Today is a special day! 45 years ago the very first Sesame Street episode aired, launching a revolutionary change in educational television programming. Throughout the week I will bring you various treats in honor of this occasion starting with today’s FREE DOWNLOAD by The Hipwaders. Fans of the beloved show will absolutely enjoy singing along with one of the most well-known TV themes. Grab a copy of the “Sesame Street Theme” below.
Raffi is coming out with a new album on July 15, 2014. That’s huge! Especially since it’s his first new kids’ CD in 12 years.
The album is called Love Bug and you can download the title track as a gift in advance of the album’s release. I’m just gonna put this out there…I become a child again when I hear Raffi sing (read: I sing like a 5-year-old). Raffi is still a charmer and I can’t help but join in the chorus with the other kids featured in his songs. His soothing voice brings me back to my childhood, and brings back memories of when my daughter was an infant and Raffi’s music dominated every audio device we owned. And when no audio equipment was available, it was demanded that my voice carry his tunes. I was totally ok with that!
Raffi tells us that everybody’s got a “Love Bug” deep inside them, which is naturally where the hugs come from. Oh Raffi! 🙂
To get the free download of “Love Bug,” follow this link: http://www.childhonouring.org/lovebugnewcd.html.
Love Bug is now available for pre-order through Amazon and iTunes.
On April 25, 2013, I was lucky enough to attend a Kindie Music Mashup held by Sirius XM’s Kids Place Live in their New York City studio. It was an amazing experience and one that showed off some serious talent. Essentially, the mashup involved pairings of kindie musicians broken up into teams of two. Each team swapped a song and played those songs in each other’s musical stylings.
Mista Cookie Jar was paired up with Dean Jones from Dog On Fleas and covered the popular song “Just Another Finger.” To prepare, MCJ did a bunch of research on this friendly little digit, wrote down some clever lyrics and set it all to a fun kid-hop beat. You can take a listen and download the song for free via the Bandcamp widget below (just hit BUY NOW and enter “0” when you name your price). I think you’ll agree that this opposable ode deserves two thumbs up!
Want to sing along? Check out the lyrics here.
To learn more about the Kindie Music Mashup check out the video below [courtesy of Sirius via YouTube]:
Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner and Grammy nominee, Brady Rymer, delivers the perfect song to officially kick off the holiday season. “Untangling the Christmas Lights,” with its Rock n’ Roll rootsy sound, is a great song that many will surely relate to. And check out the beautiful artwork (above) that goes with it. The vintage style of the colors and the layout of the images adds a warm, cozy feeling to an otherwise uncomfortable situation.
I love Brady’s commentary on the idea for the song:
“Every Christmas it’s the same… I lug out the boxes of Christmas tree lights thinking that I finally got smart last year and packed them up carefully, in a way that would make it easy to trim the tree. But, of course, once I open the box and get to trimmin’, it’s a chaotic, knotted, spaghetti of a mess! How’d it get this way? What have they been up to in that box all year long?”
I couldn’t agree more! Every year I tell myself ‘this time will be different,’ as I approach the box labeled “Xmas.” Proceeding with caution, I reach in, ready to delicately slip the lights right out of their cardboard cocoon and begin the tangle-free unfolding only to find my efforts squashed by a tangled web. How does that happen? I suppose unlocking this mystery might also solve the mystery of how socks get lost in the dryer. In the meantime, it’s good to have a friend to relate to! Thanks, Brady!
Brady is also featured on A Laurie Berkner Christmas where he adds his warm voice to the wonderful sounds of “Children Go Where I Send Thee.” Brady has been a big part of our rotation for several years now. Not only is Brady a great musician but he also writes and performs for good causes. His release Love Me For Who I Am, an album inspired by children affected by autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and related disorders, earned him Gold awards from the Parents’ Choice Foundation and NAPPA. Proceeds from the album are donated to Autism Speaks.
Check out my review of Brady’s 2014 release Just Say Hi, as well as some of his other works at his official site.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Dec 5, 2012 but because of how relevant it still is and will continue to be, I am declaring it a seasonal favorite!
Autumn is my favorite season! And, as we just passed the first day of the season, it’s only appropriate that we celebrate with a free download from Joanie Leeds. “Falling” is a celebration of what makes Autumn so special. Leeds grew up Miami and is now living in New York City. As a northerner, Leeds was inspired by the seasonal shift in her surroundings. With a golden tone to her voice, Leeds takes us on a whimsical ride as she falls in love with crackling leaves beneath her feet and the beautiful colors in the trees above her head.
If I were to create a personal soundtrack for Fall, I would want this song playing while running through the leaves and tossing them around with my daughter. It’s just that kind of song.
Grab a free download through the Soundcloud widget below and listen to the song while sipping some apple cider, driving to the pumpkin patch or making pie with the bounty you’ve collected from the orchards.
A FREE Caspar Babypants download and a new video!
The song, “Take Me To The City Dump” was made in honor of the late J.P. Patches. J.P. Patches was a very popular clown and star of The J.P. Patches Show, a long-running and very popular Seattle children’s program. J.P. was a great inspiration for Caspar’s frontman Chris Ballew. In fact, the song was written by Ballew and performed at J.P’s public memorial service. The song is exclusive to this video and will not be on the new album but hey, anytime we can get our hands on some new Caspar stuff it always brightens our day.
Check out the video below and grab a free download of the song here.
Courtesy of [YouTube]
Kids Can Groove 