2006-05-27 Playlist

Archive is here.

With special guest Sophia!

Legal ID (8:00)
They Might Be Giants - They Might Be Giants
Michael Jackson - Rockin' Robin (thanks to (sm)all ages for the idea)
Glenn Miller - In The Mood
Enzo Garcia - Hold My Hand (LMNO Music)
Ben Rudnick & Friends - I Need a Hand (Emily Songs)
Monty Harper - A Pet Like That (Paws Claws Scales & Tales)
Desmond Dekker - Jamaica Farewell (Caribbean Playground)
--song ID
SteveSongs - Library (Little Superman)
Milkshake - Bottle of Sunshin (Bottle of Sunshine)
Terrible Twos - A Rake, A Broom, A Mop, A Shovel (If You Ever See An Owl)
They Might Be Giants - I Am Not Your Broom (No!)
--song ID
Iggy Pop - Real Wild Child
Sribblemonster & Pals - A Monster Goes Rrrrrargh (Best of Friends)
Hipwaders - Silly Robot Dance (Hipwaders)
XTC - Mechanic Dancing (Go 2)
Teacher & the Rockbots - People (World)
Justin Roberts - Meltdown! (Meltdown!)
Charity & the JAMband - Jump Into the Middle (Rock Your Socks Off)
Maya Bond - Cute Papa
Deedle Deedle Dees - Ina Mina Dika (Let It Dee)
--Song & Legal ID (9:02)
Happy Monster - Rub-A-Dub-Dub
Danny Adlerman - Rub-A-Dub-Dub
Lunch Money - Roller Coaster (Silly Reflection)
Cornell Hurd Band - Don't Wipe Your Face On Your Shirt (Bottle Let Me Down)
Ella Jenkins - Pine Top Boogie Woogie (Sharing Cultures)
Keith Munslow - Going to the Beach (Live at VFR)
Greg Loop - Hurley Burley Stew (Songs from Duke Puddintown)
--song ID
Mr. Ray - Ladybug, Ladybug (Songs From the Kids' Lounge)
Hollow Trees - Forest Melody (Hollow Trees)
Wilson Lake & the Rock Bass - Walkin in the Woods (s/t)
Frances England - Fascinating Creatures (Fascinating Creatures)
Rebecca Frezza - Space Dog (Road Trip)
Sara Hickman - Radiation Man (Big Kid)
--song ID
Salteens - Crash the Market (Short-Term Memories)
Mary Kaye - The Skeleton Song (Spin Your Web)
Mr. Nicky - Einstein (Mr. Nicky's Science Project)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

The Terrible Twos

The Terrible Twos will be your next favorite band. They will also dominate the Grammys, and quite likely win the Stanley Cup.

Okay, that might be overselling it a bit, but I am really enjoying their new CD.

The alter ego of The New Amsterdams, which is itself the new project of Matthew Pryor from The Getup Kids (now defunct - who knew? probably everyone but me), The Terrible Twos stick with what makes that band (the New Amsterdams, that is) good -- well-written, mostly boppy acoustic punky poppy rock -- and adds in kid-friendly and kid-smart lyrics. (I was never much of a Getup Kids fan, but the New Amsterdams are better.)

The album, If You Ever See An Owl, will be out probably in early fall, and it features songs about wanting to just stop growing once one reaches eleven years old ("When I Get To Eleven"), a quirky song from the point of view of various household or yard tools ("A Rake, A Broom, A Mop, A Shovel"), sweet songs for girls named Caroline and Isabella (surprise! "Caroline" and "Isabella"), and a fun little math number ("Math Stomp").

As with most of my favorite bands, the band knows what it is and doesn't try to be anything else. That's not to say that there isn't variety -- there's a lot -- just that they don't try to play everything from dancehall to grunge to country to gospel.

Anyway, that probably isn't enough to convince you and I should probably do, oh, my actual job, but we will be playing it on the show, have no fear. (Also, we played "When I Get to Eleven" a couple of weeks ago.)

Sort of Weird Kids' Music News

Item 1: Charity and the JAMband are featured in a music video on something called the Indie Food Channel. Check out the link from the band's website. It's pretty fun.

Item 2: John Lithgow will be releasing a kids' album in August. Yes, that John Lithgow.

May 20 Show

We're running a repeat tomorrow, featuring terrific music and poetry from Keith Munslow from back in February. It's also the kickoff for the first-ever fund drive for Valley Free Radio, where we do the show, and I sure hope lots of listeners kick in a few bucks -- you can do it online quickly.

The show is edited a bit -- I took out some date-specific items and added in a few fundraising plugs and a couple of songs that weren't on the original one.

Anyway, it's in two parts this time to facilitate our quirky automation software: Part One, Part Two.

Enjoy!

Hi, Minnesota Parents!

...and thanks to Tricia for the nice mention on her blog on the Minnesota Parent website.

We will not be on live this week, instead playing an archive from when Keith Munslow was on. But tomorrow is the kickoff for Valley Free Radio's pledge drive, and I've dropped plugs for contributions throughout the show. Please -- even if you just listen online or via podcast -- make a contribution! Go to ValleyFreeRadio.org. The contribution page isn't up quite yet, but I expect it will be soon. We're all-volunteer, but it still costs money for powering the transmitter, maintaining the tower, streaming on the web, paying for utilities, and all the rest...so please donate.

Thanks!

Playlist for 2006-05-13

Archive is here.

They Might Be Giants - Whistling in the Dark
Justin Roberts - Little Raindrop (Great Big Sun)
Danny Adlerman - It's Raining, It's Pouring (Live at VFR)
Brady Rymer - I'm a Little Raindrop (I Found It!)
Ben Rudnick & Friends - Rainy Day (Live for VFR)
Beatles - Here Comes the Sun (Abbey Road)
Claudia Martinez - Nichim Vuil
--song ID
Dennis Caraher - The Elephant Played Electric Guitar
Asylum Street Spankers - UFO Attack
Terrible Twos - When I Get to Eleven (If You Ever See an Owl)
--song ID
Professor Presley - A Dividing Nation (History Rocks)
Deedle Deedle Dees - John Brown (Let It Dee)
Candy Band - Ken Lost His Head
Kid Koala - Fruit Belt (See You On The Moon)
They Might Be Giants - Free to Be You and Me
Of Montreal - Disconnect the Dots
Scribblemonster - A Monster Goes Rrragh!
--legal ID (8:59)
Dennis Caraher live in-studio (I Love My Mom, My Name is ABC, Alligator)
The Specials - Rudi, A Message To You (Singles Collection)
Keith Munslow - I Love the Beach (Can't Sit Still)
Happy Monster - Row Row Row Your Boat (Rhythm with Rhymes)
Monty Harper - Paws Claws Scales and Tales
SteveSongs - Ducks Hatching (Marvelous Day!)
--song ID
Milkshake - School (Bottle of Sunshine)
Bobby McFerrin - Sweet in the Mornin' (Tweet in the Mornin) (Songs from the Street)
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al (Graceland)
Semisonic - I've Been Working on the Railroad (Down by the Riverside)
Gustafer Yellowgold - Pterodactyl Tuxedo (Wide Wild World)
Wayne Potash - The Frim Fram Sauce (Don't Forget the Donut)
Dan Zanes - Pata Pata (Catch That Train!)
Frances England - Charlie Parker (Fascinating Creatures)
Buck Howdy - Giddyup! (Giddyup!)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Hovering Sombrero '05

Hiya, Cool Mom Picks Visitors

Thanks to CoolMomPicks.com for that nice review! And congratulations on the shiny new domain name and site. We can still smell that new-website smell!

There's one other listening option, which is streaming -- follow the links from ValleyFreeRadio.org. We're on from 8 to 10 eastern on Saturdays. Send requests to show AT sparetherock DOT com...

Coming 6/17: SteveSongs in Studio!

Be sure to listen on June 17, as we'll have SteveSongs live in-studio before his performance at the Eric Carle Museum's spring gala, along with Milkshake! We'll also be talking with Milkshake that day to play back on a later show, so it'll be a fun day and it looks like a great event.

Oh, also, congratulations to Steve and many other artists we play for their great showings in the Parents' Choice Awards! At a quick glance, I see:

- Charity and the JAMband
- Justin Roberts
- Ira Marlowe
- Brady Rymer
- Keith Munslow
- Buck Howdy
- Jake

Congrats to all!

Playlist for 5-6-06

Archive is here.

No Ella today, but she'll be back next week.

Legal ID (7:58)
They Might Be Giants - Ana Ng (Lincoln)
Mason & Amy Jennings - Mockingbird (Down By The Riverside)
Michelle Shocked - Got No Strings (Folk Playground)
Steve Weeks - Aaron and his Aeroplane (Aaron and his Aeroplane)
Two of a Kind - Love Makes a Family (Love Makes a Family)
Roger Day (w/ Indigo Girls) - Ready to Fly
Song ID
Terri Hendrix - Celebrate the Difference (Celebrate the Difference)
Gustafer Yellowgold - I'm From the Sun (Wide Wild World)
Ticklefish - Backyard Safari (Icky Sticky)
The Hollow Trees - Forest Melody (Hollow Trees)
Frances England - Digging in the Dirt (Fascinating Creatures)
Song ID
Candy Band - Time Out (Lollipunk)
Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Mr. Ray - The Number Song (Songs from the Kids' Lounge)
Imagination Movers - Calling All Movers (Calling All Movers)
Brassy - Work It Out (Got It Made)
Ramones - Spiderman (Saturday Morning Cartoons Greatest Hits)
Sippy Cups - I Wanna Be Elated (Kids Rock for Peas)
They Might Be Giants - Free To Be You and Me
Song & Legal ID (8:59)
Eric Herman and the Invisible Band - In The Box (Monkey Business)
Sho Mo & the Monkey Bunch - Five Little Monkeys (s/t)
Justin Roberts - Maybe the Monster (Meltdown!)
Ben Rudnick & Friends - Sally Salamander (Live for VFR)
Dan Zanes - I Don't Want Your Millions Mister (Catch That Train!)
Fundraising PSA
Happy Monster & Friends - The Face (Rhythm with Rhymes Vol. 1)
Song ID
Milkshake - Boom, Boom (Bottle of Sunshine)
SteveSongs - Opposite Day (Marvelous Day)
Lunch Money - Roller Coaster (Silly Reflection)
Jonathan Richman - Ice Cream Man
Leonardo - Do It Myself (Makin' Lemonade)
Growing With Music - El Chocolate (Songs for Singing Families)
Keith Munslow - Goin' to the Beach (Live at VFR)
Song ID
Charity and the JAM Band - Partner Dance (Rock Your Socks Off)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Ina Mina Dika (Let It Dee)
Daddy-A-Go-Go - It's a Kids' World (Eat Every Bean and Pea on Your Plate)
Parker Bent - FROGGY (I Am Your New Music Teacher)
Song ID
Danny Adlerman - Africa Calling (One Size Fits All)
Song ID
They Might Be Giants - QU (Here Come the ABCs)