The Devil household moved to all-digital a while back—CDs got ripped to home servers and we subscribe to Rhapsody, Spotify and Pandora. This lack of physical media means the Devilling (4.5 years old) doesn’t quite have ‘his’ collection of music. He does get a bit of kids’ music here and there, mostly in preschool/camp. And we do put on a lot of artists’ kids’ music too (e.g. Keller Williams, Medeski Martin and Wood), but for the most part he gets a steady, fairly eclectic mix of adult genera (jamband, funk, blues, world, classical, gypsy, etc.).
He’s not just oblivious to it in the background. He got pretty excited when he recognized Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band on stage and will break out into any number of Dead songs when he sees a SYF. His latest fascination he sings over and over is Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeros’ Home.
We sometimes wonder if the lack of simplistic tunes means he’s missing out on some aspect of musical development, but then he sings along with Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance and we get over it.
Anyone else out there forgo the Kidz Bop for more …listenable… tunes?
My son is 10 now, and listens to all the current top 40 hits- mostly hip hop and danceable pop.
When he was little, he never really got into any of the usual kid-oriented records. And that suited me fine! A LITTLE bit of Raffi, Joe McDermott, Ralph Covert and Imagination Movers went a looooooong way with me.
As a kid, he generally liked anything with a danceable beat- that could be the Beach Boys, the Ramones, the Bee Gees, Eighties new wave, whatever.
The first musical recording I can remember owning was Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, and I played that cassette until it fell apart and then I bought another one. I don’t even remember how I knew about that album; I must have heard it on the radio. I remember several years during elementary school where I listeend to the whole Top 40 Countdown every single weekend.
Before that, I know I had some toys with music built in - Jack in the Box and some electronic toys. We sang a lot of songs in pre-school. So I guess I listened to “kids’ music” for several years because that’s what was handed to me, but I never really sought it out on my own. As soon as I was making choices about what to listen to, it was mainstream/adult music.
We had a few child-oriented CDs around, but they mostly listened to what we did. The most popular one I recall was the soundtrack to La Bamba. The exception was Sandra Boynton’s CDs, especially Philadelphia Chickens and Dog Train, which we all loved.
My kids never listened to kid music - they’ve always just listened to what we’re listening to. The first song my oldest latched onto as a favorite was Bernard Fanning’s Wish You Well, when he was about 3. My youngest’s favorite when he was about 6 was Brightside by the Killers, which was sometimes a little awkward when he sang it in public. My husband has tried so far unsuccessfully to turn them on to the greatness of The Boss. Now that they’re a bit older (8 and 11), they’re picking their own music and sticking to mostly popular stuff. Currently on their playlist is the FIFA 14 Soundtrack, which is actually pretty good.
I just remembered! I did buy them They Might Be Giants’ “Here Comes Science.” Technically kid music, but still TMBG. “The Bloodmobile” is a pretty catchy tune.
Peanut just turned 3. She likes to listen to recordings of the nursery rhymes she’s learning (actually, animated videos of them on Youtube), but the rest of the time it’s whatever we like. Her favorite songs are KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Shake Shake Shake” and Deep Purple “Smoke on the Water.” And anything by ABBA. She also digs ethnic dance music, particularly cumbia and kolo. (Her dad plays the accordion, what can I say.)
No… my SIL gave us a bunch of kids’ CDs when she was born. I ripped them to my hard drive, but they’ve stagnated there ever since. She grew up in her dad’s workshop listening to Who, Moody Blues, Rush, Beatles, and most recently lots of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
I’m hoping my 18 year old daughter will find her way to classical music and opera eventually but Im not holding my breath. My own musical tastes didn’t mature until I was around 21 when I gradually fell under the spell of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro after hearing it repeatedly at the house of a friend who played it constantly.