I think it's clear that I am, at best, a wary observer of Nick Jr.'s Fresh Beat Band. After all, even though I'm not a huge fan of the term, I'd much rather cover the "kindie" artists that are taking exciting chances on making, performing, and distributing their music than spend time on color-outfitted artists. Which is why my ratio of Recess Monkey to Fresh Beat Band mentions is about 9:1 (not an exaggeration).
But I will give credit where credit is due, and this new song of theirs, "Here We Go," is pretty darn catchy. Not to mention less than two minutes long. And if you want to teach the full lyrics to your kiddo (or, they to you, because they've probably already memorized it), Nick Jr.'s got you covered. Anyway, here's a video for the song, featuring enough confetti to require a bath.
The Fresh Beat Band - "Here We Go" [Nick Jr.]
Yo Gabba Gabba, Fresh Beat Band Get New Episodes
And the world, what? Rejoices? Shrugs? Little of both? I don't know.
Anyway, a little late with this news, but did want to note that a couple weeks ago, Nick and its many affiliated channels announced that it had picked up both The Fresh Beat Band and Yo Gabba Gabba! for new 13-episode seasons. That would be the third season for the four primary-colored human forms and the fourth season for the four primary-colored, er, whatever it is Brobee et al. are. There aren't any details on what sort of craaaaazy adventures each quartet will get themselves into (or what guests the YGG! folk will have). However, as YGG! co-creator Christian Jacobs noted in an interview, they've also been working on a movie script, so perhaps the additional episodes will give the script an added push as well. Anyway, given that it took them basically a year to debut Season 3 YGG! episodes after they approved production, expect DJ Lance and friends to come back for Season 4 in spring of 2012.
Photo Credit: Ben Clark/NickelodeonFresh Freat Beat Band - Season 2 Premieres Next Week
As previously reported, Nick, Jr. greenlighted Season 2 of their show The Fresh Beat Band. And now their "hijinks and high-energy music" (which, y'know, is not a bad description of the show) will be featured in four new Season 2 episodes premiering Monday, Aug. 30 - Thursday, Sept. 2, at 11:30 a.m. ET/PT. And while future episodes promise that the band will "learn and play new styles of music, including Jazz, Conga, Bluegrass and Motown," for now fans will have to be satisfied with these 4 shows.
The Fresh Beat Band - "You Got It" [Posted with permission of Viacom]
PR descriptions of the 4 premiere episodes after the jump. Note: one sentence in each description may be less than totally truthful.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 OwyoungThey're Baaack: New Fresh Beat Band Episodes Start Monday; Season 2 On Its Way
It's been awhile since I've talked about The Fresh Beat Band, Nick Jr.'s live-action show with music that couldn't be more different from its other live-action show with music (Yo Gabba Gabba!).
But they're back, with four new Season 1 episodes running next week (January 11 through 14). And bringing joy (and probably some pain) to families worldwide comes news that Viacom's ordered 20 new half-hour episodes for Season 2. (Oh, and apparently you'll be able to buy "Great Day" and "The Fresh Beat Band Theme Song" on iTunes soon.) So, yeah, folks, they're not going away.
The network's summaries of the four premiere episodes from next week presented (mostly) without comment after the jump. They're pretty amusing read aloud, but I suppose so would a summary of a Lost episode....The Fresh Beat Band Is Fresh, I'll Give 'Em That Much
What's that, parents? Your kids want to watch yesterday's episode of Nick Jr's new show The Fresh Beat Band and you don't have a DVR?
Well, it's iTunes to the rescue -- they already have the 3 episodes shown yesterday and today (Stomp the House, Stick Together, Doggone It!) available for sale, just $1.99 each.
I'm guessing that a lot of regular readers won't care much about this, but I do think it shows just how quickly the TV landscape has changed in a few years. Jack's Big Music Show? Just 4 episodes on iTunes, the ones on the Let's Rock DVD. But now even these shows for kids are being treated like The Office.
Obviously, I think this is a great idea. Why should I have to wait for the next Biscuit Brothers DVD when I could download the episodes immediately from iTunes? But I've heard from assorted musicians that iTunes isn't necessarily the fastest in responding if your name isn't "Hannah" or "Montana." Makes me the think that finding the best independent music/shows for kids is a niche that Kidos could nicely carve out for itself. (But I still want my Biscuit Brothers on iTunes.)
