This Laurie Berkner song -- "Moon Moon Moon" -- has always been one of my favorites of hers -- I sing it quite a bit with Little Boy Blue. (But I don't believe in lemon pies and don't get that far.) The video (which I first saw on the We Are the Laurie Berkner Band DVD released many moon moon moons ago) is nothing special but does feature hand motions that would work really well with preschoolers.
The Laurie Berkner Band - "Moon Moon Moon" [YouTube]
Laurie Berkner, Questlove, and Mega Music Fest
OK. Let's get it out of the way -- the cutest/oddest thing about Nick's Mega Music Fest are these backstage/VIP passes. I can't decide if they're exclusionary because, y'know, not everybody gets to go backstage, or inclusionary because, y'know, everybody can make one.
In any case, the previously-recorded Mega Music Fest will make its broadcast premiere Labor Day -- Monday, September 6 at 8 PM ET/PT on Nickelodeon.
There were a lot of press clips of the performance available for posting, but unfortunately they're mostly just 30 seconds in length... so here's 30 seconds of the Laurie Berkner Band playing "My Family."
For those of you looking for a little more Laurie time in advance of the show, she'll be part of an online "Mega Music Party" at ParenstConnect on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 11 AM ET.
But there was one clip definitely worth watching even at 30 seconds in length...
Itty-Bitty Review: "The Best of The Laurie Berkner Band" - The Laurie Berkner Band
Why such a tiny review for such a big superstar as Laurie Berkner? Because it's a greatest hits disk, the future of which is somewhat in doubt in the mp3 era. After all, if your family are superfans, you'll get it just for the three new-to-CD tracks, including rerecordings of "Pig on Her Head" and "Moon Moon Moon," both previously seen on video, and the new track "Open Your Heart." (There's a deluxe edition as well, featuring four videos, including a previously-unreleased one for "Mouse in My Toolbox," which is similar in scope to Berkner's other Nick videos. You superfans will probably want that version.) The rest of you? You might just download the extra tracks from the album you don't have (there are no more than four from any particular album).
But that obscures just how important a songwriter and performer Berkner is for the pre-K set. As a whole, it's a solidly constructed disk, with no major omissions -- I personally would've included more tracks from her debut Whaddaya Think of That?, but all the big tracks are here. And over the roughly 15 years or so Berkner's been performing for kids she's compiled a catalog of songs that would be the envy of just about any kids' musician. "We Are the Dinosaurs" is a stone-cold kids' classic, for example, one that works equally well performed live by a band and performed by your preschooler's teacher. "Moon Moon Moon" is the only lullaby written in the past hundred years that I actually sing to my kids. And "Victor Vito" is cheesy, dorky, and stuck in your brain for the next week now that I've mentioned it. And so on.
While other artists slowly slide up to the 4-to-8-year-old age range, Berkner's continued to make music -- darn good music -- for preschoolers. So while I'm not sure many regular readers actually need The Best of The Laure Berkner Band! given the relative lack of new songs, as a collection of some of the best original music for preschoolers of the past twenty years, it's highly recommended.
(Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the regular edition of the album for possible review.)Life Is Good (Festival) Is Very, Very Good
Excellent, even. That's a festival lineup for you: Laurie Berkner Band, Dan Zanes and Friends, and They Might Be Giants. Not to mention The Sippy Cups. (Unless, of course, the "Dane Zanes & Friends" text isn't a joke and it's just a Dan Zanes tribute band.)
What lineup? It's for the Life Is Good Festival 2010, a charitable event to be held Sept. 11 and 12, 2010 in suburban Boston. Here's the kids lineup. Man, if that's the kids lineup, I shudder to think what the adult stages would be. (U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Beyonce?) No details yet on ticket prices, schedule, etc.The Best of the Laurie Berkner Band Set To Relieve Jack's Big Music Show Withdrawal Symptoms June 22
She performed with a whole bunch of folks at a Haiti benefit, she's performing with a whole bunch of folks for, er, Nickolodeon's benefit, and what else is Laurie Berkner going to do now? (No, not go to Disneyland. She's a Nick girl.) Well, as previously reported, she's going to release a greatest hits album.
Now we have the full details -- album art there to the side (which does reward the close viewer of the art -- see the moon with the nightlight chain?), release date (June 22), and track listing. It includes a few audio tracks from previously-released videos and "Open Your Heart," newly recorded with the band.
From an industry perspective, I find the release interesting because it's really the first greatest hits release from a kids music star in the digital world. How well will it do if folks can easily just make their own "greatest hits" CDs? Or do people still buy full albums, even for (especially for) kids? Track listing below:Nickolodeon's Mega Music Fest: Biggest Mashup Ever
What do you get when you cross Yo Gabba Gabba! with the Laurie Berkner Band and Colbie Caillat? Synergy!
Or, at least, that's what Nickolodeon believes, as they announced yesterday the first-ever "Mega Music Fest." (Note to self: "Mega" is no longer a prefix, apparently. It's a word unto itself.) On May 22 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the channel will be hosting the concert and taping it for a prime-time special this summer. In addition to the folks above, the concert will feature Wycleaf Jean, the Roots, Dora the Explorer, and the Fresh Beat Band, along with Sherri Shepherd and John Leguziamo. Caillat, Jean, and the Roots will apparently be performing duets with the other folks.
For those of you thinking that this would make for a fun live concert experience, you're going to have to know people -- there's no mention of the concert on the BAM calendar even though it's just ten days before the concert.
I'm 99% sure that Caillat, Jean, and the Roots will be performing with the Nickolodeon folks, but would it be too much to ask for at least a Roots/Berkner performance? (Yes, apparently it would.)
Photo credit: Todd Owyoung
