
Remember those big, round, flat black things? I think they were called records. Well, I have this vague recollection of songs coming out of them. Great songs. Songs by my some of my favorite artists. Like Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar. So I Googled it, and whadya know, they made that awesome record into a CD that our kids can listen to. Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favorites ($10.99) has all the classics, from "Rubber Duckie," "C is for Cookie," and "I Love Trash" to "The People in Your Neighborhood," "Fuzzy and Blue," and "It's Not Easy Being Green." This was the first CD I bought for my kids, and I love it.
Far more memorable than records for a child of the 80s are cassette tapes. In fac

I don't think we ever owned an Uncle Moishy tape. We just weren't that frum. But I secretly loved hearing his songs about Torah and Mitzvot when I was playing with my rabbi's kids. So far the only Uncle Moishy album in my home is Uncle Moishy Live, but when I put it on, I just can't help getting exciting and cheering for songs with great values and important m

Finally, let me give a shout-out to one of the most brilliant Jewish artists out there. Lenny Solomon and Shlock Rock used to accompany my carpool to and from school every day, and they are still going strong, coming out with new albums to add to the 30 they have produced so far. Although they sing original music (in Hebrew and English), they are best known for their parodies of popular songs. I heard "We've Got a Strong Desire" long before I had any idea who Billy Joel was. Having grown up listening to classic rock with my dad, I enjoyed parodies of songs I recognized such as "Pretty Woman" and "Barbara Anne." It gave me a thrill to hear Lenny sing about people and stories I'd learned in school - the Biblical women in "Eshet Chayil," the Torah commentaries in "Abarbanel." And long before the possibility of Aliyah had even entered my mind (I was only six when it came

I don't currently own any Shlock Rock music and don't really know where to start. Should I just get the first disc (and the first Shlock Rock tape I owned as a kid), Learning is Good, and move forward from there? But now they have CDs geared specifically to kids, like Sing Together, which I'm going to have to check out. And cracking up while skimming the list of Shlock Rock's songs and the songs they parody ("To Maariv"/"Tomorrow," "Tekia"/"Maria," "Did You Hear the Rav Last Night"/"Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Soup and Challah"/"Supercali(fragilisticespialidocious)", I think I might just have to order Almost on Broadway.
Small confession: I got the above-mentioned CDs within the first year of my daughter's life. (She's almost four.) I haven't bought music in ages because it's just not central in my life. I don't even remember to play the CDs I have, so as much as I want to go out and buy more CDs by these artists, I'm not sure I can justify filling my home with things that are probably going to sit around and collect dust. Maybe I should set a music reminder alarm on my phone every day, so my poor kids won't be so deprived.
Or maybe every other day. I'm not sure I'm ready for that much music in my life yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment