Video: "Pony Ride" - The Hipwaders (World Premiere!)

When is a good time for a new song and video from the Bay Area band The Hipwaders?

The answer is: Always.  It is always a good time for a new song and video from The Hipwaders.  So I was pleased when I heard from chief Hipwader Tito Uquillas recently that they had a new single about to drop.  It's called "Pony Ride" and features a simple but infectious singalong chorus and some nifty guitar work.  Says Uquillas:

We play a lot of events where pony rides were also part of the festivities and I noticed it was always the same people running it. I always had a soft spot for the pony rides as I enjoyed them as a kid and my family had horses growing up when I was younger - although I remember cleaning out stalls about as much as I rode.  Anyway, I wanted to promote the pony ride people by writing a song we could play for them as we performed next them and wrote "Pony Ride."

Add an amusingly plotted video with typically droll animation (going for a bit of a Cartwrights look from the TV show Bonanza) from the fine folks at Goopymart... and friends, you have 3 minutes that may be even more fun than an actual 3-minute pony ride.  I'm happy to world-premiere the video -- you can pick up the digital single, out today, at Amazon and CD Baby.

The Hipwaders - "Pony Ride" [YouTube]

Intro to Kindie: Stefan Shepherd

It has been a long time since I've posted an "Intro to Kindie" list, such a long time that even if you're a regular reader, you'd probably need a reminder of its purpose.  (Here you go: Folks like me who are immersed in the genre provide a one-hour introduction to the genre for people who are unfamiliar with it.  It's the mixtape equivalent of an "elevator pitch.")

There are a lot of reasons for that, mostly having to do with PEOPLE BUSY ALL THE TIME.  And I'd always been planning on doing one of my own, but of course, PEOPLE BUSY ALL THE TIME.  Still, I felt like this post -- my post -- in particular just kept slipping further down off the list, and maybe that's because I thought that putting a list down "on paper" would make this list more permanent that it needs to be.

I would note that this isn't a list of the 20 best kids' songs of all time, or my 20 favorites, or my family's collective 20 favorites, or the 20 most important songs or artists.  Certainly some of these would appear on all such lists, but the purpose for me of this list is something more modest -- simply introduce an unfamiliar listener to kids' music to such music, perhaps with an emphasis on more modern music, but at least a good overview.

So as you look at (and listen to) this list of songs that I think make for a good introduction to kids music past, present, and future, keep in mind that what makes up the past, present, and future is always changing.  (It's changing as I write this.)  I'll still always think these songs are great and important, but my perspective, and kids music generally, will continue to evolve.

Without any further ado -- after all, this has been delayed long enough -- here is my intro to kindie, arranged roughly in alphabetical order:

Ella Jenkins - "Miss Mary Mack"

Pete Seeger - "Skip To My Lou"

Raffi - "Mr. Sun"

Laurie Berkner - "Moon Moon Moon"

Dan Zanes and Friends - "Pay Me My Money Down"

Elizabeth Mitchell - "Little Liza Jane"

They Might Be Giants - "Seven"

The Hipwaders - "Educated Kid"

Medeski, Martin & Wood - "Where's the Music?"

Lunch Money - "A Cookie As Big As My Head"

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo - "Gotta Be Me"

Recess Monkey - "Sack Lunch"

Caspar Babypants - "Stompy the Bear"

The Okee Dokee Brothers - "Can You Canoe?"

Justin Roberts - "Recess"

The Pop Ups - "All These Shapes"

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Piñata Attack"

Jazzy Ash - "Hide and Seek"

Mista Cookie Jar - "Gratitude"

Frances England - "See What We Can See"

Radio Playlist: New Music January 2016

It has been more than two months since I last posted a playlist of new music, so, understandably, this first list of 2016 is longer than most.  Lots of new music coming up, too.  (If you want to catch my list from October you can see that playlist here.)

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums.  But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here.

**** New Music January 2016 (January 2016 Kindie Playlist) ****

"He & She" - Linda Perry and Sara Gilbert

"Grandma Gatewood" - Jeff & Paige

"Over in the Meadow" - The Laurie Berkner Band

"The Boy Who Cried Chupacabra" - The Hipwaders

"Fiddlin' Jim" - Liz, Holly, and the Jolly Lollies

"La Golondrina" - Sonia De Los Santos

"When I Grow Up" - The Raging Idiots

"Stella Ella Ola" - Mr. Chris & the Gassy Bubbles

"Latkes for Breakfast" - Mister G

"Do the Latin Alphabet" - Kinderjazz

"Looking Up" - The Jamberries

"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz" - Tom Proutt, Emily Gary

"Wave Hello" - Sonshine and Broccoli

"Sharky Life Forever" - Sharky Sharky

"Fais dodo" - Nadia Gaudet, Jason Burns

Kids' Music Videos for Halloween 2015

I've already posted an updated list of kids music songs for Halloween, but I wanted to give a special shout-out to three new videos -- maybe they can serve as the intro to It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! showing at your neighborhood Halloween gathering.  Halloween is almost here, so let's get going!

First off, a nifty stop-motion animation piece for an instrumental song, "Skeleton Dance" by Monty Harper.  Totally appropriate for all ages.  (You can grab Harper's collection of Halloween tunes here.)

Monty Harper - "Skeleton Dance" [YouTube]

Next up, Mariana Iranzi offers up "Es Halloween," a Spanish-language song about, well, I don't think you need to know any Spanish to guess its subject.  The driving pop-rock song features a nice groove, while the animated video features five pumpkins rolling along.

Mariana Iranzi - "Es Halloween" [YouTube]

I've posted this before, but it's too good not to include...

The Hipwaders - "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" [YouTube]

And, finally, it's John Joyce and Poochamungas singing "Bah Humbug Halloween," the story of Scrooge meeting the ghosts of Halloween Past, Halloween Present, and... Elvis?  OK, not quite, but... mostly.  The video tells the story in mostly live-action narrative.  I really don't remember Dickens writing this story, but I'm good anyway.

Poochamungas - "Bah Humbug Halloween" [YouTube]

Video: "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" - The Hipwaders

Always nice to have new music from Bay Area-adjacent trio The Hipwaders.  Their latest effort is a 2-track effort -- think of it as a single with a B side, except it's not on vinyl.  The A side is a surf rock effort (if the surf was from the Sea of Cortez) titled "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra," a retelling of the "boy who cried wolf" story that is, somehow, perfect for the kids' Halloween season.  The B side is a cover of Pointed Man Band's "All That Krampus Wants" for those families who want to get a jump on the later holiday season.  (You can grab the single on iTunes or CD Baby.)

In any case, the band's roped in Will Guy to do the animations, and every time the "camera" pans out to show Tito and the band dressed up in mariachi outfits singing in high harmony, it makes me smile.

The Hipwaders - "The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" [YouTube]

Best Kids Music of 2014: Top 30 Videos

Continuing our look at the year's best in kids music, we finish up with videos.  Now, unlike albums and songs, for which I've traditionally tried to adhere to the Fids and Kamily year (which is Oct. 1, 2013 through Sept. 30, 2014 this year), my best-of video selections have tended to run on more of a March through Feburary video fiscal year.  I did that to kick off the very first KidVid Tournament, and I've sort of stuck with that ever since.  (So nobody release an awesome video in the next 48 hours, OK?)

Here's my list of my favorite 30 kids music videos of "2014."  Some are big-budget productions, some are small-budget productions, and some are virtually-no-budget productions.  There are puppets, stop-action, hand-animation, computer animation, live action, and sometimes, more than one of those things.

Before I present the 30 videos, I should note that I wanted to limit an artist to no more than one video on the list.  Which meant that artists like The Bazillions, Danny Weinkauf, and Caspar Babypants don't get their full due as artists that have fully committed to the art of the kids music video, each releasing several music videos that could have appeared on this list (if I wasn't limiting them to one video, they might have had a dozen or so between them).

Of particular note, Chris Ballew has done some amazing work, not only contracting out with a variety of animators for his Caspar Babypants videos but also producing videos on his own beautiful in their creativity and simplicity.  For that reason, I'm giving him a Special Award for Awesomest Kids Music Video Guy of 2014.  Now, if you don't mind, I've got to go find an MTV VMA statue on eBay so I modify it and give it to Ballew.

So while I'm doing that, here's the list in alphabetical order by artist.  A YouTube playlist can be found at the very end if you'd like to while away an hour or two...

Dynamite - Alphabet Rockers (YouTube)

No Homework - The Bazillions (YouTube)

Bottle Caps - Laurie Berkner (YouTube)

Tiny Little Car - Johnny Bregar (YouTube)

The Creatures Under My Bed - Caspar Babypants (YouTube)

Grand March from Aida - Dog On Fleas (YouTube)

I'm a Little Fish - Laura Doherty (YouTube)

Hair - fleaBITE (YouTube)

I Can't Feel My Face - Gustafer Yellowgold (YouTube)

How Great Can This Day Be - Lori Henriques (YouTube)

November First (Jump, Run, Shake) - Eric Herman (YouTube)

Just Not Me - The Hipwaders (YouTube)

Did You Ever See a Lassie? - Charlie Hope (YouTube)

Snow Day - Josh and the Jamtones (YouTube)

Crew Cut - Randy Kaplan (YouTube)

Gingerbread Man - Lunch Money  (YouTube)

I Love You More - Todd McHatton (YouTube)

Girls Wanna Dance - Milkshake (YouTube)

Call Me Mista Cookie Jar - Mista Cookie Jar (YouTube)

Haircut - The Not-Its (YouTube)

Walking With Spring - The Okee Dokee Brothers (YouTube)

All These Shapes - The Pop Ups (YouTube)

Love Bug - Raffi (YouTube)

Brick By Brick - Recess Monkey (YouTube)

Rattlesnake - Red Yarn (YouTube)

Los Colores - Andres Salguero (YouTube)

Pillow Fort Pillow Fight - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo (YouTube)

Ice Cream (Healthy Eating) - Danny Weinkauf (YouTube)

Sea Turtle - The Whizpops (YouTube)

Armando Armadillo - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke (YouTube)