Parents of toddlers know the pain: The small boss in the car seat demands that they turn off Vampire Weekend and put in a Wiggles disc or — horror of horrors — the Doodlebops. Thanks to They Might Be Giants, ironic heroes of discerning young parents’ hipster youth, it doesn’t have to be that way. Since 2002’s “No!” established John Flansburgh and John Linnell as first-echelon purveyors of smart music for tiny rockers, They Might Be Giants now split time between their adult-cult stardom and being the Lennon/McCartney of the Playhouse Disney crowd.
“Here Come the 123s” is not just acceptable kids’ fare; adults with or without spawn will find much to love about TMBG’s third children’s collection. Most of the tracks get in and out in less than three minutes and most of the songs are about numbers, and Linnell and Flansburgh plant fun lyrics about math and geometry in contagious melodies — like the ’70s “Schoolhouse Rock” shorts with better music.
The DVD has engaging animations for each song, which will help make the R.E.M. parody “Figure 8” and the piano-driven “One Dozen Monkeys” become staples in most children’s musical diet. TMBG succeeds because they do not condescend — this is music that sounds great at any age. Kids will grow out of many pairs of jeans before they grow out of “Here Come the 123s.”
March 1st, 2008 at 11:24 am
here comes the probable voice of naivety…..if you don’t play the wiggles or doodlewhatevers, you’re kid will never know what he’s missing, right? i don’t think that i ever heard anything but buddy holly or the beatles’ rubber soul or linda ronstadt until i got my own radio in like fourth grade.
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:30 am
I hoped that it would be true, but it’s the unfortunate side effect of socialization — i.e. day care. I’m incredibly happy with my son’s facility: they keep television to a minimum. But kids pass around toddler culture like the flu.
Some things like The Doodlebops and Barney and Friends don’t exist in Mommy and Daddy’s world — they might exist at school in small doses, but we simply don’t have that stuff. The Wiggles, on the other hand, was my mistake — a fellow parent who’s been through this three times gave them the thumbs up. In truth, the stuff is fairly benign, but I personally find it irritating, and forget about having any kind of video representation of them at home — tain’t gonna happen.
On the plus side, my son goes around the house singing “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” So there’s progress.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:08 pm
You weren’t kidding about this TMBG, Jorge. It’s terrific - and a DVD for the kiddies, to boot!
Oh, poor naive Susan - you will learn. Some tenets of kiddie pop culture are just unavoidable. Personally, I don’t really have a problem with the Wiggles. Barney is a different story, but then again, my 2-year-old daughter only brushes her teeth because BARNEY would approve. She doesn’t seem as impressed by seeking her parents’ approval.
Ultimately, I can’t fault the kiddie music if it’s educational, benign and interesting to the children. Sure, I’ve seen enough of that prancing Captain Feathersword to make my blood run cold, but, hell, the Wiggles are rock stars in my household. And I don’t have to worry about explaining what “booty” means to any rugrats.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I have two words for all of you
“Goin’ Quakers!”
courtesy of the Disney Cast, released 1980. Truly a masterpiece. He’s a waddling crazy guy.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
er, oops. I meant “Goin’ Quackers”
nothing against the Quakers aka The Religious Society of Friends
March 4th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
1) what’s wrong w/ explaining what “booty” is?
2) sven, i just KNEW that you asked him to convert that quackers LP so that our son would listen to it. awesome. thanks.
3) quakers. ha. that would be like 40 minutes of silence, right? and then about five minutes of some strange anecdote, then a cough, then fade to silence again. or something like that.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Quakers rock.