The Music Monday game for today is all about the funk.
I have participated in several conversations recently with folks of my generation about funk as a music genre and its relevance to today's kids. In my own house, my kids are all about the funk: They have taken The Pledge, for example:
Do you promise to funk the whole funk, and nothing but the funk, so help you George [the One True] Clinton?*
But unfortunately they are also all about Kidz Bop. In case you are not familiar, the Kidz Bop phenomenon is, IMO, perhaps the most disturbing thing to happen to children's music since that big purple dino started rounding up neighborhood kids to sing songs of friendship. With alarming frequency, a new Kidz Bop compilation album is released, consisting of recent popular "Top 40" songs sung by a chorus of children. I am not against choruses of kids, nor am I against kids singing songs originally intended for grown folks. But the two together--a bunch of nondescript kids (they do not even harmonize) singing adult songs (yes, they are "clean" versions but only in terms of language, not in terms of themes/content)--well, that just rubs me the wrong way.
No, I'd rather my own children hear original versions of music, even if it means I have to explain certain topics or even fast forward through some inappropriate words. I even like how music like that contained in the playlist below can spark deep philosophical and linguistic discussions. Like the time one of my daughters observed, "You know, Mommy, sometimes words mean different things depending on different things. Like 'funky'--If you're talking about music and dancing and stuff funky is good. But not if you're talking about you smell bad."
Exactly! So this Monday get funky (in the good way) with some James Brown, Zapp, Parliament, Slave, Gap Band, Rufus and the rest. And if you happen see a middle aged woman rolling down the road in a station wagon with two little kids in the back, all of them bopping their heads and raising the roof with their arms and hands, toot your horn and say hi to us.
Happy Monday!
*P.S. Alas, "One Nation Under a Groove" is not here, as it is not available for playlist inclusion on lastfm. I trust you to cue up your own copy and take The Pledge yourself before playing this player if you haven't previously done so.
Bless you!
Posted by: Deborah Barabino at January 14, 2008 10:46 AM