7 Ghoulishly Great Halloween Songs on Kid Tune Tuesday…

30 October 2012 By 10 Comments

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos

I have been wracking my brain trying to whittling down some song choices of our favorite Halloween songs to discuss just one for this post. And you know what? I can’t do it! There are just too many that we ghoulishly salivate over. So, instead of bringing you one song with a review and rating, today I’m listing out our favorite Halloween songs (in no particular order).

Goo Goo Ga Ga by Joe Scruggs

When the spooky, lightly haunting opening music starts, Miss P gets a big grin on her face and starts kicking her legs. For those of you that don’t know this Halloween song, it’s about a dad driving with his baby in the car, encountering a witch, a troll, and an alligator along the path. His way out of getting of trouble with these creeps? The cute baby in the back cooing “Goo Goo Ga Ga Coochie Coochie Coo.” Seeing as how I have experienced my cute toddler getting me out of a pinch with the manager of an Apple store, I totally get this song. And the simple fact that the baby uses their cuteness to get out of a scary situation gives Miss P a little sense of empowerment against the trolls of the world.

Thriller by Michael Jackson

Do I even need to say more? From the first two notes of this song, my kids perk up in excitement. And they don’t even know the dance yet! It gives me a chance to break out my zombie dance and choreographic reenactment of this video. Who could ask for anything else?

Photo credit: JD Hancock

Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.

I love it when songs that I loved as a kid become some of my kids favorites. This one is no exception. Mr B. goes nuts over this one, even before seeing the movie. This song touts all the wonderful merits of the 80′s synthesizer. Do they even make those anymore? It’s catchy melody will have you singing about ghosts for the rest of the day. And when you do, who ya gonna call?

 

Monster Mash by Bobby “Boris” Pickett

An oldie but goodie. The odd ghoulish manner in which this Halloween song is sung isn’t really scary, but does lend itself to lots of imitation. That can be entertainment enough for the under 7 circuit. Plus, it’s dancing monsters!

This Is Halloween by Danny Elfman

Photo credit: Andy Zeigert

This Halloween song is from the soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas, a movie neither of my kids have seen yet. But it appears on Just Dance 3, which we’ve had a riot dancing to. The kids love the dance that’s choreographed to this song because each kid gets to pick a character. Mr. B picks the vampire, Miss P picks the purple witch, and I get stuck with the giant pumpkin head. The song itself is distinctive Danny Elfman, a swirl of bells and string instruments that invoke a sense of mystery and spooky activity.

Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley

Another Halloween song that’s been around for decades, this one is great for kids because the high-pitched, sped up voice of the monster makes him seem lovable, not scary. After all, he just wants to be in a rock-n-roll band. My kids love this kind of voice, the same ilk as that of the Chipmunks. Yes, it could potentially drive you crazy, but it’s spread out enough in the song to still be cute. Plus it has a great beat that’s fun to dance to when hopped up on Skittles and Pixie Sticks.

Trick or Treat by Justin Roberts

A song about the excitement and adventure of trick-or-treating as a kid. My son echos some of the same concerns - will his bag be big enough to collect all of that candy? I love that the kids come home afterwards and sort out their candy, each brother with his own unique style of candy organization. The last line kills me though: Suzy’s dad’s a dentist and he makes her trade her candy in for fruit, But there ain’t no substitute.

 

Now that you’re equipped with some Halloween songs to get you in the spooky mood, get your pumpkin carving on, brace yourself for the sugar high and have a safe time trick-or-treating!

What are your favorite Halloween songs?

Filed Under: Halloween, Kid Tune Tuesday

Headlining the thrift store…

29 October 2012 By 4 Comments

It’s been a long time since I’ve scoured the racks of a thrift store. Five years, maybe? Last week though, I had a mission. Acquire Halloween Costume. I’m dressing up like Velma from Scooby Doo. I mean, I already have the dowdy haircut, might as well keep going with the frumpy vibe.

When I was in graduate school, the bulk of my clothing was purchased at local thrift stores. For the starving artist, the local thrift store is where it’s at. You can find clothing that looks broken in, edgy, and retro without having to pay Anthropologie prices. There was a funky thrift store around the corner from my house that was cool and hip enough for me not to stress about how many times I would need to wash items before I felt comfortable enough to wear them. The clothes were also on the nicer side of things, with recognizable labels and were on the decent side of the sliding fashion scale. And THRIFTY!

Still, I was buying used clothing. I don’t think I ever stepped foot in to a store and bought clothes that no one else had ever put on their body. It just wasn’t in my budget. It took years (and the uprising of Target) for me to realize I could find affordable clothing that was new, I would just have to shop wisely and sniff out the sale racks.

This time, I was shopping for costume apparel, so the stakes were low. I walked in to Goodwill looking for a baggy orange sweater and red skirt. And the thing I loved about this Goodwill? The Organization. Every rack was organized by color. By. Color. You fellow Virgos out there might be nodding your head in agreement, thinking “yes, as they SHOULD be.” It was super easy to find what I wanted, I scooped up two pairs of cheap black pants as well, and in record time had scored exactly what I was looking for.

But what I wasn’t prepared for was the entertainment I was afforded while browsing. There was a woman walking around, pulling out shirts and pants, while talking on her cell phone. Loudly. But the best part? She had the caller on speaker phone. SPEAKER PHONE. For all of Goodwill to hear.

It wasn’t just a boring conversation of grocery lists or transportation coordination. I got an earful of information about this woman and her family. How so-and-so just got out of rehab, how this person wasn’t going to post bail, how the person on the other end needed a ride down to the plasma bank. I didn’t know whether to be appalled or intrigued. It was like eavesdropping…I knew I shouldn’t be listening, but it was so hard NOT to.

Yet, I wasn’t the only one who was forced to hear this garbage. There was a young mother in front of me, pushing her toddler in a cart down the aisle, and I could hear her answering her son “I don’t know who she’s talking to…” I silently empathized with the boy, asking the same question I was mulling over in my head - why isn’t this woman turning off her speaker? Do we ALL have to hear this? And does the person on the other end know that his business is being broadcast all over the racks of a thrift store?

As I stood at the checkout line, two people behind The Megaphone, I kept waiting for an apology. For a recognition from this woman that she shouldn’t be holding a conversation on her phone while checking out. But it never came. Her conversation followed her out the doors, and as soon as they closed behind her, those of us waiting in line let out a sigh of relief and a collective giggle. Far more entertaining than a Honey Boo Boo episode.

Who knew such comedy could be found at a thrift store? Will Goodwill start charging a two drink minimum?

 

Filed Under: Halloween

Soul Coughing on Kid Tune Tuesday…

23 October 2012 By Leave a Comment

ktt2 Soul Coughing on Kid Tune Tuesday...
 

The other day a song came on during Kenny Curtis’ Animal Farm on Kids Place Live, a little somethin’ somethin’ for the parents. And it was Soul Coughing’s “Circles.” Man, how did I forget this song? I used to play this a ton in dance classes when I taught - it’s upbeat, has a nice tempo, and it’s language is appropriate for all ages. And here it was, being played for my children’s enjoyment, a decade after I first heard it. Let me state for the record that I absolutely LOVE when adult songs have been repurposed for children. Upcycling? Or just music for the masses? You decide.

When I bought the album, El Oso (released in 1998, for those of you trying to date me) after it came out, it was my go-to album for months. I listened to a loop of Soul Coughing on my subway commute from Brooklyn almost every day. On my old-school CD player tucked in to my backpack. And as I walked down the street, Mike Doughty’s sultry voice and the band’s psuedo-jazz/electronic melodies provided the soundtrack to my trek on the Upper East Side. I adored this band, their quirky, soulful style and complex, poetic lyrics. I envisioned a day when I would have the guts to commotion a score from them and choreograph something spectacular to it. One can dream, right? However, NYC broke my spirit, I never gathered the courage to make new work, and Soul Coughing disbanded in 2000 due to songwriting credit disputes. Oh well…

Lyrically, “Circles” it’s a bit of a bummer. There are references to getting pulled in, driving away, all seeming to imply a breakup of some sort. And who wants to go around and around over things?

I’ll tell you who. Small children. Physically and metaphorically. There was a point where I thought Mr. B had some kind of vertigo, the way he would orbit around me while waiting in line somewhere. With the endless “Where are we going next? And next? And next?” as accompaniment. Miss P loves to spin like a whirling dervish until she can’t walk in a straight line. That dizziness is ENTERTAINMENT. This song? It speaks to them.

And then, I remembered this video that used to show on the Cartoon Network, a collage of old Hanna Barbera clips that features Soul Coughing’s “Circles” as the soundtrack. When I showed this to Mr. B and Miss P, they went ape-poop over it.

 

And now for the results (“Out of 5″ Sippy Cup Rating System):

MR B: It’s kinda funky…. three+sippy+cup+white Soul Coughing on Kid Tune Tuesday...
MISS P: Can I spin to it? Then, YES! three+sippy+cup+white Soul Coughing on Kid Tune Tuesday...
MOMMY: If something goes ’round and ’round, I’ll take this over “Wheels on the bus!” five+sippy+cup+white Soul Coughing on Kid Tune Tuesday...

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Why I Can’t Eat At Indian Restaurants…

21 October 2012 By 12 Comments

I have a fear of vomit.

There. I said it. I’ve alluded to it here in the past, but I’m going to come clean and own this right now…I think I am emetophobic. Barf-phobic. Deathly afraid of the stomach flu.

I’m not sure how this started, but it’s surfaced in the last three years since my children have been old enough to puke all over me, and certainly compounded by my recent bout of stomach issues.

I have barf bags hidden in my purse and in my car. Homeopathic remedies for nausea at the ready. A stash of ginger in my pantry. There are large portions of Tosh.0 that I cannot watch.

What I’d like to wear to clean up puke…
Photo: Rainer Hungershausen

Thinking that I was crazy, I googled “fear of vomit” a few days ago, and up popped a whole slew of articles about this phobia. I had no idea it was a real thing. And look! I’m not alone! The Wikipedia article I read (and since it’s Wikipedia, it MUST be true) said that celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Matt Lauer also join me in this quirk.

I can’t really say what has spurred this all of this nonsense. The last time I got sick enough to barf was the stomach bug I inherited from dancers in the company, mere hours before boarding a plane to New York City for my big Weaning Trip. I spent days not wanting to eat, which in a city like NYC is down-right sacrilegious. But man, did I look fabulous when running in to folks who last saw me 6 months pregnant! Besides that, my last major memories of non-stop hurling involved bouts of food poisoning. Encountering this gastrointestinal horror in a quaint Bed & Breakfast in a tiny village in Ireland was less than ideal. Or romantic.

But perhaps the most crippling side effect of this vomit phobia is how I deal with my kids. They’re little germ pools, and I’ve had a few rounds of GI distress with both of them. Clean-up makes me squeamish. My sympathetic nausea kicks in. And usually I end up actually contracting the bug a day or so later. So, now, every time one of them starts acting squirrely or gets the hint of a fever, I go in to panic mode. Grabbing buckets and looking for any sign that stomach contents might be projecting their way on to my clothing or upholstery. Even if the kids have never even said their stomach hurts. I’m sure they’re picking up on this energy, and yet I don’t know how to stop it.

Thankfully Jon is immune to all of this. He’s been in the trenches with me during the darkest times with the kids, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

The last time Mr. B got really sick, he was about two years old. He had thrown up a few times and we got him back on track in a few days by the sworn BRAT diet and eliminating milk from his menu for the week. He seemed normal in a few days, so at the end of the week, we met friends for dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant that we loved.

Mr. B had a well visit with his pediatrician earlier that day, and he had given the green light for milk, so we gave Mr. B a sippy cup for the road and got in the car. After we ordered our meal, we were catching up with our friends when Mr. B started getting really antsy and whiny. I thought maybe he just wasn’t feeling the need to sit in his high chair.

When, all of a sudden, he blew chunks all over the table. And the floor. And Jon’s lap. Jon picked him up and carried him outside, Mr. B leaving a trail of vomit all they way through the restaurant and out in to the parking lot.

I was mortified. For the rest of the time we lived in Denver, I couldn’t bring myself to step foot back in to that Indian restaurant. And subsequently, I can’t really entertain the idea of eating at any Indian restaurant. One day, perhaps, I’ll tackle this phobia and be able to scarf down poppadoms and chicken tikka masala in an actual establishment. Until then, I’ll continue to stock up on Lysol and probiotics.
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link badge Why I Cant Eat At Indian Restaurants...

Filed Under: sickness, worry

Lunch Money on Kid Tune Tuesday…

16 October 2012 By Leave a Comment

ktt2 Lunch Money on Kid Tune Tuesday...
It’s back! Kid Tune Tuesday! I’d like to say it’s return was prompted by popular demand, though no formal requests have been made. But it seems the kids have begun requesting Kids Place Live again in the car, and I welcomed the break from house music, David Guetta, and Taylor Swift. Not that those artists don’t get played a ton around here still, but a chance in pace is nice.

spicylowres2 Lunch Money on Kid Tune Tuesday...

Photo: lunchmoneymusic.com

The other reason it’s back is that Kids Place Live has started playing a song that we heard a while ago. When I first heard Lunch Money‘s song “Spicy Kid” on a session of Rompus Room, I immediately wanted to download it, but it hadn’t been released. I don’t know if this latest edition is in response to searches like mine, but I’m glad that “Spicy Kid” is finally back on the airwaves.

Lunch Money is a band from South Carolina, headed by the wonderfully quirky voice of Molly Ledford. What I adore about Molly’s voice is that there’s a lilt in it, some kind of timbre that suggests she’s grinning from ear to ear when she sings (which she probably is). That she’s in on the joke with the kid. That she “gets” them. Coupled with the indie sound of the band, it’s a combination that appeals to all age groups. I heart bands like this. Bands that make music I find myself singing when the kids aren’t around.

And then there’s “Spicy Kid.” Found on Lunch Money’s 2012 album of the same title, this song seems like it was written about Miss P. Of course, if you ask Miss P if she’s a spicy kid, she’ll give you That Look, the one that makes me dread the teenage years, and declare vehemently that in no way, under any circumstances, is she spicy. Sorry, sweetie, but you just presented Exhibit. A.

Were you born with a mind of your own? (I’m a spicy kid!)

Do you wish you had a microphone? (I’m a spicy kid!)

Saw you practicing your angry look. (I’m a spicy kid!)

Man, I hope you use your powers for good. (I’m a spicy kid!)

Then Mr. B will look at me with hopeful eyes and ask me “Am I a spicy kid?” With those big brown eyes, asking that question? Why yes, Mr. B. Because you want to be spicy. I love it…

What I love about the Lunch Money’s songwriting is that it’s written about and for children, but it’s by no means childish. It certainly comes from a parent’s perspective. One that sees the complex beauty of a young personality in bloom. Peppered with quirky lyrics and melodies. Sweetened with love and adoration. It’s definitely spicy.

The other songs on the album provide similar flavor, humor and wit. If you’re looking for something new to listen to this week, I highly suggest checking Lunch Money out! You can stream Lunch Money’s latest album Spicy Kid in its entirety HERE. Go there. Now.

 

And now for the results:

MR B: I wanna be a Spicy Kid! four%252520sippy%252520cup%252520white Lunch Money on Kid Tune Tuesday...
MISS P: I. Am. NOT. Spicy…. two sippy cup white Lunch Money on Kid Tune Tuesday...

 

What about you? Do you have your own Spicy Kid?

 

 

Filed Under: kid music, Kid Tune Tuesday Tagged With: ,
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