Hey, how would you like to be on the next Eric Herman album? All you need to do is record yourself, or your kids, or your dog yelling "Scat cat!" and send me the file, and I'll try to work it in to the final recording for the song "Scat Cat!" from my upcoming Snail's Pace album. If you need direction on how to do it, listen to this sample. (The tempo is 113 bpm and the words would come in on the second and third quarter notes of the measure.)
I need a man's part and a woman's part for different verses, but if your recording isn't used for one of those solo parts, then I should be able to be use it near the end of the song, where there is supposed to be a big crowd of people yelling that. It's probably not likely that you'll be able to pick your voice out among the big crowd of voices once I mix them all together for that part, but you can still honestly say, "Hey, that's me there!" and add it to your rock star resume. So if you have a microphone, record two or three takes of that phrase (careful not to overload it with the yelling) and send the file(s) to me at eric(at)butter-dog(dot)com in WAV/AIFF or highest possible quality MP3 format, please. Recordings should be completely dry, with no effects or normalizing. If you don't really have a microphone to record with, try your video camera. They often have decent microphones, and you'll just have to export the audio from the camera into your soundcard and capture it. To do that, you can use the Sound Recorder program that all Windows machines come with, or download the free Audacity audio program. (Feel free to ask if you need more help as far as recording, capturing and saving a sound file.)
Everyone who submits a recording will get a free download of the full song when it is released and a $1.00 discount for the Snail's Pace album. A free copy of the CD will go to the man and woman chosen for the solo parts.
That's right, it's another "uncle" here at Cool Tunes for Kids... First Uncle Rock and now Uncle Moondog.
Uncle Moondog is a very cool cartoon dog who lives on Sunshine Island. Musician Mike McManus produces Uncle Moondog's music with great flair and versatility, and his self-titled first album is a favorite of mine in the kids' music genre, with very memorable hooks and melodies and fun production and arrangement throughout.
The album starts off with the bouncy and catchy "New Goldfish", which introduces the dawg and his new pet goldfish, Timmy (see the video below). Next up is "Percy the Pelican" which has a great B-52s meets The Munsters kind of riff. "Stanky Socks" has a see-saw hook to it, as Uncle Moondog describes his most foul hosiery. "Bampy's Bungalow" starts with a "Centerfield" riff and has a Jimmy Buffet feel. "Dancing With My Dog" is next and it's my favorite on the album... a fast country-ish tune with a terrific hook and some really nice doo-wop backing vocals. I'm not really sure why a dog would have a dog, and the concepts of these songs don't always make that much narrative sense in terms of a character/story arc, but so what, they're a lot of fun and this isn't meant to be a story or concept album. Uncle Moondog's voice (which is somewhere between Dr. John and McGruff the Crime Dog) is an especially perfect fit for the bluesy "Bathtime Blues". The doo-wop comes out in full for the very cute "Penny", which is my wife's favorite track. This tune has some quite tasty tremolo guitar, and there is a lot of really sweet guitar playing throughout the album. The Uncle shifts to an 80's pop/rock/new wave sound (somewhere vaguely in the range of Gary Numan and The Cars) for "Shufflin' My Feet". The album ends with the reggae track "Porpoises, Pelicans and Palm Trees", which includes some amusing interludes with Timmy, the fish.
While Uncle Moondog's voice is well-fitting and engaging for a cartoon dog, the voice of Timmy, the fish, may be an issue for some people. It's your basic Chipmunks or "Flying Purple People Eater" kind of voice, and my feeling is that it would have been better in smaller doses. Timmy appears in the first song, and that's fine, but then he's also in the next few songs and by then you may have heard enough of him, especially with certain words and phrases of his cutting through in a more piercing way. Your kids will probably have a higher tolerance for Timmy's high-pitched, silly voice, though, so don't let that get in the way of enjoying what is a great album, regardless of that.
I don't have Uncle Moondog's second CD, Baloney Cake, but from samples online it sounds like more of the same, which is a good thing when "the same" is as well-written and well-produced as the first album. Uncle Moondog has an eCard video of "The Birthday Song" from Baloney Cake available on his website at this link.
Uncle Rock (aka Robert Warren) is a cool kids' performer from Chichester, New York, which is in the area sometimes considered "upstate New York". I say "sometimes", because the definition of "upstate New York" is kind of strange... You'd think it would only mean the part up near the top, and yet, I've also heard it referring to Uncle Rock's area in the Catskills, in which the "upstate" probably means "up" as in up from sea level. Also, having lived for many years in Western New York, I've actually heard references to the Buffalo area as being "upstate", which I can only assume means that for some people, anywhere that isn't New York City is "upstate". And then again, those of us in Buffalo often referred to areas like Syracuse and Rochester (there's an awful lot of "chesters" in New York) as "upstate", so who knows where it really is.
But in any case, "upstate" is actually a good description for Uncle Rock's music and how it makes you feel. He has two kids' music albums, the first of which I've only heard a few samples of, and the more recent, Plays Well With Others, which I'll focus on here.
On Plays Well With Others, Uncle Rock quickly proceeds to bring the rock to the table with the heavily T-Rex influenced opening track "Rock Out!", where he incites legions of kids to dance with their daddies, mosh with their mommies and groove with their grannies. T-Rex gives way to The Blues Brothers in the bridge with a cop of the "Everybody Need Somebody" riff. The folky "Playin' Possum" is next and is very cute and features a rippin' snore solo. "Picnic in the Graveyard" has a memorable anthemic melody, describing a holiday celebration of one's ancestors. This is both a beautiful song and a really wonderful holiday (see the video below), and thematically the track leads nicely into the acoustic ballad, "Brand New Butterfly". Throughout the album, Warren sounds vocally like a more polished version of John Kay (Steppenwolf), or a less polished version of Kenny Loggins, and "Brand New Butterfly" particularly shows off the nice timbre of his voice. "Shoe Bandit" is one of those kids' songs that has a particularly funny and clever observation about kid/parent life, and I will now be singing this song every time my girls and I are frantically looking for their shoes so we can go out somewhere. "Break a Few Eggs" is a catchy life-lesson with a nice laid-back groove. "Sugar Talkin'" has an instantly memorable catch-phrase ("It's the sugar talkin', not me"), and could have been a real hit if it wasn't a bit sloppy in spots. Better produced is "Rock & Roll Babysitter" and then "I'm a Pirate", which covers several pirate cliches in the lyrics and has a great musical vibe and a nice "Arrr!" lead-in to every verse. "Disco Nap" is kind of a strange concept and never quite locks into its groove, rhythmically, but the album closer, "Connected" is a beautifully realized ballad, both musically and lyrically.
One thing that my wife mentioned about this CD (though she liked the album a lot, otherwise) was regarding the overabundance of kids singing along on many of the tracks. And it's not so much that there were kids on a lot of tracks... there's certainly nothing wrong with that... but that in this case it is kind of hit-and-miss as far as whether they are effective or not. Kids can make a kids' music recording sound cute and add excitement to the mix, but if they are too much out of tune or off rhythm with the main vocal line that they are supposed to be following, it's one of those things where it may sound funny and adorable the first time... but after that it can be kind of disconcerting and difficult to listen to. But Roseann wanted me to mention that her ears are particularly sensitive about that kind of thing when she is producing music, so it may not be a problem for everyone. It didn't bother me nearly as much, though I do know what she means by that and agree that there is some level of that on this CD. Not to make Uncle Rock such an example of this, though, as there are many kids' CDs, even by some of the biggest names, that have that same kind of problem, but since it came up I thought it might be worth mentioning now.
There are two cover tracks, the first a medley of "Magic Carpet Ride", "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Magic Bus", and the second an acoustic version of "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka. Neither of these really worked too well for me, with "Pure Imagination" vaguely reminding me of my old coffeeshop gigs when someone would request something that I only kinda knew how to sing and play. There's just not a strong sense of confidence in his performance on that track. But thankfully, Uncle Rock's original tunes are excellent, so I think if he focuses on them and works a little on getting the overall recording production a bit more polished (while still retaining some of the nice edge and grit that he has), then his CDs will continue to be among the best in the kids' music genre.
It looks like Planet Kid Vid will be a great place to have a lot of kids' music videos gathered together, so fit as many kids as you can on your lap and crank up the cheap computer speakers and be prepared to hear, "Again! Again!" as you sift your way through the videos there. And if you're a kids' artist with videos, you might want to get in touch with Monty or Mr. Billy and see if they'll post them there.
When you listen to the first couple of songs on Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang's latest album, Get Up & Dance, your brain may have a hard time putting together what you're hearing... well, perhaps it's just my brain that has that problem... On the one hand the music is very down and funky, almost like Sly and the Family Stone at times, but then there's the voice of Gwendolyn singing, and... well... her voice is about as far removed from Sly Stone's voice as you could possibly imagine.
There are several words and phrases to describe Gwendolyn's voice, along the lines of "cutesy wootsey", "Barbie doll", "bubblegum", and "Chipmunks without helium". I imagine she might list Helen Kane ("I Wanna Be Loved by You"), Bernadette Peters and Betty Boop among her vocal influences. I doubt she'll want to use "the Betty Boop of kids' music" as a tagline, but there is that kind of cartoonish and kittenish quality to her voice. Ultimately, though, as a singer and entertainer Gwendolyn is unbelievably adorable and smile-inducing in a completely wholesome way, and contrary to Betty Boop's flirty flapper-ness, her voice paints a sunny picture of Shirley Temple and Cindy Brady having a tea party with their Raggedy Ann dolls. Her voice combined with the punchy and upbeat music from the band has an effect that might actually be prescribed by doctors as a mood enhancer. If you don't feel good when you listen to this music, then you're just way too jaded, duuuude. Lighten up, already, and let the sunshine in!
This album is nothing but fun from start to finish, and is almost as participation-inducing as a Jim Gill album. Needless to say, my girls (ages 2 and 4) loved it right off the bat. The title track has a great "Twist and Shout" kind of feel and is guaranteed to get your little ones up and moving, and perhaps you, too, unless you have officially reached the age of "fuddy duddy". "Red Means Stop" is a take on the old Red Light/Green Light game and is heavy on that aforementioned Sly Stone sound. The participation continues heavily on "Run Baby Run", which changes nicely from fast to slow parts. Other highlights for me include the very catchy toe-tapper "Sweet Marmalade", which would have been a big hit for CCR, Three Dog Night or The Brady Bunch (or if you prefer, The Silver Platters); "Bicycle Ride", which reminds me of Elton John's upbeat 70's tunes; "Ode to Pets", a rock 'n' roll song which cleverly introduces the band members' pets; "Snuggle Wuggle", a sweet lullaby that I have a hard time listening to without chuckling because I keep thinking of Nanny G singing "Peek-A-Boo" to Frasier; and "Out in My Garden", which starts with a really cool laid back riff that quickly folds into a fast bluegrass song, complete with some tasty jaw harp.
I don't have the band's first album, but listening to samples on their website tells me that there's a lot more yummy stuff on that CD; "Farm Animal Friends" is a really cute (gosh, there just aren't enough synonyms for "cute" to supply me for this article) folk song, featuring a "wall of Chipmunk sound" as Gwendolyn harmonizes with herself way up in the vocal stratosphere (see the video below); "Please" features some virtuoso slide whistle playing and more engagingly adorable vocals; there are more Brady Bunch hits with "You Can Be Anything" and "Freedom of the Heart"; "Anatomy" names various body parts in the verse and then goes into a great chorus; "I Don't Think I Like It" is funny and catchy in a Monty Python "I Like Traffic Lights" kind of way, but I'm not sure if the accent of the singer is supposed to be German or Oriental; and "Little Monkey", which is a bit of a cop of both "Da Doo Run Run" and "I Love a Rainy Night", but is still fun in its own way.
So unless you're just a plain old grumpy grump, you and your kids should really love the effervescent Gwendolyn and her highly musical gang. Even if you are a generally happy person, you are bound to feel your mood being enhanced. And certainly if you need something to pick you up and cheer you up, this will do the trick, in which case, take two CDs and call me in the morning. Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang website
Here are my girls having fun to Get Up and Dance...
In my recent post about performing for an audience of kids I mentioned that Dan Zanes has an instant advantage with a kid audience because he has that uniquely crazy cool look. Well, I think that Ginger Hendrix also has an instant advantage as a music performer... no, she doesn't look like Dan Zanes... that probably wouldn't work so well for a woman... but she automatically has an essence of cool about her because of her name. Ginger Hendrix! Wow, how cool is that?! 'Ginger' is a sweet spice, and also the name of the great drummer from Cream, Ginger Baker, the legendary singer and dancer Ginger Rogers, and of course that sultry starlet from Gilligan's Island. So she's already off and running with her first name. And 'Hendrix', well gosh, it would be hard to find a first name that wouldn't sound cool with that... Ebenezer Hendrix. Cool. Bertha Hendrix. Still pretty cool. Dweezil Hendrix. Very cool. I almost wonder if 'Ginger Hendrix' is even her real name, but I certainly wouldn't blame her if she did change her name to that, because it's so great of a name. (Note to self: should have gone with Eric Hendrix. D'oh!)
As if it wasn't enough that Ginger has one of the best... names... ever... she also endears herself to kids right off the bat on her debut CD of children's music, Macaroni Boy Eats at Chez Shooby Doo, by using the word 'stinky' abundantly in the first song, "Stinky Trash", and evoking the very funny image of "a nose with legs". Ginger has a voice that varies between being strong and a little raspy/bluesy, almost like a more restrained Janis Joplin, and being very pretty and smooth. Her singing is a little unpolished at times, but her voice and her phrasing are both filled to overflowing with all-important character.
The next two songs on Macaroni Boy are just kind of okaaay for me, and I might have sequenced them later on the disc (though I've second-guessed the track order on all three of my own CDs, so I'm certainly no expert in that regard!), but the CD really takes off from there in a big way. The fourth track is the title track, which is a story song about a kid in a restaurant and the persistent waiter who tries in vain to sway the boy from ordering his beloved "macaroni, that creamy cheesy treat". There's a brilliance to the waiter's offerings such as "angel tooth pasta", "artichoke flannel ragout" and "wild billy goat hoof cheese", because it's that kind of mish-mash of words that kids likely hear when fancy waiters deliver their spiels. There's almost a "Cheese Shop" feel to this track, and the only complaint is that it just kind of ends after the fourth verse, and I was expecting some kind of Python-esque punch line or ending. But it's still a lot of fun, and you can even make a game out of it. My daughter, Becca, and I have been playing it together a lot lately, where we take turns being the waiter and the kid. Whenever Becca is the waiter, she tends to use the word "sausage" a lot, as in "peanut butter sausage ice cream". "Sausage" is just one of those particularly funny words for kids, you know, like "stinky".
The rest of the songs on Macaroni Boy are very charming, too. "My Daddy Loves Tools" is about a daddy who loves tools, though I'm sure you could have guessed that from the title, and includes some percussion sounds to go along with the tool descriptions. "Let's Pretend" has a great melody and sense of imagination and participation. "Funny Word Dictionary" has some cute definitions like "baa squeezy swish swish", which means "that sheep is wearing panty hose". The first time I heard "Rocking My Cat to Sleep" I wasn't paying close attention to the early part of the song and so when I heard only the later part I thought it was a sadly sweet (or sweetly sad) and poignant song about pet loss. But then I heard the first part where she says she likes rocking her cat to sleep, so now I'm not really sure what it's about... maybe dogs are just too big to comfortably rock to sleep? I think I liked it better as a coping with loss kind of thing, but I still think it's very beautiful, regardless. "There Was Another Old Woman" is an amusing parody that replaces fly and horse swallowing with women's fashion.
The CD ends with four tracks recorded at an intimate live setting, and it is these tracks which really shine a bright light on what a great kids' performer Ginger is. With the rest of the album being almost entirely arranged with only her voice and guitar, I kind of wonder why she didn't just do the whole album as a live show. It would have made for a more consistent recording and I'm sure many of the other tracks would have also showed off her sense of humor and the audience participation in the live setting. But anyway, the first of the live tracks is "Teacher Mary School", which has a very simple and very catchy hook (most of these songs do, by the way) and a funny participation part where Ginger asks "One of our favorite things to do is..." and the kids always answer "Play!" Ginger acts as if that is the greatest answer each time it is given, which is a wonderful way to respond. "The Breakfast Song" includes more participation and amusement from Ginger and the kids as they turn what they had for breakfast into refrains, though I wasn't crazy about the coffee verse at the end (what is it with so many kids' musicians with songs and references about coffee??). The CD ends with a very sweet ballad called "My Mommy Loves Me", which includes some verses that keep it real, like "Sometimes I hit my brother and I make him cry. Sometimes I miss the potty, even when I really try." And then she brings it home with the title of the song, sung with a neat waver on the word "lu-uh-uves". Oh yeah, very nice.
Ginger has a unique and well-developed sense of humor and comedy which is rare and delightful. For adults, it's not so much laugh-out-loud humor as it is big-smile-on-the-face humor, but for the preschool audience that seems to be her ideal target, I'm sure there are many squeals of laughter when Ginger and her guitar are in the room. Ginger Hendrix not only has an amazing name, but she is a terrific all-around entertainer who really plays around in that wonderfully colorful bounce house that is a child's mind.
My two year-old, Evee, became a big fan of the stuffed monkey I got for her last summer. It was on sale in the wake of the Curious George movie's merchandise push, and it was very cute. Before I went in to the store I had asked her, jokingly, if she needed anything, and she said "a monkey", so it seemed like an obvious choice once I saw the stuffed George. And until then, she hadn't had her own "special stuffed toy" to sleep with and carry around and hug tightly... she mostly had her choice of a variety of stuffed toys that her older sister had, but nothing of her very own (well, we had certainly given her stuffed toys before, but nothing that she had really glommed on to). It's a bedtime Curious George, and he's wearing a pajama with a bottom flap, and Evee has a lot of laughs pulling the flap open and saying "bummy!" There is a real personality connection between Evee and the character of "Monkey George", as she calls him... Evee is extremely curious and fun-loving, and when she's left a room it's almost as messy as if Curious George had been there.
So recently at the library, I realized, gosh, we should read some of the Curious George books. I loved those when I was little. Strange to see, though, how times have made some things in there a little bit awkward... such as the man in the yellow hat essentially being a poacher who grabs George for a zoo. I mean, zoos are good things and all, and at some points people have to go and get some animals for them... but it just doesn't seem like the best basis for a cute buddy story these days. And there are other things like George smoking from the man in the yellow hat's pipe, and being thrown in jail for making a prank phone call... Just not the kind of material that would seem quite as publishable in 2007 as it was in 1941. The book was enjoyable, regardless, but felt a little dated.
So I thought we'd give the new movie a try and see how the basic Curious George premise might be reimagined in 2006-07. To my delight, the movie is very entertaining and the changes to the original story are all cleverly done and work very well for the new story. There is a great voice cast including Will Farrell as the man in the yellow hat, David Cross (Tobias from Arrested Development), Drew Barrymore, Eugene Levy and Dick van Dyke, and a lot of humor throughout (and all very clean humor). We did pause the DVD after the intro ad for the Curious George PBS program showed George making all kinds of messes, and said to our girls that if we were going to watch this movie, we needed both of them to promise not to play "Monkey See, Monkey Do". And we had to remind them afterwards about that promise, as the urge to act like a mischievous monkey was pretty strong.
But on to the music, eh? That's what this is supposed to be about, right? The soundtrack for the movie includes several songs by Jack Johnson, the mellow acoustic singer/songwriter with the smooth as syrup on banana pancakes voice. At first my wife commented about the music being too mellow and I think I agreed and used the term "nondescript". The songs kind of blended into each other and didn't really stand out in any kind of distinct way. But the thing with a movie that kids love is that they will want to watch it again and again, which means that I am watching it again and again, or at least listening to it again and again while doing other things... and after several listens I've come to really enjoy the songs. And I realize that movie music shouldn't really call attention to itself, but it usually sets a general mood or underscores the feeling of the film. In that sense, these songs didn't really work because the feeling of the film is often very upbeat and fast-paced. But what did work and makes these songs perfect for this particular film is that I think it needed the contrast of something mellower to offset the action. I recall Stephen Sondheim talking about A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and how the songs in that show weren't as funny as the comedy in the dialogue, and weren't intended to be, but were meant as a respite now and then from the frenetic humor. And I usually sequence my CDs in a similar way, mixing up the pacing of the humor and the song tempos to give some contrast and give kids a break now and then. So once I could appreciate how Jack Johnson's songs did fit so well along with the movie, even being so laid-back, then I could appreciate them a lot more for what they were.
"Upside Down" runs in full over the film's opening sequence and is a gently churning acoustic pop song which nicely "arrives" at the chorus and has some simple but effective acoustic lead lines. "People Watching" has a bouncy Beatles flavor and a cute and catchy hook as Jack sings, "Well, I'm just people watching the other people watching me". "Broken" has some grooving Hendrix Strat funk. "Talk of the Town" has a breezy Jimmy Buffet/James Taylor sound and shows off the cool tone of Jack's voice when he says "yea-ehh". "Questions" and "Supposed to Be" are both lazily beautiful ballads. The rest of the soundtrack includes other songs in a similar vein as the ones featured in the film and has some standouts including the sweet cover of the White Stripes' "We're Going to Be Friends"; the Beck-y backbeat blues of "The Sharing Song"; the funky soul of "3 Rs", which includes a take on the Schoolhouse Rock! classic "Three is a Magic Number"; and the pretty arpeggiated acoustic meanderings of "Wrong Turn".
So thumbs way up on both the film and the soundtrack. I should also mention another great Curious George song, which is the theme song for the new PBS show. This is a terrific swing jazz tune performed by Dr. John that is very catchy and really smokes (musically... no pipes). Having heard this prior to watching the movie, perhaps I was expecting the film's music to be more like this, which is why it took a little bit of 'warming up' to the soundtrack. This has the wildly upbeat and fun kind of sound that seems to have more of an immediate connection with the character of the monkey in question.
You can hear samples from Jack Johnson's Curious George soundtrack here. To hear the full version of the Curious George PBS TV show theme, go to this page and click on the Meet Curious George link.
What is it with kids and pirates? Let's face it, kids love 'em. I suppose it's probably a combination of the cool things they say ("Arr!", "Aye!", "Avast!"), the cool things they wear (hats, hooks, eye patches, puffy shirts, parrots), and the cool things they do (swashbuckling, treasure hunting, cannon firing, plank walking). A pirate is a real multi-dimensional character for a kid, perfect for all kinds of imaginative adventures. But of course, the reality is that pirates are pretty nasty people... at the very least thieves and drunkards, and at the worst murderers and rapists. It's a little puzzling why pirates have been perpetuated over the years as play characters for kids. Then again, you can't play "cops and robbers" without some kids being the robbers, or play Star Wars without someone being Darth Vader. And any actor knows that when it comes to role-playing, some of the juiciest roles are the villains. I suppose that any kid who actually idolizes pirates will need a moment like when Bobby Brady realized that Jesse James wasn't a great role model, but inasmuch as pirates are great sources of imagination and adventure, that's certainly a cool thing.
My own pirate fancy has resurfaced of late as I've been playing the fun computer game, Sid Meier's Pirates! (which I would have recommended for pirate-loving kids to play along with their parents but for one word - cleavage), and I recently saw the DVD of Dead Man's Chest. To put on my movie reviewer's hat (or thumb) for a moment, I thought that was a rollicking good time, and much better than the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, although that one was fun, too. So the pirate flag of my imagination has been flying high lately, and it was an ideal time to discover Captain Bogg and Salty, a musical pirate band from Portland. And I was glad to discover that beyond the gimmick of that premise, the band really has great music and a lot of depth and humor.
Their first album, Bedtime Stories for Pirates, starts off with a hearty encouragement from Captain Angus Bogg to come live the life of a pirate, and then his crew members trade off verses of the first song, "I'm a Singin' Pirate", which combines the sound and jubilant chorus of your average drinking anthem with the melody and sophisticated wordplay of Gilbert and Sullivan. Other selections from among their three albums include a lot of what you would expect from what might be considered the 'pirate subgenre'; hand clapping, accordian, mandolin, crew chants, etc. But then there are a number of songs that offer totally different music than what might be expected, such as "Cat O' Nine Tails", with its smarmy jazzy pop flavor; "Scurvy", a ska polka song with an important educational message about what to do when you have scurvy (eat a lime); "Manatee", a pretty acoustic ballad; "I'm a Pirate", a Ventures meets the Yardbirds tune about a pirate who also surfs; "Pirate Party", a rockabilly romp a la the Stray Cats or BR549; the funny and dramatic Spanish drone of "Scallywag"; "Doldrums", which hearkens to The Who and The Doors; and the 80's metal sound of "Dead Men Tell No Tales".
My favorite track is "Pieces of 8ight", which maintains pirate-styled chording while infusing a cool modern rock sound that reminds me of Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People". (I'm sure that will be a quote they'll want to use when promoting themselves to elementary schools and other children's events - "Captain Bogg and Salty will remind you of Marilyn Manson!") And the band recently made an excellent video of the song, which you can see below.
Captain Bogg and Salty plays a lot of shows for kids, and they also do shows for adults at clubs (where the patrons can presumably get their fill of grog or Grog Lite), and apparently their show doesn't change at all between the two audiences. So what works as pirate themed fun for kids also works as rebellious pirate fun for adults, too. In any case, their songs describe in great detail various aspects in the life of a pirate. Some things are good (finding treasure) and some are bad (scurvy), but regardless, the band does an amazing job of conveying the fascination of the pirate's life to anyone with such a fancy.
I look forward to meeting up with Captain Bogg and his crew at some point on our mutual travels around the Northwest. I just hope they don't ransack my RV and steal my stash of root beer!
The Hipwaders are a really tight trio from California who have a fun sound and a nice variety of styles. Their self-titled debut CD was released in 2005 and starts right off with the invitation- "Come along with us!" And then it jumps into a very upbeat song imploring all to "come aboard the Hipwader bus". The sound for this is very much like The Byrds (uh, Roger McGuinn, not Alfred Hitchcock), complete with 12-string Rickenbacker guitar. And there's also a Wonders (or Oneders, if you prefer) kind of feel from That Thing You Do! I'm not sure that this worked that well for me as a full song, but I think it would be great as a jingle or TV theme song as it's very catchy and totally "feel good".
The album continues with the Stray Cats rockabilly of "Messy Room Song". I like the idea that the kid in the song is sent to clean up his room with a feather duster, a mop and broom, and then realizes that he really needs a bulldozer and a dump truck. "Earthquake" has a similar kind of verse-to-chorus change as Geof Johnson's "Hot Sand", and adopts a B-52's kind of sound, which works great. The B-52's influence is back again with "Rock Lobster" style backing vocals in the chorus of "Twitchy". Musically, the album shifts gears pretty sharply with "Welcome to the Zoo", which has sort of a mariachi feel to it, and especially on "Silly Robot Dance", which gives a clear answer if you were wondering whatever happened to Falco. These are both fun tracks and demonstrate the versatility of the band and the vocal chops of lead singer Tito Uquillas.
Other favorites of mine include the Beatle-esque "Insect Safari", which includes some funny banter between the 'insects'; the creepy jazzy "Mr. Wiggly Jiggly Bones", which I can picture as the soundtrack behind some Tim Burton animation; the tribal rock of "Volcano"; the Smashmouth vibe and dirty guitar of "Stand Up to the Bully"; the David Lynch landscape and spooky twang of "Howling at the Moon"; and the closing song "Valentine", which opens with some Beach Boys "ba ba ba"s and turns into a bouncy Turtles love song with cute lyrics like- "Valentine, I'd like to make you mine. Can you see this heart-shaped thought balloon floating over my head when I think of you?"
If there's any complaint I have about the album (and when I say 'complaint' I mean that very mildly... it's not like I'll be calling to yell at The Hipwaders' customer service department), it's that sometimes the influences are so on-the-nose as to lose some of the character of the band itself. Tracks like "Jelly Beans" and "My Green Bicycle" are good songs, but they're so completely soaked in Beatles sounds and chord phrasing and recording techniques (and Tito doing a slight Liverpudlian accent) that I almost wonder, am I listening to Revolver or The Hipwaders? And there are a lot of other on-the-nose references like that throughout the album, like the Falco and B-52s things. These guys are super-talented musicians and songwriters and I'd like to hear their music be something more unique to who they are and have their influences be much more transparent. It's one thing to listen and think, hey, this band seems like they're influenced by the Beatles or the B-52s... that's cool... but it's not as good when they sound exactly like that. If you're looking for a tribute act, then sure, but not for something original. There was already The Beatles and The B-52s... so I'd like to hear The Hipwaders be The Hipwaders.
The band is currently working on their next album, which should be released sometime this year. I'll look forward to hearing that and seeing where they go from here. Their debut CD is terrific and makes them a real promising entry into the kids' music world. Either you're on the bus or you're off the bus... Definitely pay the fare and get on with The Hipwaders!
Rice Krispies is sponsoring Ralph's World on a House of Blues tour. I have four tickets to give away to anyone who would like to go to one of the shows listed below.
To win the tickets, listen to my interview with Ralph Covert below, then add a comment to this post with the correct spelling of his name, backwards. A winner will be selected from all correct entries. The deadline is January 31.
I'll be doing some shows in Portland just a week after Ralph will be there, and probably won't be able to get out there sooner. And then when he's in Seattle is when I'll be in Portland... Bummer! I was hoping to catch him during this tour, but I guess that'll have to wait.
Anyway, I'm sure it'll be a really great time. Here are the dates:
Feb. 3 - Anaheim CA House of Blues Feb. 4 - San Francisco CA The Fillmore Feb. 10 - San Diego CA House of Blues Feb. 11 - Portland OR Aladdin Theater Feb. 17 - West Hollywood CA House of Blues Feb. 18 - Seattle WA The Moore Theater Feb. 24 - Las Vegas NV House of Blues Feb. 25 - Boulder CO The Boulder Theater Mar. 3 - Chicago IL House of Blues Mar. 4 - Somerville MA Somerville Theater Mar. 10 - Cleveland OH House of Blues Mar. 11 - Philadelphia PA Theatre of the Living Arts Mar. 17 - Lake Buena Vista FL House of Blues Mar. 18 - Atlanta GA Variety Playhouse Mar. 24 - New Orleans LA House of Blues Mar. 25 - St Louis MO The Pageant
My friend Eric Ode, who I posted about before here, has just released a brand new DVD called Welcome to the Workshop. This collection includes videos of four songs from his previous CDs including "I Love My Shoes" and "At the Library", as well as five new songs that are exclusive to this DVD. The new songs include the funky "Worms", the charming country-folk song "Washing the Dog" and my favorite, "This Song Has No Elephants", which is a very cute song and a really fun video. Click here to order the DVD and check out the video for "This Song Has No Elephants" below.
Hey, how would you like to be on the next Eric Herman album? All you need to do is record yourself, or your kids, or your dog yelling "Scat cat!" and send me the file, and I'll try to work it in to the final recording for the song "Scat Cat!" from my upcoming Snail's Pace album. If you need direction on how to do it, listen to this sample. (The tempo is 113 bpm and the words would come in on the second and third quarter notes of the measure.)
