Blog: The Pop For Kids Project

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On Friday I got an email that said:

I'm trying to enthuse my favourite bands and singers (in other words: you) to record one or more new pop songs with an audience in mind of children from, let's say, 0 to 10 years old. This could be anything from a quick home recording in your own style of a traditional favourite (for example 'Pop! goes the weasel', 'Mary had a little lamb', 'The ants go marching', et cetera) to professionally recorded newly written originals with child-appropriate lyrics (something that has not released elsewhere before). The Pop! For Kids Project will take the form of a website where all contributions will be posted as an individual blog entry with free MP3s and some info about the recording artist.

How could I resist? I was ESPECIALLY eager to do something kid-friendly after discovering, to my horror, that Dinosaur Planet ISN'T the Under-5s thrillathon that i thought it might be. Kids aren't that interested in the value of good academic research - who knew?

SO, i set down to think about what to write - i DIDN'T want to do anything EDUCATIONAL, that much i knew. It was my first instinct to DO SO, but then thought "Hang on, I wouldn't like it if all pop songs were trying to teach ME how to spell, or cross the road, or use cutlery or whatever, SCREW THAT!" and so went directly to the SECOND thing kids songs are all about i.e. MONSTERS. I was trying to think of something a bit like Puff The Magic Dragon, and ended up coming up with the lyrics to the song i DID write, Monster Island.

All right, i guess there IS a BIT of EDUCATION in there SLIGHTLY MAYBE PERHAPS but that wasn't on purpose, it just HAPPENED. Hey, i guess in a way we ARE all monsters, right? Or maybe the message is "The world would be a better place if we could all shoot lazer beams from our eyes"? I know it is something i have often thought myself. OFTEN.

Anyway, I sat to recording it and rather foolishly tried to make it sound like THE SMITHS. My reasoning was, again "I wouldn't like it if all pop songs were played to ME in an acoustic style, like a TEACHER was forcing me to attend her Folk Club or something, SCREW THAT!" and so spent a happy afternoon JANGLING AWAY. Unfortunately the results were a bit crap so, once again, I ended up recanting slightly and doing it all on an acoustic guitar, drum machine, ukelele and BASS.

And actually, it sounded PRETTY DARN GROOVY.

That's what i reckon anyway, you can judge for yourself by skipping over to the Pop For Kids Project where I am the second entry. Dennis, who's running it, has a whole HEAP of people lined up to do it, i shall certainly be listening out for whatever comes next, it's a GRATE idea!

posted 1/2/2011 by MJ Hibbett

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Comments:

Hope you checked out Johnny and the Raindrops fro Nottingham. They have been thrilling the under 5's for the last few years and have a selection of great songs about teddy bears in washing machines, pirates and turning your hand punk. Stiff competition if they enter Mark!
posted 1/2/2011 by Kevin

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