Pop! #10: World Of Fox - Pure imagination

World Of Fox is Simon Fox from Birmingham, England. Simon usually makes lovely, mostly acoustic music as Fox, World Of Fox, Lonesome Fox, and other fox monikers. In the past, he sometimes also used to be a bit louder as a member of the band Grover. For The Pop! For Kids Project, World Of Fox recorded a wonderful version of the classic Pure imagination, originally sung by actor Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka in the movie Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. Pure imagination is a magical song with a beautiful melody written by Leslie Briscusse and delightful lyrics by Anthony Newley. World Of Fox takes this beauty and turns it into something intimately his own, a great new perspective on such a well loved tune. I can only say: very well done!

World Of Fox released two albums, Respect and Jeane, simultaneously on the last day of last year on the Where It's At Is Where You Are label. You can stream all Simon's releases on his website, and download some for free as well.

This weekend Simon will be playing at the Indietracks festival on Saturday afternoon in the church.

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5+1=6 questions for... Zipper

It's been a couple of months since I've posted the song contributed to TP!FKP by Spanish band Zipper. Now Maria and David are back with their answers to '5+1=6 questions for...'

The Pop! For Kids Project: Hello Zipper, nice to have you back here! What have you been up to recently?

Maria & David: In 2010 we've released three singles: a CD-single in Glasgow for Bubblegum Records, a 7" vinyl in Miami for Cloudberry Records and another 7" vinyl in Madrid for Elefant Records. The three of them have different and new songs, though Last chance and Lunes por la mañana have the same music but different lyrics (in English and Spanish, but different meanings). This year we've played at the first Madrid Popfest and we're going to play at the Indietracks festival, at the Contempopranea festival (Spain) and at the Glasgow Popfest.

TP!FKP: What are your earliest musical memories?

M: I remember having sung all my life. I loved and knew all the typical children songs and my mother says that I used to sing a lot when I was little. I attended piano lessons when I was around 4-5 in a house where the family owned a little monkey. The monkey is the only thing I remember from my piano lessons (I moved from that town and my parents didn't sign me in any other accademy...). I was very good at flute in school because I really loved music and I used to have the little casio keyboads everywhere at home (the one with the lights that you had to follow was my favourite). Then, when I was fourteen, I learnt how to play the guitar and formed a band with some girls at school where I changed into the bass guitar player because I had a bass at home from my sister. Finally, at the university, I met David and Oscar and decided to form Zipper.

D: I had an older brother who showed me Spanish 80's bands. He's 14 years older so I was influenced by his bands and he also had a band so, when I was around 6 or 7 I started taking his guitar and learnt how to play it. I knew Oscar from the high-school and then, at the university he presented me to Maria and another girl and started Zipper.

TP!FKP: Do you think good music is important for young children?

D+M: Definitively yes!! I think it makes you more imaginitive, sensitive and happier. I think children who sing (although they may not sing well) are happier than the ones who don't.

TP!FKP: What's the best bit about being a musician?

M: You can express youself. For example, I'm very shy and the only place where I don't feel so shy is when I sing, I feel more confident.

D: It feels good when someone tells you that they like your music.

TP!FKP: Do you have any favourite children's songs?

D+M: When we were little, we grew up with the Spanish bands Parchis and Enrique y Ana. I think they were the best. I can't think of any like them nowadays. They were also children and they sang about typical children themes, funny, easy to learn, easy to sing...

TP!FKP: The song you contributed, Tamagotchi, is a live recording. Do you think we'll ever see the song released as a studio recording?

M: Tamagotchi is one of our first songs, probably from 1996. I've loved it since David wrote it, but we've stop playing it 5 or 6 years ago. It's not very likely that we'll record it again, though I might convince David to start playing it again and perhaps, we change our minds. But I don't think it may be in a close future...

TP!FKP: Thanks Zipper!

Pop! #9: Liechtenstein - How much is that doggie in the window

Liechtenstein from Sweden have been spoiling us with perfect popsongs since 2007. Most recent example is the lovely new single, Meantime. Especially for this project the girls recorded an absolutely wonderful version of the classic How much is that doggie in the window. The song was written by Bob Merill in 1952, and made famous by Patti Page and Lita Roza in the following year. Almost 60 years later, Liechtenstein manage to keep all the charm of those famous recordings but add their own little magic to it, effortlessly owning the song from start to finish.

An interview I did with Liechtenstein in 2008 is still online on my other blog, for those of you who want to find out more about this great band. (Since the interview, Ulrika has taken Naemi's place on the bass.)

You can buy Liechtenstein's records from here and here.

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Pop! Classic #5

Fishboy is one of those bands that don't really play kid's music, but most of their music is definitely as fun for kids as it is for us, the adults. And indeed, when I wrote Eric Fishboy about this project he said "I have always gravitated towards making my music open to all ages and would say that about 95% of my songs are accessible to everyone." The below song - Parachute (Using The Ghost Of Buddy Holly As A) - is one of my favourite Fishboy songs, and it's got a fun video as well.



You can download this song for free from here.

Fishboy have a new album out this month called Classic creeps, which you can buy here and here.

Pop! #8: The Indelicates - The sad gnome song

The Indelicates are an English popgroup formed around Julia and Simon Indelicate. In their usual 'grown up' style they mix influences from folk, punk, classical music and indiepop/rock, resulting in edgy, catchy and original songs with great melodies and insightful lyrics. The Indelicates' contribution to this project is quite a bit different, but no less fun. It's an amusing (but sad) little tale of a gnome who doesn't have very much room in his mushroom house. The song was recorded a couple of years ago, but hasn't appeared on any of their releases so far, even though it had a record label named after it!

You can buy The Indelicates' records here, here, here and here.

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5+1=6 questions for... Vom Vorton

It's been already over a month since Vom Vorton contributed his great original song The world is round to this project. It's more than time to throw our 5+1 questions at Tom, and see what answers he comes up with.

The Pop! For Kids Project: Hello Tom! What have you been up to recently?

Tom Morton: Well, I've been writing and recording a lot due to the time of year, but more on that later! I'm trying to have quite a busy musical year in 2011 to follow up the EP that I released at the end of last year (Plots & Plans), so I've got quite a few gigs coming up. I also provided some science based songs for the Geek Pop festival recently, although the science involved is dubious at best!

TP!FKP: What are your earliest musical memories?

TM: I had a tape of songs recorded off the radio called Tom's Favourites that I used to play all the time. I think the songs became my favourites because they were the only ones I had rather than being picked for any specific reason, but some of the better ones included Letter from America by The Proclaimers, Heaven Is a Place On Earth by Belinda Carlisle and of course the incomparable Rick Astley with Never Gonna Give You Up. I guess I would have been about five at the time. I also used to put on 'musical' shows with my cousins throughout my childhood and most of us have carried on making music to this day. They're mostly doing better than me, but that's OK - I'm proud of them!

TP!FKP: Do you think good music is important for young children?

TM: I think music in general is important for young children, and if that music happens to be good (and bearable for grown ups as well) then it can't hurt!

TP!FKP: What's the best bit about being a musician?

TM: When it all goes right - finishing off a new song and feeling proud of it, or realising in the middle of a gig that everyone is having a really good time. Getting to do something really fun and have other people enjoy it too!

TP!FKP: Do you have any favourite children's songs?

TM: I certainly do! I don't want to live on the moon first appeared on Sesame Street in 1978, and is sung by Jim Henson as Ernie. It is absolutely wonderful! So sweet and with a nice melancholy tinge. I've thought about covering it in the past, but there's no improving on perfection. I also think the child-friendly Beatles songs get a bit too much stick - if you can write a catchy song about an octopus or a brightly coloured submarine then go for it, I reckon.

TP!FKP: You recorded The world is round as part of FAWM. Can you tell us a little bit about this yearly challenge?

TM: FAWM stands for February Album Writing Month, and it's a timed songwriting event that, this year, generated over 10,000 new songs. It's a hugely positive event where people upload their songs and encourage each other to reach the goal - 14 songs, in theory, but it's a personal challenge and people's output varies from a couple of lo-fi webcam recordings to huge studio-recorded opuses (opii?). I managed 19 songs this year, which I'll be trimming down to the best ones, polishing up and releasing as a free album sometime in the next couple of months.
The Pop! For Kids song request arrived just in time for the start of February and The World Is Round was the first song I posted. Thanks for getting me started!

TP!FKP: You're very welcome Tom, and thank YOU!

Pop! #7: Mascot Fight - Dance like robots

Mascot Fight are a joyful sounding English indiepop quartet, who make songs with lyrics full of social commentary and wit. I was excited when they promised to contribute a song especially written and recorded for this project. The result is this, the bouncy and very catchy Dance like robots. It's lovely. If you like this song you'll be up for a treat with their albums. Most songs tell nice stories that lift you up, make you think or laugh for a minute, and put your mind in a unique place for a while. But now first: "...come on let's dance everyone, let's all dance like robots!" With a tune like this, who could possibly resist?

You can buy Mascot Fight's albums here, or give them a listen first, here.

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