Last week I posted some art and a rough video from the latest Debbie and Friends video, "I've Got a Laugh." Well, the finished product is out, and it does look pretty slick.
I have to tell you, though, I think Debbie Cavalier might want to look for some of her money back. I've met Debbie in person, and she totally has five fingers, not four, on each of her hands.
Debbie and Friends - "I've Got a Laugh"
Who Knew Jack Bauer Was A Fan?
In the I-swear-she's-not-kidding file, two Debbie and Friends songs will appear on Fox's series 24 next year.
I'm sure many of us can think of a kids' CD or two they might wish Bauer would use his morally questionable interrogation techniques on, but apparently two Debbie and Friends videos will be used in a scene with a young child watching TV.
I guess I can add this to the list of kids music getting high-profile placements...
Pre-Video: "I've Got A Laugh" - Debbie and Friends
I'd seen a pre-production video of Debbie and Friends' "I've Got a Laugh" a few weeks back and thought, huh, that might make for an interesting post.
And then Debbie sent me some animation art. Sold.
There's nothing earth-shattering about the song, but I do think it's an effective echo song that's easily memorized and repeatable at home. I'm also impressed with the amount of work that goes into good video production. really enjoyed her video for "Hangin' Around" more than I thought I would, so I'm eager to see what the final product looks like.
Debbie Cavalier - "I've Got A Laugh" (pre-production version)
A couple more pieces of art from the video after the jump.
Dancing About Architecture From Kids Musicians
... or, in more search-friendly terms, writing about music -- ie, blogs -- by kids musicians. I know that Warren covered this last week, but I've had this on my to-do list for awhile, so I'm going to press forward with a highlighting of another wave of kids musicians turning their thoughts to the blogosphere. Some have a lot to do with the kids music genre, some very little. But I'm guessing at least one of 'em will be of interest to most of you and/or your RSS reader...
-- Ann Torralba, best known as Little Miss Ann, is trying her hand writing about kids music at littleshouldersmusic, focusing in particular about music in the Chicago area where Ann lives.
-- Bill Harley has long been one of the most talented wordsmiths in the kids music field, so I'm glad to see that he's started a blog. He tells his stories very well, and anyone interested about the arts and school culture generally will find this of value.
-- Robert Burke Warren had a long career making music for adults before starting to make music for kids as Uncle Rock. Now he's got a blog in which he's every bit as thoughtful on paper as he is in person.
-- Debbie Cavalier records music for kids under the moniker Debbie and Friends but her day job (OK, other day job) is Dean of Continuing Education at Berklee College, so, uh, yeah, she knows something about music education. She has not one, but two blogs. One, on Music, Education and Technology, is geared more toward Berklee's students, but occasionally deals with stuff of interest to a broader audience, while the other, Kid's Music Matters, is a pretty good example of an artist blog, mixing self-promotional stuff with more behind-the-scenes stuff.
KidVid Tournament 2009: Debbie and Friends vs. Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
Our other matchup in the Pete Seeger Region for KidVid Tournament 2009 is a matchup featuring #2 seed vs. the #3 seed. It's Debbie and Friends' "Hangin' Around" from her debut album Story Songs and Sing Alongs going up against Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's video for "Gotta Be Me" off his debut Easy.
Comments welcome below, but the videos and the all-important official poll are after the jump. All votes due by midnight tonight (Wednesday) East Coast time. One vote per person, please. And, yeah, play nice.
Video: "Hangin' Around" - Debbie and Friends
I can't say that I thought "Hangin' Around," one of the tracks from Debbie and Friends' Story Songs and Sing Alongs was more than a mildly pleasant tune, but the new video for the song has done what good videos often do -- make you listen with new ears.
The song lists a bunch of animal group names (which, incidentally, seem to be a whole bunch of verbs -- "flock," "mob," "span," "clutch," etc.) with some cute computer-animated renditions of said animal groups. I dig the sheep -- I think kids will really dig the whole thing.
Debbie and Friends - "Hangin' Around"