Local Listeners - Check Out Tomorrow's Paper

Careful listeners will remember that Sean Reagan of the local paper was in-studio the morning we talked with ScribbleJim, Justin Roberts, and Asheba live from Lollapalooza. The story, all about kids' music, will be in tomorrow's Hampshire Life (the weekly magazine of the paper).

Online content is subscriber-only, but hopefully I can at least get a picture or two out of it.

Anyway, I'll post a link to whatever is free tomorrow, but I'm excited to see what the story includes.

Well, Dang.

WOXY.com, among the greatest radio stations I've heard online or live, is going off the air.

The station was originally terrestrial and was one of the first (and best) "modern rock" stations. A couple of years ago, it was purchased and the staff went internet-only. After trying a couple of business models, including being listener-supported, it looks like time and money has run out.

Sigh.

What, Oh What, Will We Play This Week?

Well, lots of stuff. But we'll play some new stuff from Elizabeth Mitchell, Dog on Fleas, Ellen and Matt, and the Kid Pan Alley CD. Plus probably some more from that new Trout Fishing in America album. And other stuff too.

Spank Your Children

No, not literally.

The Asylum Street Spankers will be doing a special family show this Saturday in New York City at the Spiegeltent.

Can't wait for their kids' album, Mommy Says No!. Thank heavens, it will include Boogers. The song.

10,000 Lakes and One Kids' Music Columnist Who Lives in Massachusetts

I'm now the music columnist for Minnesota Parent magazine. Read my first column here, or pick up a copy of the paper (locations here). There are apparently 80,000 copies in circulation, so if you're in Minnesota, you should be able to find one!

Edit:

In their effort to get my piece down to an acceptable length, they took out my favorite piece; alas. Here's what was originally after the Quiet Ones paragraph:

Brooklyn Fun Fact: I can’t actually come up with any major Brooklyn facts about the band, other than their being from the borough, so I will instead make one up: The Quiet Ones are in fact an enormous corporate conglomerate seeking to take over all of Brooklyn and make it into the world’s largest fishing pole factory. Dan Zanes disapproves.

Monty Pictures

A few pictures of Monty and Evalyn as they recorded this week's show:

Upcoming Studio Guest

On September 9, just before his show at Cup & Top, Dennis Caraher will return to Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child.

We're working on getting some of the other Cup & Top artists to come in. Plus, soon (not sure which date yet), we'll be playing the Yosi guest-DJ set.

2006-08-26 Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child

Whoa...it's a show posted four days before it actually airs! Did I just totally blow your mind? Sorry about that.

But I'm going out of town early Thursday and fear I'll forget to post it tomorrow. So here's Saturday's show, all done by friend-of-the-show Monty Harper. Thanks to Monty and Evalyn for filling in. As with the ScribbleMonster guest set, it's a different batch of stuff than we usually played -- which is exactly what I was hoping for. And Evalyn...well, I think she and Ella would get along, let's just say that.

The archive is here. But you should wait until Saturday to listen, or you'll be cheating. [Edit: Link fixed.]

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul (Flood)
Tim Cain - Drum Thang (Marooned On Tim's Island)
Disney - I Just Can't Wait to Be King (Lion King Soundtrack)
Joe McDermott - Baby Kangaroo (Everywhere You Go)
Monty Harper - Humming Bird Hum (Paws Claws Scales & Tales)
Are you prepared to get spooked?
Carole King - The Ballad of Chicken Soup (Really Rosie)
Disney - Grim Grinning Ghosts - (Walt Disney World Resort Official Album)
The Who - Boris the Spider (My Generation - The Very Best of the Who)
Monty Harper - Creepy Crawly Party Time (Our Wacky World)
Erin Lee & Marci - The Moonlight Wolfbite Batjuice Jamboree (Snowdance)
Are you prepared to rock?
Elton John - Crocodile Rock (Greatest Hits)
The Beatles - Hey Bulldog (Yellow Submarine Songtrack)
Pete Townshend - Over the Top (The Iron Man)
Paul McCartney - Smile Away (Ram)
Bill Haley & The Comets - See You Later Alligator (The Best of 50's Rock)
Monty Harper - Tsunami Band (Paws Claws Scales & Tales Enhanced CD)
Are you prepared for love?
Disney - A Whole New World (Aladdin Soundtrack)
The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (Pet Sounds)
The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand (Past Masters Volume One)
Monty Harper - Love This Baby (The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD)
Paul Simon - Father and Daughter (Surprise)
Are you prepared to dance?
Don't Make Me Dance - Tom Chapin, Some Assembly Required
Disney - Be Our Guest (Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack)
Mr. Billy - Chugga Chugga Choo Choo (Batteries Not Included)
Monty Harper - The Gentlemen Are Dancing On Their Toes (Imagine That)
Disney - Transformation (Brother Bear Soundtrack)
Are you prepared for fun?
Barry Louis Polisar - I'm a 3-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur (Family Concert)
Jessica Harper - Nora's Room (Nora's Room)
Fatcat & Fishface - Fatcat & Fishface (Horrible Songs for Children)
Katherine Dines - Flea Fly Flow Mosquito (Hunk ta Bunk ta Chants)
Tom Lehrer - Silent E (The Remains of Tom Lehrer)
They Might Be Giants - Snail Shell (John Henry)

And some comments from Monty:

Howdy, Listeners!

I'd like to thank Bill and Ella for giving me the opportunity to put together a show. I am now in awe of the fact that they do a two hour show each week. It's fun, but it's a lot of work. I don't know how Bill manages it but I'm sure glad he does.

My co-host and 5-year-old daughter Evalyn predictably stole the show. I let her pick out nearly all the songs, and gave her veto power over the few I suggested. There was a natural emphasis on Disney, since she is in a Disney phase right now with her music. I felt a bit conflicted because one of the things I love about Spare the Rock is that we get to hear all kinds of independent music we might not hear otherwise. But the Disney stuff is great too and Evalyn made a few non-obvious choices, so I went with it.

The Beatles, Beach Boys, The Who, Elton John and other classic rock selections came from Bill's request that I feature some music that isn't necessarily kids' music but that might appeal to kids. Evalyn helped pick these out as well. All the songs are familiar favorites of hers and mine.

I played a bunch of my own songs, which may seem self-serving, and I guess it is, but Evalyn genuinely very much wanted me to play them. She's proud of her daddy, what can I say?

I didn't realize how quickly two hours of air time can eat up songs. We had way more songs on our list than we actually used. When we had to cut songs, I dropped the stuff you'd be more likely to hear on another Spare the Rock episode.

We organized the songs loosely into categories for each set. This came about after we made our list, and noticed some commonalities that lead to the themes. It was fun to work with Evalyn in grouping and ordering the songs, and she had definite ideas about how she wanted them presented.

I have no idea where Bill and Ella were on Saturday, but I hope they don't mind the flights of fancy Evalyn and I took them on. That feature of our conversations arose spontaneously and we had a lot of fun with it. [Ed. note: I will be/was in Austin, Texas, seeing some friends, and Ella will be/was in Saugerties, New York, also seeing friends.]

I mentioned the compilation CD, Free Prize Inside, a couple of times during the show. It was originally my intent to feature more artists from the CD but we ran short on time. You can only obtain a copy from the artists on the CD, but I never got around to listing who they are. Therefore, I thought I'd list them here, if that's ok. Visit a show by any of these artists, and you can get your hands on a copy. It really is a cool CD.

Free Prize Inside
1. Imagination Movers, "Clean My Room"
2. Steve Songs, "Gravity"
3. Monty Harper, "I Go Bananas"
4. Will Hale, "Make Me Laugh"
5. Mr. Billy, "Seuss On The Loose"
6. Erin Lee & Marci, "This Year"
7. The Doo-Dads, "The Ball Song" 
8. Ken Lonnquist, "X-Ray Specs"
9. Two of a Kind, "The Double Life of Amphibians"
10. Macaroni Soup!, "Stinky Cake"
11. Lou Del Bianco, "Dawn Puccini"
12. Beth & Scott and Friends, "Hello, My Name Is Joe"
13. Andy "The Music Man" Morse, "R-I-N-G-O"
14. Susan Salidor, "The Boo Boo Gets Better By and By”
15. Barry Louis Polisar, "Early Sunday Morning"

Like I said, it was fun doing the show. We were listening to it again this evening and really enjoying the music and Evalyn's antics! I hope you enjoy it too!

Special edition playlist - 8/22/2006

Archive is here.

Monty Harper - Hummingbird Hum (Paws Claws Scales & Tales)
Ella Fitzgerald - I Love Paris, Russian Lullaby, Don't Fence Me In (not sure if they were in this order) (Ella Fitzgerald Songbooks)
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Thula Mtwana (African Lullaby)
Sinead O'Connor - Someday My Prince Will Come (Stay Awake)
Nelie Lebron - A Dormir Ricura (Latin Lullaby)
Tish Hinojosa - A la Nanita Nana (Latin Lullaby)
Bobby McFerrin & Yo-Yo Ma - Stars (Hush)
Tom Waits - Midnight Lullabye (Early Years)

We read Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa and Swimmy.

And Monty plays Hummingbird Hum on his guest set on Saturday too. But it seemed right.

Special Bonus Show

This evening from 7 to 7:30 eastern, we'll be filling in for VFR's other kids' collective program, "Good Night and Pleasant Dreams," which features bedtime stories for all ages.

What will we be doing? Still not sure. Maybe stories, maybe lullabies, maybe nothing but CandyBand and Thunder Lords. That last one is unlikely, though. Probably quieter stuff than usual.

Not sure if we'll get it recorded or not, so if you're wanting to listen, either turn on the radio or the stream at the relevant time.

Cup & Top & Rock & Roll

Here's the official announcement of the Cup & Top shows. Dates are subject to change, but probably won't:

The Cup and Top Cafe will host a series of children’s music performances by local artists during the month of September. These events will take place every Saturday at 10am. All events are free and open to the public.

September 2 – Nerissa and Katryna Nields CD release party!
All Together Singing in the Kitchen is a lifelong dream of Nerissa and Katryna's. This is a CD full of the songs they learned from their father when they were kids. The Nields sisters will perform a short set at the cafe and have their CDs available for sale.
www.nields.com

September 9 – Dennis Caraher
Dennis Caraher is a Parents' Choice award-winning songwriter who writes funny and thoughtful songs for children and families. His songs have been heard on NPR and his recordings, Dog Bone Town and Bow Wow Baby are recommended-listening by the American Library Association. Even if you've never heard him perform, you'll be singing along and walking like a dinosaur in no time.
www.dogbonetown.com

September 16 – Ning!
Ning! fronted by WRSI Singer Songwriter Contest Winner, Henning Ohlenbusch,
is the Nom-De-Kids of School for the Dead. Happy, poppy, catchy songs for
kids and grown-ups and grown-up kids and the "grow-up!" crowd.
www.schoolforthedead.com

September 23 – The Juice Pops
Greenfield area singers Laura Cayer, Laurie Brossard and Jen Stavely are former rock and rollers who have converted their passion into an inspired musical vibe powerful enough to break the spell of the Wicked Witch of Mediocre Musicland.
www.thejuicepops.com

September 30 - Luciano Sappia, Rhythm Section Music Shop, Easthampton
During a 30 minute workshop Luciano will lead parents and children in rhythmic games that encourage development of parent–child bonding and a love of music.

Are You Prepared for the Power of Evalyn?

Just a reminder -- this week's show will be guest hosted by Monty Harper and his show-stealing daughter Evalyn. (You should also be checking out Monty's blog and podcast, by the way.)

Monty and Evalyn in the show have a number of entertaining theories about where Ella and I will be over the weekend, all more fun than the truth -- I'll be in Austin with friends, Ella will be in Saugerties (also with friends).

The show is great and, as I always hope for guest spots, rather different than the usual show, reflecting Monty and Evalyn's tastes.

I'll post some pictures later in the week and the podcast will be up on Wednesday or Thursday before I head out...

Big Truckers Like Milkshake

The sorta all-new PBS Kids on-air and online thingy, which launches September 4, will feature new music videos (with all-new music) by two bands well-known to listeners -- Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck and Milkshake.

For the project, Rebecca has done eight new music videos and Milkshake has done ten. (Eighteen new videos total! That's a lot of dry ice machines! What, dry ice isn't a big thing in music videos any more? Next, you're going to tell me that they're not playing "Money for Nothing" very often any more.)

Also, Milkshake has created four new music videos for the program ToddWorld, seen on TLC and Discovery Kids. These will begin airing in the fall, and I assume they will at least have some smashed guitars and/or Alicia Silverstone.

Finally -- Milkshake's third CD, Play! will be released on November 14, delayed a bit due to the Big New PBS Kids Project. Check out our chat with Milkshake back in June where they discuss the new album some.

Heavens, How I Ramble

Exhibit One.

Huge Rock Shows at Cup & Top

All are Saturdays, all are 10:00 a.m.

Sept 2 - Katryna and Nerissa Nields
Sept 9 - Dennis Caraher
Sept 16 - Ning! (the child-friendly name of School for the Dead)
Sept 23 - The Juice Pops
Sept 30 - Luciano Sappia (percussionist)

Cup & Top is in the old Go West building in the center of Florence, at the intersection of Route 9 and Maple St.

Playlist for 8/19/06

Archive is here.

It's a sleepy morning, at least for me, but here we are.

They Might Be Giants - Wake Up Call (No!)
Ariane Moffatt - Le Matin en Patins (French Playground)
Miles Davis - Move (Birth of the Cool)
Us 3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) (Hand on the Torch)
John Lithgow w/ Madeline Peyroux - Sunny Side of the Street (Sunny Side of the Street)
Ralph's World - The Coffee Song (At the Bottom of the Sea)
Brian Wilson - Vega-Tables (Smile)
Justin Roberts - Day Camp (Way Out)
--song ID
Lucas Miller - Sail Away with Books (single)
Monty Harper - Paws Claws Scales and Tales (Paws Claws Scales and Tales)
SteveSongs - No Good Toys
Cat's Pajamas - Read to Me
Pointer Sisters - Pinball Number Count (Songs from the Street)
--song ID
ScribbleMonster - White Tail Deer (A Curious Glimpse of Michigan)
Ticklefish - Slug Bug (Icky Sticky)
Mary's Danish - Mr. Floosack (Circa)
Ramones - Spider-Man (Saturday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits)
Sippy Cups - I Wanna Be Elated
Mr. "S" - Frankie the French Fry (Songs for Family, Friends & Frogs)
Teacher & the Rockbots - Water Cycle (Science)
Imagination Movers - Calling All Movers (Calling All Movers)
Spoon - Fitted Shirt (Girls can Tell)
--song & legal ID
Trout Fishing in America - My Best Day (My Best Day)
Nields - The Unicorn (All Together Singing in the Kitchen)
--song ID
Henning Ohlenbusch - Carnival (Looks Like I'm Tall)
Lunch Money - Rollercoaster (Silly Reflection)
Dennis Caraher - Little Bit Late (Dog Bone Town)
Owen Duggan - At the Codfish Ball (An Elephant Never Forgets)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Ina Mina Dika (Let It Dee)
Gustafer Yellowgold - Pterodactyl Tuxedo (Wide Wild World)
Gunnar Madsen - Tuna Fish (Ants in My Pants)
Loretta Lynn - High On A Mountain Top (Van Lear Rose)
Uncle Rock - Break a Few Eggs (Plays Well With Others)
Happy Monster - Do Your Ears Hang Low (Rhythm with Rhymes)
--song ID
La Sonora Dinamita - A Mover La Colita (World Playground 2)
Erin Flynn & the Co-Op Band - Looby Loo (Dreamers of Dreams)
Gwendolyn & the Good Time Band - Freedom of the Heart [Ooodily, Ooodily] (s/t)
Mr. David - Playground (The Great Adventures of Mr. David)
REM - We Walk (Murmur)
Enzo Garcia - Let's Make Pizza (LMNO Music)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Impossible (Bed Bed Bed)

Playlist for 8/12/06

Archive is here.

It's our birthday! Happy birthday to us!

They Might Be Giants - Dr. Worm (Severe Tire Damage) (as if we could start with anything else)
The Nields - Anna, Kick a Hole in the Sky (All Together Singing in the Kitchen)
Uncle Rock - It's a Mermaid (Here We Go!)
Lunch Money - Miniature Things (Silly Reflection)
Asheba - Little Anancy (Caribbean Playground)
Brady Rymer - Every Day Is A Birthday (Every Day Is A Birthday)
-- song ID (including an excerpt from our first show)
Justin Roberts - It's Your Birthday (Meltdown!)
John Sheldon - Roller Skating Baby (Mighty Fine Hound)
Stevie Wonder - 1-2-3 Sesame Street (Songs from the Street)
--song ID
Thunderlords - Old Man Olaf (Noisy Songs for Noisy Kids)
Candy Band - Rock, Paper, Scissors (More Candy)
Talking Heads - Stay Up Late (Little Creatures)
Pencilhead and the Playground Punks - Wedgie (Punk Salad)
The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart (Thunder, Lightning, Strike)
The RTTs - Turn It Up Mommy (Turn It Up Mommy)
Audrarox - Short Attention Span (AudraRox)
Shonen Knife - Frogphobia (Brand New Knife)
ScribbleMonster & His Pals - Chocolate Milk (Chocolate Milk)
--song ID
(Guest set by Amy Davis)
Parker Bent - Count On
Frances England - Digging in the Dirt
Justin Roberts - Billy the Bully
Dan Zanes - Choo Choo Ch' Boogie
Warren Zanes - Mating Calls
Hipwaders - Twitchy
James Superstar Kochalk - Hockey Monkey
Guv'ner - Lucky Ladybug
Wilson Lake & the Rock Bass - Kersplash
Charity & the JAMband - Whatcha Gonna Bring
Jill Sobule - Survivor
Don Robertson - The Happy Whistler
Bobby Bare - Singin' in the Kitchen
Andy Offutt Irwin - Maribel
Uncle Rock - Rock & Roll Babysitter
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul
--conversation with Amy Davis
They Might Be Giants - Robot Parade (Live)

Anarchy in Chicago

...or confusion, anyway:

11:56 a.m. Walking past the Kidzapalooza stage, a sunshiny song called "Scrub a Dub" by the band ScribbleMonster bleeds out onto the midway, to the confusion of the kid-less throngs walking by.

And, um, well, this would have been interesting, anyway:

12:53 p.m. Lolla founder Perry Farrell does his customary mini set of songs on the Kidzapalooza stage with guitarist Peter DiStefano. He brings on surprise guest Patti Smith, who doesn't seem to get the whole "kid" part of Kidapalooza, as she goes on to tell the mini rockers that "any a--hole can play guitar." She unveils a song she says she wrote the day before about the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana. "How would you feel if 27 [of your children] were blown away by missiles and bombs?" she asks the crowd. The new, untitled song features lyrics such as "And the dead lay in strange shapes ... limp little bodies caked in mud ... small, small hands found in the road." At least it ended on a somewhat hopeful thought for the visibly shocked crowd: "The miracle is love."

So They Lost What's-Her-Name Couric - They'll Have Justin!

On August 22, Justin Roberts will be playing on The Today Show! Hooray for Justin!

(I bet they won't call him the Kim Gordon of kids' music, though.)

Also, he's got a fancy-schmancy new website at JustinRobertsMusic.com.

Hey, Maybe He'll Get A Poncho

Tomorrow at 8:30 AM on Sirius Channel 112, Uncle Rock will appear on Martha Stewart's radio show, though not, sadly, with Martha Stewart herself.

This Week: Loveliness and Newness and Intense Dislike of Starship

This week - The Lovely Mrs. Davis as a guest DJ in the second half of the show.

Perhaps we will discuss just exactly why "We Built This City on Rock and Roll" is not just objectively bad, but possibly the worst song in history.

Dang it, now it's in my head. Grr.

Also: new music from The Nields, John Sheldon, Owen Duggan, and probably others.

Hi, Australian Visitors

Thanks to the kind folks at Kiddley for directing folks our way.

(And I'm glad that my little Mel Gibson joke when playing the Purple Stripes didn't turn off all of Australia. Must...resist...Men At Work joke...)

Still More Exciting News

It's a little early to promote it in earnest, but I'm very excited about it (and hey, maybe sone listeners elsewhere will go get airfare), so here goes:

Lunch Money. November 18. Flywheel. Doors around 5:00 (to be determined more precisely).

Whoo-hoo! Figuring out openers, etc., but it's going to be great. We'll probably have a kid-friendly buffet.

(Guest DJ set from Lunch Money coming soon too!)

Playlist for 8-5-06

The archive is here.

They Might Be Giants - Istanbul (Not Constaninople) (Flood)
Mr. David - Hello! (The Great Adventures of Mr. David)
Dan Zanes - Hello Hello (EP)
Cat's Pajamas - Senor Don Gato (Reading Rocks)
Asheba - Ahmahlittle Pumpkin (Children are the Sunshine)
Justin Roberts - I Chalk (Meltdown!)
ScribbleMonster & His Pals - Pick Up the Toys (Best of Friends)
--song ID
Beatles - Good Day Sunshine (Revolver)
Milkshake ID
Milkshake - Bottle of Sunshine (Bottle of Sunshine)
Johnny Bregar - Moon (Stomp Yer Feet!)
Babaloo - Room For Everyone (Room For Everyone)
--song ID
Miz B - Raise the Brain (Raise the Brain)
REM - Stand (Green)
RTTs - Snack Time (Turn It Up Mommy!)
Joel Caithamer - Bobby's Been Bad but Wanda's Been Worse (Activate!)
Terrible Twos - When I Get To Eleven (If You Ever See An Owl)
Candy Band - Get Up Already (LolliPunk)
Replacements - Seen Your Video (Let It Be)
--interview with Asheba
--Legal ID
Baby Loves Jazz - 10 Little Monkeys (Baby Loves Jazz)
Frances England - Charlie Parker (Fascinating Creatures)
Asylum Street Spankers - I Am My Own Grandpa (The Bottle Let Me Down)
--song ID
Purple Stripes - Aba Daba Honeymoon (s/t)
Rebecca Frezza - Tall and Small (Tall and Small)
Kid Koala - Fruit Belt (See You on the Moon)
Lunch Money - Roller Coaster (Silly Reflection)
--ScribbleJim phone interview
Ralph's World - We Are Ants (Amazing Adventures of Kid Astro)
Yosi - Eat, Repeat (What's Eatin' Yosi?)
-- Justin Roberts intervew
Erin Flynn & the Co-Op Band - Mary Mack (Dreamers of Dreams)
The Quiet Ones - How Fast Can You Run (Make Some Noise)
Roger Day - Ready to Fly (Ready to Fly)
--song ID
They Might Be Giants - Free to Be You and Me

Brainstorm With Me, Won't You?

Okay, this is the coolest e-mail I've gotten in a long time. With the subject line "John F. from TMBG here," the text was this:

So we want to put together a little song for your show. What should we mention in the lyric?
JF

Yes folks, that's right, They Might Be Giants will be writing and recording a song for our little show. But it presents a conundrum: What should we ask for in the lyrics?

I'm thinking the show name, certainly. Probably not the station name or timeslot, just in case those change at some point. Ella's name? My name? "Are you prepared to rock?"? "Based on the radical notion that music for kids shouldn't want to make parents gouge out their ears"? (What would you rhyme with "gouge out your ears," anyway?) Ella thought maybe we should suggest that they namecheck some of our favorite artists, a la Mary Lou Lord in "His Indie World."

Other thoughts? Post 'em!

(And yes, I jumped around the house giggling when I got the e-mail.)

Phoneapalooza!

In addition to the previously-announced Asheba and ScribbleJim, sometime during this week's show we'll be talking with Justin Roberts live from Lollapalooza (or at least somewhere in Chicago). With Justin being from Chicago, I suppose it's not that big a deal to be talking to him live from Chicago, but hey, he's playing the festival, and it'll be cool.

Upcoming Guests

This week, we'll have Asheba and ScribbleJim calling in live from Kidzapalooza.

A week from Saturday (8/12), The Lovely Mrs. Davis will be a guest DJ in the second half of the show.

And two weeks later (8/26), Monty Harper and his daughter Evalyn will be filling in for the whole two-hour show, as I'll be out of town.

Many more guest spots to come!