It being thanksgiving weekend I have a lot to be thankful for. My family, friends, home, etc. So I thought today I’d say thanks to some of those who play the music called kindie. Now most people get their kids music from TV. It being the biggest medium around these days. And that’s a shame. Because the music seen on TV is very, very limited (Barney, The Wiggles, Fresh Beats, etc). Dan Zanes recently had a rare appearance on “The Chica Show” as it’s known around here and he’s been playing great family music for a long time. Fortunately TV is not the only source for great kids music and no I’m not talking about Youtube which also has a lot of quality kindie stuff. No I’m talking about good ole’ radio! Which because of the internet is now better that ever. You can not only get great shows dedicated to the family genre you can also listen to some of them even if you missed the original broadcast thanks to podcasting! All of these shows listed below are internet available, they are all free (sorry Kids Place Live) and all play great new and old music. Here are my top 5.
- Saturday Morning Cereal Bowl – Dave Loftin is one of the very first to play the Poochamungas. He’s got great taste in family music and music appropriate for kids not to mention one of the best voices coming over the airwaves. New stuff balanced with classic and rarities. He hosts at http://wawl.org in Chattanooga,Tennessee. The show goes on every Saturday at 8-10am (EST). It does repeats episodes sometimes but always worth the listen
- Imagination Parade – This show is another one who got an the Poochamungas bandwagon early. Paul Butler is the host and been doing it so long when he started he had kids and now has grand kids! He also has high quality taste in music. Especially the kindie kind but also just any great music for families to enjoy. We did a interview with Paul this year during fire prevention week. You can check out Pauls show at WDFU-FM 89.1 out of Farleigh Dickinson University in New York/ New Jersey every Sunday at 9am Eastern time.
- Musical Merry-Go-Round – Grandfather Paul Stark hosts this great show down in St. Louis. He hosts live music acts/interviews and discusses books with Ms Kathleen the Librarian and plays all sorts of great music. The show runs 7-9am CST on Saturday mornings on KDHX 88.1 in St. Louis.
- Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child – Host Bill Childs has been spinning family Music since 2005 along with his kids Ella and Liam. He’s was a founder of the recently ended Kindiefest ( thanks Bill it was a lot of fun) and now runs his show out of Austin, TX. He hosts live bands, banters with his kids and plays great music. The show is now syndicated. You can check out the Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child website for times and broadcasts.
- Kids Corner – This show is a Philadelphia institution celebrating their 25th anniversary this year… Happy Anniversary! Fun, games, jokes, live guests, and and their brilliant host Kathy O’Connell make this a show worth hearing every day. I forgot mention the great music as well! The show runs 4 nights a week from 7-8pm (EST) on WXPN 88.5 in Philadelphia.
Also T-Bones Radioactive Kids, Kids Rock Nashville and the Hilltown Family Variety Show (they even had us host a show!) are some of the others worth checking out as well
These are some of the radio shows I think everyone should check out. If your an artist reading this be sure to send them a CD and be polite, respectful and DON’T PESTER THEM CONTINUALLY. They tend to receive a lot of music so have patience. And thank them when they play your music. Just last week Dave Loftin gave us a spin. Thanks Dave! And thanks to all of those shows out there spinning family and kids music. We wouldn’t be heard without you! If you know of a music show on and read this please let me know and I’d be glad to listen in and let others know about it. So go know! Listen and support you local kindie DJ today!
Poochamungas 