My best friend asked me to recommend a CD for her son, who is 8. He likes Brittney-type pop. Now why she thinks I know about this, I will never know, but I hate to let her down. She is looking for something with at least semi-age-appropriate lyrics, but not kiddie music.
Any ideas, anyone? I got nuthin.
Fight the power! Get the kid something good, not more insipid bubblegum he can hear on the radio or watch on MTV.
I recommend the album “Flood” by They Might Be Giants. Quirky, geeky fun for all ages, plenty of sing-along opportunities, not too highbrow musically, and just weird enough for a kid to fall in love with.
I second BBVL’s comment, but start with these songs.
Stairway To Heaven
Rock You Like A Hurricane
Paranoid Android
The Final Countdown
Anarchy In The UK
Carry On Wayward Son
Here I Go Again
The Prophet’s Song
Take On Me
Jump
Run Like Hell
Paint It Black
Enter Sandman
White Wedding
Suicide Solution
And I Ran
Search And Destroy
Money For Nothing
Blitzkrieg Bop
Uhh, ixnay on Suicide Solution dude…
Brynda just get him Ramones’ “Rocket To Russia.”
I got my twelve year old cousin Slayer’s Reign in Blood for this Christmas, my Aunt’s gonna love me I’m sure, but whatever, I can’t have the little guy listening to Linkin Park forever.
Trust the kid’s taste, and expose him to most airplay music (you know what to edit out, but don’t be too protective).
My honorary grandkids have a wide taste in music already. Amanda, 11, is mostly into hard rock and Eminem, but has a fondness for Aaron Carter (I suspect less the voice than the looks, but I’ll never get her to admit that!).
Brandon, a couple of weeks shy of 9, goes for “Chicks Dig It.”
Jordan, 7, knows verbatim Uncle Cracker’s “Follow Me” and does it with a near-professional styling – he is definitely one of a kind, and when he does the final line of the chorus, “You’re never gonna find anyone like me!”, he does it with a devilish grin that underscores the words perfectly. He is also fond of “I’m a Believer” and thinks it’s awesome that old Uncle Dave knows the one of his songs too. (I haven’t mentioned the Monkees to him yet. :))
“Thirding” the suggestion of TMBG’s Flood album.
As a kid, I liked Wimoweh (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) early Split Enz music (Six Months in a Leaky Boat), Tom Dooley (and lots of similar folksy stuff with moderately schmaltzy themes), Duelling Banjos, I’ve Been Everywhere Man, some Johnny Horton, and Sesame Street music. I’m not talking about the show’s actual theme music, but the cool bluesy stuff they’d drop in here and there. How’s that for a motley connection?
Basically, I was attracted to strong, yet often dreamy and lilting melody. And I liked banjos an’ shit.
That’s er… “collection”, not “connection”.
And I still like banjos an’ shit.
The Dr. Demento albums might be fun for a kid too. Full of novelty songs. There is a recent Cafe Society thread all about novelty songs that existed before Weird Al Yankovic, and were funnier.
Shit, the kid’s eight years old. Don’t do the music-nazi thing on him already. He’s got plenty of time to discover indie-pop in his teen years. Buy him the new Kylie Minogue or something. They Might Be Giants is appreciated by geek teenagers (and above). I’m an indie snob up with the best of them, but there’s no point wasting an eight year old’s time with TMBG. If he wants Britney, et him Britney.
The new Kylie album ain’t coming out in the US 'til February, unfortunately, gex gex. I’ve heard it, and it is quite a fun album.
But you can always get Kylie’s awesome last album, Fever.
If the kid likes Britney-type pop, then you can also try any of the Shakira albums. I’d recommend Laundry Service or Donde Estan Los Ladrones? It’s more Latin-infused than Britney’s music, but it’s got a great dance beat.
You might try Basement Jaxx’s Kish Kash. It’s also dancy, but a little more varied than the other records I’ve mentioned. It’s not exactly teen pop, but it’s a great party album.
Just some ideas…I’d say go for Kylie.
You might try the Radio Disney compilations, especially the later ones The earlier ones tend to be more of a kiddie/novelty mix (Weird Al, Hampsterdance, etc.), which is what Radio Disney played a few years ago. These days, though, they play mostly that Britney-style pop that you’re looking for…Disney-screened/edited for age-appropriateness. The compilations feature the most popular songs, so he’ll love it, especially if he doesn’t have many CDs already.
I have a seven-year old girl who loves Weird Al…not as big on TMBG so far, though.
No! by They Might Be Giants
My little sister is twelve and for the past few years, she’s had a thing for the A*Teens. I don’t know much about them, but they seem pretty squeaky clean and do some catchy songs that kids tend to enjoy.
From what I know about the A*Teens, they mainly cover Abba songs. Which is no bad thing. Come to think of it, why not Abba themselves? Pure pop, and very catchy.
Buddy Guy? God, I weep for my children (if I ever have any). I have absolutely no idea what an eight year old would want to listen to. Beatles?
Thanks, everyone. I sent your suggestions along to my friend, but if anyone has others, I can send those, too.
My cousin’s 10 and he loves Aviril Lavigne. Aaron Carter too, I think.
What’s the age group on “The Wiggles”?
Also when I was little I liked really cool classical “pop” stuff like William Tell and Peter and the Wolf and John Williams.
If he likes singing along for the lyrics, TMBG is full of long high-end vocabulary in very complex metaphor which, to him, will sound like hilarious nonsense. Trust me. Downside: the good melodic sing-along pop that people are recommending Flood for is interspersed with sometimes-atonal and droney songs on many of their other albums, although Apollo 18 has “Fingertips,” a fantastic collection of nonsense sound bite songs. When I was 8, I loved The Beach Boys, anything Motown, Jimmy Buffett, and Anne Murray’s kids’ album There’s a Hippo in the Bathtub. Barenaked Ladies’ Gordon or Live Spectacle are also great for kids (more poppy tunes with weird lyrics). Me First and the Gimme Gimmes cover pretty much anyone and everyone at a frenetic, up-tempo poppy pace with guitars and trumpets which will doubtless appeal to kids. DaVinci’s Notebook is probably a little adult-themed, but YMMV. Their song “Enormous Penis” should almost definitely be off-limits, even if you’re very frank with this kid about sex and sex-ed type stuff.
And apparently, third graders love acid techno.