Are you reading the spectacular pop culture blog MamaPop? I'll be showing up there a bit over the next couple weeks -- so if you're not already a regular, you now have a fabulous reason to check it out. Here is my first appearance. More on the way.
I also recommend checking out the heated debate about the Wiggles that has been going on over at (sm)all ages. Is their music "incredibly annoying crap" or does it have some value? Bill and Stefan have weighed in on their own blogs. I'll let you all speculate as to why I'm not jumping into this one:
1. I dated Murray in college.
2. The Wiggles own me. And my blog.
3. I am collaborating with Captain Feathersword on a tell-all documentary (called Cold Spaghetti) and don't want to give anything away.
My husband (he has a Ph.D. and is therefore smarter than most of us -- just ask him, he'll tell you all about how smart he is) believes the reason so many musicians are bitter towards The Wiggles is that they didn't come up with this concept first. I believe he may be speaking from personal experience. Enough said.
December 17, 2006
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7 comments:
Wow-- did you really date one of the Wiggles? Did he sing wacky songs to you?
I feel that if so many children are happy listening to their music and watching their videos, why would anyone want to consider it "crap" or whatever?
The bottom line is that it makes kids happy, gets them singing and laughing and brings them joy - isn't that what we want for kids?
It's not about the adults, IT'S ABOUT THE KIDS!
Besides, whenever anything becomes wildy successful, you hear everyone trying to bring it down - that's why kids are cooler than adults - they just love.
- A Chidrens' Music Artist
"The bottom line is that it makes kids happy, gets them singing and laughing and brings them joy - isn't that what we want for kids?"
If one is to follow that logic, we should feed our kids nothing but Pixie Stix and grape soda and let them stay up to watch the 3:00 AM SpongeBob rerun. That would certainly bring them joy and happiness, wouldn't it? Sure, I'm being sarcastic, but aren't Barney and the Wiggles the musical equivalent of fast food? They taste/sound ok, but upon further review they lack in nutritional/aesthetic value and basically function as nothing but ads for "new and exciting" Wiggles and Barney products.
This debate has been around for a long time - back in my pre-kid days when I was working in schools, there was a big debate about the RL Stine Goosebumps books. The argument was that it was good that kids were reading anything, but the argument was countered with "yeah, but wouldn't it be better if what they were reading didn't suck?"
A little Barney probably isn't going to kill you, but why take the risk?
Ha! too funny! I know that none of the above are true, and yet they all cracked me up. Congrats on your guest blogging. I'll definitely be checking you out.
My own personal issue with the Wiggles is that they can't dance and therefore shouldn't even try. Let the Wiggly dancers do it all instead of pointing their fingers and attempting to do something somewhat resembling the twist.
Come to think of it, Mr. Davis does rather resemble Murray. (Wait, which one is Murray?)
they lack in nutritional/aesthetic value and basically function as nothing but ads for "new and exciting" Wiggles and Barney products.
Ridiculous statement. You've obviously never even listened to the Wiggles' music outside of the few annoying songs the Disney Channel repeats over and over.
The Wiggles have hundreds of great tunes for little kids to sing along too. Nothing wrong with that. And very few of their songs have anything to do with "product" as you wrote. Again, makes me wonder if you even bothered to listen to them.
There isn't a musician alive today who doesn't want to sell a t-shirt or two.
I wanted to write and agree with the anonymous posting left earlier comparing the wiggles to junk food. I believe the issue at hand is what sorts of information, quality, and media are we feeding children. Surely, children are deserving of exposure to the most creative, imaginative, and useful works around. The wiggles are NOT that. While I'm happy that any kids are excited about any music, the reality is that the quality and substance of The Wiggles is meager and sort of embarrassing. Further, the comparison of the Wiggles (as a manufactured band) to the Beatles is really invalid. The Beatles began as the catchiest band in the world (something The Wiggles cannot compare to), and quickly took their newfound success and resources and became meaningful and influential artists. The Wiggles have take their newfound success and resources and pumped out made in china, dull, junk to mass market. I think that anyone who markets anything to children has a profound responsibility to look past their self interest and commit themselves to providing only the BEST. The Wiggles are not that.
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