Everybody's all World Cup this and USMNT that -- including me -- so I thought I'd make this particular Monday Morning Smile... well, not quite soccer/football related, but at least pretty global. How many 2010 World Cup squads are mentioned in this song? (Answer after the jump.)
They Might Be Giants - "Alphabet of Nations" [YouTube]
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.They Might Be Giants Reveal Plans for Next Kids Album
When we last heard from They Might Be Giants, they were enjoying the success of their latest CD/DVD set for kids, the excellent Here Comes Science. They were working on their next adult CD. There wasn't even any discussion about the next kids album.
But now, in a Zooglobble exclusive, the band reveals their next kids album, coming out sooner than you'd think:KidVid Tournament 2010: TMBG vs. Johnny Bregar
It's the first day of KidVid Tournament 2010 matchups, and it features matchups from the Ella Jenkins Region . In this contest we have the top seed, They Might Be Giants' "Meet The Elements" from their Here Comes Science CD/DVD set matched up against "Shoo Fly Pie" from the Johnny Bregar's Dragonfly album.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below, but the official results are based on the poll at the bottom of the page. One vote per person, please. Votes due by midnight tonight (Tuesday) East Coast time. And, as always, play nice!
They Might Be Giants - "Meet the Elements" [YouTube]
Johnny Bregar - "Shoo Fly Pie" [YouTube]
My Favorite Kids Music Videos of 2009
As much as 2009 was a great year for kids music, I think it might have been even more the year of the kids music video. In past years, coming up with 16 good kids music videos, let alone 20, was hard work. This year, it was hard, but not because there wasn't enough good stuff. There was too much good stuff.
I'm still not sure why that is -- while you have your fair share of material developed for DVDs or TV pilots, there are still plenty of videos on this list that seem created solely for the purpose of promoting a song or album (and perhaps amusing their creators). But it doesn't really matter, does it? Here, then, are my 20 favorite kids music videos from 2009 (2009 defined roughly as March 1, 2009 - February 28, 2010), starting off with the #1 video of the year... (or you can watch the whole list at my YouTube playlist of these 20 great kids music videos).
1. They Might Be Giants - "Meet the Elements" [YouTube]
Videos are flavor enhancers -- they don't do much for a bland song, no matter how technically proficient or cool the visuals are. But a good video can go a long ways toward implanting a song into the brain. And combine a great song with a great video, and you can put this result at the entryway to They Might Be Giants' wing in the Kids Music Video Hall of Fame.
Video: "And Mom and Kid" - They Might Be Giants
I'd been waiting for the right hook (i.e., something visual or tangible) to talk about the Rosie O'Donnell-produced documentary A Family is a Family is a Family. After all, it featured music from They Might Be Giants, Elizabeth Mitchell, Ziggy Marley, and Brady Rymer, to mention a few folks who travel in the kids music world. (And, hey, my own family's non-traditional in its own way, so, yeah, always good to see those sorts of families get some screen time.)
And now it's here -- They Might Be Giants' theme song for the program "And Mom and Kid" has been posted to you tube. I like the song -- font nuts will, well, go nuts.
They Might Be Giants - "And Mom and Kid" (Theme Song from "A Family is a Family is a Family" [YouTube]
