian Molko – Carbon Kid
Ha! I distinctly remember my oldest, when he was 3 or 4, sitting in his car seat, and requesting Black Label Society’s “Blessed Hellride” CD on the way to somewhere, maybe even preschool.
On that note, here’s the brand new Lamb of God:
But if we’re talking actual kids’ music, our all-time favorite is probably Joe Scruggs:
Not to throw a wrench in the what is acceptable for kids thing or anything, but as someone who never had kids-was a stepdad in my early to mid twenties-I’m going to throw in my 2 cents/throw a wrench in the what is acceptable for kids thing…
I LOVED 2 Live Crew when I was a kid. I was the one at school in grade 6 during lunch on the tape recorder with 6 sets of headphones and a lineup of classmates who wanted to take turns listening while I dj’d explaining (with my limited 11 year old knowledge) what Luke meant by the words he was saying.
I could turn this into an entire post about so many other things about what I listened to then, what it all meant to me, and what it all means to me now which is mostly left for nostalgia…
but, I think it is important to educate children rather than hide things until they’re older (I’m likely wrong, I’m not a father)…FIGHT ME!
For better or worse Keitel and I didn’t limit music. Pretty sure we had the 2 live crew CD. Son and Keitel censored me and drew the line at Handsome Boy Modeling School.
i’m with you (and not keitel and son) on this (I had this album before it was released):
…it’s on my Plex, ask Meg or Jake.
…it’s true…& I would argue a mark of good character…not least since the first tip I got that such a thing existed came from someone whose taste in such things I learned to trust in the far off mists of time that were my teenage years
…sorry Keitel…Handsome Boys Modeling School are definitely on the acceptable side of the line I’m familiar with.
How can I musically trust a woman who doesn’t think this is high art?
…I can see how that might be a dilemma…but in her defense she appreciates this sort of thing so I’d consider those bona fides in good standing?
[sorry…couldn’t resist…]
Thank you for some Handsome Boy Modeling School
…well, in fairness Elliecoo started it…so I think she’s due the thanks…but thank you none the less?
I’m going to go with because she has high taste?
To this day, if one of them hears music of (in their opinion) questionable taste they will snicker and say ” well, it’s no handsome boy modeling school.” I am totally team myopic!
You’re on the right side of history!
When my youngest was 10 or 11 he started binge-watching South Park, and my wife and I questioned whether we should continue to allow it, and ultimately decided not to decide. He’ll be 16 next month and hasn’t been to jail yet, so there’s that.
When I was 10/11, my favourite show was In Living Color *colour…I never ended up in jail like Oswald Bates:
Cops and In Living Color was must-see TV on Sunday night in college. Damon was brilliant.
I teach colour theory for a living and even I cannot scientifically define the contrast between Cops and In Living Color *colour
*insert laughing emoji here*
Long before I became a parent I had lots of fun introducing my nephew to music. When he was just a toddler he heard this in my car. In his little child’s mind it became tea party and he’d run around singing “tea party tonight”! I bought him his first Ramones CD when he wasn’t much older. He’s grown into a really cool guy with great taste in music. I like to think I played some part in that.
Black Flag – TV Party
Long before I had kids I corrupted my sister’s son w/ Skankin Pickle. He became an outstanding musician and always loved ska music until his untimely death (fuck Cancer). This song cracked him up & started that journey…
If I remember right, your sister was a vegetarian and your nephew used to run around yelling “MEAT!”
Different nephew but that is true. That one became the most feared pig hunter on the big island.
We got a lot of mileage and enjoyment driving to Dan Zanes. Lots of variety and guests on each disc made these cds the go to choice on road trips.
That could be a Del Fuegos song. I met Dan once, and he is a cool cat. I remember these videos playing between shows on Sprout or one of those channels.
Nephew when 6:
Sesame Street: Feist sings 1,2,3,4
Nephew when 8:
Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
Nephew when 10:
Metallica: Enter Sandman
I hope there is no Death Metal in his future. I love my nephew but I hate Death Metal!
hmmm…I really thought I was in with a shot at a single pick this time…I could hear the track running through my mind clear as anything but I can’t find a matching YouTube clip for love nor money so there’s a fair chance that I’ll be back with that when I beg, borrow or steal a suitable clip…meanwhile here’s a salutary lesson about some well-trodden missteps arguably specialized in by teenagers…
Favorite tune of the night.
…I thank you…but it’s killing me that I can’t find the other one
“lazy days/wicked ways/waking up with eyes glazed/learned to realize/that the best days were school days”
…can’t for the life of me remember the name of the track or who recorded it but it seemed like a perfect fit in my head?
The kids ARE all right.
I never really know if there’s a vibe or theme to these threads, so I will continue to just post stuff I like or whatever is striking a chord at the moment.
There is always a theme(s) to the DUAN, but if you never posted on the original DUAN without the comfort of knowing that, no matter what, Luv4AllMusik would eventually star it…I’ll just leave a Luv4AllMusik quote (from when they reiterated what they initially said to me when I admitted to being too lazy to follow the theme sometimes) that I’ll never forget here:
“Whatever moves you is cool, remember?”
We’re sharing music and no one is judging…other than me…still holding out to see if Lemmy will post an Air Supply, Lionel Ritchie or Neil Diamond song before they subject me to Cannibal Corpse…
This was the album that defined my teenage years and becoming more interested in music and punk.
AFI — The Checkered Demon
This song I just like
Broken Social Scene — Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl
my daughter used to like the most godawful shit (imo) mostly jpop and greendays new stuff (okay..i’d probably hate it less if i didnt spend years hearing it blasted from an ipads tinny little speakers)
then stephen universe came along
dis more like it…maybe theres hope yet
This whole ALBUM is excellent,and one that I used to have in constant rotation in my car’s CD changer, back when a former roommate & i were Big Sisters–our Littles were actually sisters, and they LOVED the songs on the album. I was the one who typically drove to pick the girls up, and since they were 7 & 8, I needed music that *i* could stand, which was also lyrically kid-appropriate.
TMBG definitely did the trick (I’d liked them since the Istanbul/ Constantinople Animaniacs song😉), and ended up hearing about the album on MPR.
It’s solid, AND educational. I’ve totally played songs from it in some of the classrooms I’ve been in.
https://www.theymightbegiants.com/here-comes-science
For other kids’ songs, I love the Storybots’ stuff.
They have lots of good, educational, kid-friendly rap & hip-hop songs, some of my favorites, because they’re tolerable multiple times a week in a pre-K classroom:
When I worked strictly in Autism pre-k, this one was LOVED by most of our kiddos:
As for the hellspawn song, THIS is the *only* appropriate version for kids. It’s nice, calm, & mellow. Unlike the terrible version that went EVERYWHERE:
From my *own* childhood,
Elvira was the song my cousins & I ALL danced around our Auntie & Uncle’s living room to:
And we also allllll knew the whole song of this one🤣;
And, of course, when I was a 4th/5th grader, I fell in love with this band:
Emmer, I first read that as Elvira was my cousin. I was Holy Shit! How am I just hearing about that now? LOL