More children’s music that does not suck…

One of the things I’ve been most looking forward to as a father is introducing my daughter to music. There are few things I love more than rocking out. My life is dominated by song these days. We are really into transitioning Tzofie with music. There is a good morning song (very loosely based on a song from Singing in the Rain), a bath time song (a Ziva original), a night time song (A Ziva/Harry collaboration) and when she finally goes to sleep we hit her with the old lullaby classic “Bye-Lo Baby-O.”

I recently bought the soundtrack to Really Rosie with incredibly songs written and performed by Carol King. Really Rosie was a television special broadcast in 1975 that my sister and I were somewhat obsessed with. We must have taken the video out of the public library at least 100 times, destroying the heads and preventing children in the Comsewoque district from seeing it. Screw them. Most of them were Jew-haters anyway.

I vaguely recall seeing a live version of it as well – perhaps produced by the Long Island theater group Kids for Kids? Don’t know. Mother couldn’t confirm. The movie follows a couple of days in the life of a group of kids in Brooklyn (led by the ego driven Rosie) and are based on the stories of Maurice Sendak, who also directed the movie. Sadly, its not available on DVD (yet) but lucky for us some kind soul uploaded the entire movie (part 1, part 2 and part 3) on Youtube.

I can’t get enough of the song Alligators All Around. Such an incredible and unique alphabet song with an amazing melody. You can catch it at the end of part 1. The sound quality on the video is pretty bad but the multi-voiced harmonies at the end of “Alligators” are simply divine on the remastered soundtrack. It’s been over 20 years since I heard this song and I still remember every word. Despite being recorded over 30 years ago (!) the music really holds up. The album is filled with hooks galore with great sing-a-long choruses. Highly recommended.

Anyone else remember Really Rosie?

Tags: carol king, children's music, really rosie