My Kids' Playlist...

[Fat Freddy]

So my wife and I got each of our boys (ages 5 and 10) a cheapie little MP3 player for Christmas (Sssshhh... don't tell 'em!!). Our 10 year old has been hinting that he wanted an iPod but we didn't quite have the cash for that and besides, we figured we could test the waters with this one and if he takes good care of it and actually uses it, then maybe we can get him the real deal for his birthday in 2013.

 

Anyway, we thought it would be a nice idea if we "pre-loaded" the players with a selection of tracks so they'd have something to listen to right away. My wife and I combed through our respective CD's and pulled out two dozen or so tracks that we thought they might dig, then I loaded the same playlist onto each of the players. Some of the highlights include....

 

KISS - "Wall of Sound"

Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water"

Weird Al Yankovic - "Fat," "Dare to be Stupid"

Big & Rich - "Comin' To Your City"

The Cars - "Let's Go"

George Thorogood - "Bad to the Bone"

Blue Oyster Cult - "Godzilla"

Ramones - "Blitzkrieg Bop"

Skid Row - "Youth Gone Wild"

Cinderella - "Gypsy Road"

Misfits - "Monster Mash"

Alice Cooper - "School's Out"

 

So what do ya think? Are they off to a good start?

 

...I joked about sneaking some Slayer, GWAR or Overkill in there for each of'em, but the wife was looking over my shoulder while I prepped these things, so no dice.

[All Nights Reserved]

That was a good idea!

[Fat Freddy]

That was a good idea!

 

We thought it would be nice for them to have some tunes already in it "right out of the box," and besides, since I'm likely to be the one loading music into these newfangled thingies for them (at least for a while), it was probably a good idea for me to learn how to do it ahead of time.

[heaven&hell]

So no Steel Panther.....................

[Fat Freddy]

So no Steel Panther.....................

 

Ummmm....no.

[cdjunky41]

sorry Keef, but I never saw the fascination for Weird Al..

 

I guess Bloodhound Gang's- Kiss Me Where It Smells Funny is out of the question..

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Good on you, sir.

[Doksdad]

[Fat Freddy]

Well, the MP3 players were a BIG hit yesterday. My five year old wanted to know how Santa knew all of his favorite songs like "Monster Mash" and "Bad to the Bone," I just shrugged and said "He knows everything."

 

sorry Keef, but I never saw the fascination for Weird Al..

 

My kids think he's hilarious. They beg me to bring his Dare To Be Stupid album with us anytime we go for a ride in my truck.

[KarpetRydOFunk]

Well, the MP3 players were a BIG hit yesterday. My five year old wanted to know how Santa knew all of his favorite songs like "Monster Mash" and "Bad to the Bone," I just shrugged and said "He knows everything."

 

sorry Keef, but I never saw the fascination for Weird Al..

 

My kids think he's hilarious. They beg me to bring his Dare To Be Stupid album with us anytime we go for a ride in my truck.

 

That is awesome! Well done, sir.

[Fat Freddy]

The kids had me add a few tracks to their playlists tonight - GNR's "Paradise City" (I sez "How do you know that song?" ... apparently their gym teacher plays that one while the class does warm up exercises), the Ramones' version of the "Spider-Man" cartoon theme and the "Itchy & Scratchy" theme from "The Simpsons!"

... my young'uns are nothing if not eclectic.

[Dark Star]

An excellent start to their music collections Man!! Getting em started on the GOOD stuff, not the crap that infects the radio today.....

 

So I guess The Mentors were out too huh????

[Geoff]

I was wondering if there was something like this on the forum. I know it'll bore the shit out of most of you, but curious what the parents here do regarding music, with younger kids I guess more so than older ones who make their own decisions. 

Up until the ages of 6 and 3 (they're now 6 & 4 with a 7th birthday coming up in Feb), my kids would just jam to whatever I had on in the car and at home - which was just my playlist at any certain time, which did include the likes of Steel Panther (when they were too young to understand) and even some post-hardcore stuff with screams and stuff (usually turned down a little bit)... They didn't really like the heavy stuff, but they did enjoy most of it. Would dance to it and home and stuff too, lol. 

Anyway, midway through last year it started to become an issue and they wanted to start listening to "Mummy's music" in my car too (stuff they heard on the radio regularly in my wife's car). As I'm a man of the people, I can't resist so I made them a playlist of all the stuff they liked, which started off with stuff I was not too fond of - 'Thunder' by Imagine Dragons, 'Underneath the hot sun' by Fuckface, the smurf song by Justin Timberlake, some Peppa Pig tunes etc. Not too many things I could partake in too. But gradually, as stuff slowly got added on, I snuck a few in there here and there and they have slowly adjusted. As much as I've love to fill the playlist with tunes I love, I do try to adapt to their tastes and what I genuinely think they'd enjoy. 

Current playlist when my kids are in the car is;

Mama Mia - Abba

All Love Up - Amy Shark (this was actually an unrequested inclusion from me - love it, and it suits them)

Who let the dogs out - Baha Men 

Single Ladies - Beyonce 

Dancing in the dark - Bruce Springsteen 

I need your love - ?

One Summer - Daryl Braithwaite 

Cool Kids - Echosmith (don't actually mind this tune to be honest)

Cautious - Emarosa  (I've caught my son singing along to this one)

I like it - Enrique Iglasias

Low - Flo Rida

Shotgun - George Ezra 

Who's that girl - Guy Sebastian

Elevator Love - Guy Sebastian 

Let it go - Frozen Face (my daughter loves this one!)

Thunder - Imagine Dragons (I want to vomit, but this was both my kids' first ever favourite song so I feel evil saying negative things about it)

Want to want me - Jason Derulo

Greased Lightning - John Travolta

Can't stop the feeling - Justin Timberlake

Firework - Katy Perry

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry (seriously don't mind it - verges on metal at times, lol... but it's just sexy)

Work - Kelly Rowland

Footloose - Kenny Rogers

Keep bleeding love - Leona Lewis (always loved this tune)

Old town road - Lil Nas @ BR Cyrus

Good as hell - Lizzo

Uptown funk - Bruno Mars

Just a dream - Nelly

Take me back - Noiseworks 

Peppa Party time - Peppa Pig

Happy - some gronk 

Baby shark - Pinkfong

Don't you worry child - The Poodles  (lol. Originally put the original on but it's about 6min long, mostly just dance music. So I thought this would suffice, lol)

Walk the Dinosaur - Queen Latifa

Jet lag - Simple Plan 

Lead me to water - Southern Sons 

Choose you - Stan Walker (just a random one I had on a pop mix I did for/with my wife a few years ago - really nice tune)

The Antidote - Story of the Year  (yep, not even my doing - request from my boy. He loves monster trucks and this song was on one of the clips he was watching on youtube and he asked me to put it on his mix. Good times.)

Love story - Taylor Siwft

Shake it off - Taylor Swift 

Style - Taylor Swift  (mad fan of this song)

Jumpstart - These Kids Wear Crowns (most you dudes would hate this as much as much as the rest of this stuff, but I love it, lol - perfect for the kids)

I wanna dance with somebody - These Kids Wear Crowns 

Dance Monkey - Tones & I 

Had to get to you - Wolfclub  (very sneaky, but I think they dig it)

We will rock you - Warrant (well they asked to have this on there, so obliged. They actually seem to love this killer version)

The middle - Zedd

Youngblood - 5SOS

Want you back - 5SOS

Easier - 5SOS (I have considered putting some of the stuff from when I liked 5SOS, when they were a rock band, but probably a bit of 5SOS overkill)

 

Anyway, interested to see any other playlists out there if folk have them. 

[Glen]

Capital radio is all that gets played in our car. It's generally pretty bad

 

 

[Glen]

this is generally how it goes :

Dad can we have the radio on

me : no

why?

me : cos

cos is not a reason

me : yes it is

Mum can we have radio on

 

radio goes on

 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

'Thunder' by Imagine Dragons

Fuck Imagine Dragons. I can't stand them. 

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

'Underneath the Hot Sun' by Fuckface

I genuinely had to Google this, 'cause I thought that might be an actual artist in Australia. Still don't know who it is. 

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

Who let the dogs out - Baha Men 

Two things: A. Why do your kids know this song? 2. Why not play Steel Panther if you'll play this? And D. Why the WTF does anybody still listen to this song??

7 hours ago, Geoff said:

Anyway, interested to see any other playlists out there if folk have them. 

A lot of weird selections in there. And I'm surprised by the ones you actually like. Our little Geoff is growing up. Slowly. But I love the effort you're putting into this. 

It's been well documented that I'm the most "cultured" listener on this site. I pretty much listen to every genre. And so I'd love for my kids to have an interest in music period. But obviously I'd want to have a bunch of little metalheads in my house. That would just be hilarious! So I def understand where you're coming from. 

[PetraGirl86]

Gosh Geoff I'm sorry for you. The only good songs you get to listen to are Footloose, and… footloose. 

My kids aren't listening to Trash when they're around me. I'm thinking that when I get kids I'm gonna have good music on all the time and they'll grow to like it. I seriously go crazy if I can't have music on or there's a terrible radio on. Why don't you just turn the classic rock radio on Glen? When my little brother asks, my mom sighs and says okay, since she likes it quiet, but then it goes on that radio- never has it been pop. That's what my cousins listen to in theirs (pop) and it drives me nuts, but of course I don't say anything.

[Glen]

31 minutes ago, PetraGirl86 said:

Gosh Geoff I'm sorry for you. The only good songs you get to listen to are Footloose, and… footloose. 

My kids aren't listening to Trash when they're around me. I'm thinking that when I get kids I'm gonna have good music on all the time and they'll grow to like it. I seriously go crazy if I can't have music on or there's a terrible radio on. Why don't you just turn the classic rock radio on Glen? When my little brother asks, my mom sighs and says okay, since she likes it quiet, but then it goes on that radio- never has it been pop. That's what my cousins listen to in theirs (pop) and it drives me nuts, but of course I don't say anything.

lol. they all hate my music. just give me withering looks 

[PetraGirl86]

43 minutes ago, Glen said:

lol. they all hate my music. just give me withering looks 

Aw, that's too bad. I can't fathom liking the music Geoff listed for his kids. I don't think I ever will. And how come the music changed so drastically over the past decade? And why is it almost a given that they like it and hate the old? I just don't understand. 

[Geoff]

22 hours ago, Glen said:

Capital radio is all that gets played in our car. It's generally pretty bad

Haha, not sure what that it is, but anything with "radio" in the title is usually a bad thing.

18 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Fuck Imagine Dragons. I can't stand them. 

I genuinely had to Google this, 'cause I thought that might be an actual artist in Australia. Still don't know who it is. 

Two things: A. Why do your kids know this song? 2. Why not play Steel Panther if you'll play this? And D. Why the WTF does anybody still listen to this song??

A lot of weird selections in there. And I'm surprised by the ones you actually like. Our little Geoff is growing up. Slowly. But I love the effort you're putting into this. 

It's been well documented that I'm the most "cultured" listener on this site. I pretty much listen to every genre. And so I'd love for my kids to have an interest in music period. But obviously I'd want to have a bunch of little metalheads in my house. That would just be hilarious! So I def understand where you're coming from. 

The irony of Imagine Dragons being the first song they liked as individuals, is that I too can't stand them. 

'Underneath the hot sun' is Shotgun - George Ezra. Horrendous.

My kids know 'Who let the dogs out' from one of their movies. I want to say 'Madagascar,' but that doesn't really make sense, so maybe something like 'Pets?' Either way, it was definitely a request, and not one I welcomed. Not quite as blatant as Steel Panther, though, and it'll take them many years to "get it."

Yeah, generally, all the pop songs I've put on there that they've not requested are just songs through the years that I conceded aren't that bad, for pop songs. I'm not too gay to admit that for whatever reason - truly can't explain it, but I quite like 'Want to want me' - Jason Derulo and goddamn that 'Low' song is fucking catchy, lol. But yeah, a lot of it is exactly the type of stuff my kids like - something they can dance to - and inoffensive to me, unless otherwise specified. 

I think half the mistake of my kids not becoming little metalheads (yet) is also my fault, but it's just not how I roll. If I continuously played the same catchy hard rock songs day in/day out, every time I had my kids in the car and at home, I have absolutely no doubt they'd love those songs. No doubt.

My "problem" is I play playlists one after another, and these playlists are often weeks long in song time. So, even uninterrupted, it'd take me weeks to replay a song, and with the broken up play, and me also listening to the playlists at work too, it could be weeks, months or never that my kids would actually hear one of my songs twice. Therefore, they have no time to get used to it and get to know it. Whereas, every single time they hopped in the car with my wife, the exact same songs are playing on the radio every single time, so they get familiar with it real quick. Same with movies and TV show soundtracks - they just watch the same thing if/when they watch TV (which I'm proud to say is not often) and they get familiar with that too. 

Anyway, in summary - if you have kids and want them to love your music, prepare early. Get a playlist ready of songs you're happy to hear over, and over, and over, and over, and over again, and just keep playing it until they love it, lol. Trust me, it'll work.

For the record, I have lots of videos of my kids dancing around the house to my music when they were super young. It was there for the taking, I just had to capitalise, lol. 

It's actually quite funny now. My son kind of likes the idea of rock because his cousin plays the drums and he was the one who got 'We will rock you' onto my playlist. But whenever my daughter walks past me playing my music, or I accidentally turn the car on with one of my songs she says something like,

"Daddy, is that rock n' roll."

"Yes, it is," I say.

"I hate rock n' roll," she says, lol. Sad, but makes me laugh. 

16 hours ago, PetraGirl86 said:

Gosh Geoff I'm sorry for you. The only good songs you get to listen to are Footloose, and… footloose. 

Don't feel sorry for me. Seeing my kids happy is about a million times more important to me than sitting through a few songs I don't like every now and then. 

Also, if you like 'Footloose' better than several pretty awesome songs on that list, it might not be me that needs pity.

16 hours ago, PetraGirl86 said:

My kids aren't listening to Trash when they're around me. I'm thinking that when I get kids I'm gonna have good music on all the time and they'll grow to like it. I seriously go crazy if I can't have music on or there's a terrible radio on. Why don't you just turn the classic rock radio on Glen? When my little brother asks, my mom sighs and says okay, since she likes it quiet, but then it goes on that radio- never has it been pop. That's what my cousins listen to in theirs (pop) and it drives me nuts, but of course I don't say anything.

That sounds a lot like something someone would say... before they have kids.  

As someone who didn't actually really ever want kids, let alone think I'd ever cater to any of their wishes - lol, but I guess that's how all young people think - I can assure you that all these things you think you'll never do for your kids, it will all change once you have kids. Unless you're evil.

15 hours ago, PetraGirl86 said:

Aw, that's too bad. I can't fathom liking the music Geoff listed for his kids. I don't think I ever will. And how come the music changed so drastically over the past decade? And why is it almost a given that they like it and hate the old? I just don't understand. 

Like I said, there's plenty of good stuff on my list. If you don't like stuff like Dancing in the dark - Bruce Springsteen, One Summer - Daryl Braithwaite, Cautious - Emarosa, Elevator Love - Guy Sebastian, Take me back - Noiseworks, Don't you worry child - The Poodles, Jet lag - Simple Plan, Lead me to water - Southern Sons, The Antidote - Story of the Year, Had to get to you - Wolfclub and We will rock you - Warrant then you're missing out on some awesome stuff. A lot better than 'Footloose,' I can assure you of that.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Geoff

[PetraGirl86]

4 hours ago, Geoff said:

Like I said, there's plenty of good stuff on my list. If you don't like stuff like Dancing in the dark - Bruce Springsteen, One Summer - Daryl Braithwaite, Cautious - Emarosa, Elevator Love - Guy Sebastian, Take me back - Noiseworks, Don't you worry child - The Poodles, Jet lag - Simple Plan, Lead me to water - Southern Sons, The Antidote - Story of the Year, Had to get to you - Wolfclub and We will rock you - Warrant then you're missing out on some awesome stuff. A lot better than 'Footloose,' I can assure you of that.

 

 

That's completely opinion, and several people have tried to switch my opinions around- it's impossible. Besides, We Will Rock You annoys me no matter who's singing it and I don't even know any of the other songs besides Dancing In The Dark. I have a cousin who's 6 and if she's in my room (at her home it's Old Town Road & country and pop) but in my room it's rock obviously and she seems happy enough, and the only way my kids would know anything different is if my husband liked music other than me and they hung around him more than me. A list of the songs she says she likes when she's in my room 

All I need to know - Foreigner 

Love has taken its toll - Foreigner

Show no mercy - Bride

Sight unseen - Petra 

A little love - Angelica 

Seventeen - Foreigner 

Woman in black - Foreigner 

You are loved - Altar Boys

Out of the blue - Foreigner 

Dance - Petra 

Destiny - Petra 

Small town - John Mellencamp 

Hey world - Petra  

You are I am - Petra 

First love - Petra 

Sweet child o' mine - Guns N Roses 

Eye to eye - Whitecross 

Second wind - Petra

A friend like u - Geoff Moore and the Distance 

With or without you - U2

Runaway Train - Soul Asylum 

Of course her favorite song is Dirt on my boots or Shut up and dance but in my room that's what she tells me she likes and I've heard her singing the songs other than my room   So I can say if you don't know or like the above stuff, you're missing out!! 

[simo]

I don't have kids of my own but I made a similar experience with my little brother as we're quite far apart in age, 10 years. When he was younger he would hear what I was listening to and say I like this, I like that and it made me so happy. Anything from Atlantic (Power) to Dio that was when he was about..... 6 to maybe 10 or 11 years old. I would burn CDs with his favorite songs for him or put random playlists together and we would listen to music on my computer

Then through kids at school or TV / radio he would hear other music and start asking for it. Initially it broke my heart that he wanted to listen to Black Eyes Peas, Akon, Chris Brown and the like. But it's inevitable and I learned to ''live'' with it

At first I was hesitant to buy him CDs from these artists when he asked me to. But he's my little brother and I can't say no to him. Plus, I was hoping that listening to this music would make him realize how shit it is and to some extent it worked hahahaha. I remember a few days after he got the Black Eyes Peas CD from me and I asked him how it was he said it's ok but other than the singles he didn't like most of the other songs. Granted, the singles were horrific as well I thought but whatever

He grew out of it after a while and then listened to Led Zeppelin, Kings of Leon and some other bands a lot at around 14. Now he's 21 and listens to rap mostly and and some indie / hipster music thrown in there for good measure, some classic rock (only the obvious tracks, probably cause he heard them in video games or something) and also modern music that I don't know how to describe other than to name a few artists - Post Malone, Benny Blanco and that kinda stuff

 

[PetraGirl86]

 My biggest hope other than my kids (if I ever get them in the far distant future) following Christ is that they learn to love the good music. 

[Geoff]

On 1/10/2020 at 2:12 AM, PetraGirl86 said:

That's completely opinion, and several people have tried to switch my opinions around- it's impossible. Besides, We Will Rock You annoys me no matter who's singing it and I don't even know any of the other songs besides Dancing In The Dark.

I think that's probably the biggest problem - making assumptions on stuff you've not heard. Like I said, some really cool stuff in there. Warrant's version of 'We will rock you' is absolutely killer. And I'm pretty confident that Jani Lane wasn't gay too.

 

On 1/10/2020 at 4:34 AM, PetraGirl86 said:

 My biggest hope other than my kids (if I ever get them in the far distant future) following Christ is that they learn to love the good music. 

Funnily enough, my biggest hope is that my kids won't follow Christ, lol. 100% dead serious, though. Second is probably that they learn to love surfing as much as me. That'd be awesome. I'd be filled with joy if we shared a love for awesome music, but if I'm being totally honest, it's really not overly important to me in the scheme of things. My wife and I couldn't have more opposite music tastes if we tried. My brothers and I are worlds apart musically, as is my friend and I. Never been an issue. Would be cool if my children loved good music and I'd love for it to turn out that way, by I have my doubts and it won't really impact me.  

[PetraGirl86]

2 minutes ago, Geoff said:

I think that's probably the biggest problem - making assumptions on stuff you've not heard. Like I said, some really cool stuff in there. Warrant's version of 'We will rock you' is absolutely killer. And I'm pretty confident that Jani Lane wasn't gay too.

 

Funnily enough, my biggest hope is that my kids won't follow Christ, lol. 100% dead serious, though. Second is probably that they learn to love surfing as much as me. That'd be awesome. I'd be filled with joy if we shared a love for awesome music, but if I'm being totally honest, it's really not overly important to me in the scheme of things. My wife and I couldn't have more opposite music tastes if we tried. My brothers and I are worlds apart musically, as is my friend and I. Never been an issue. Would be cool if my children loved good music and I'd love for it to turn out that way, by I have my doubts and it won't really impact me.  

True, and I already knew that was your biggest hope anyway  I don't dislike Queen because of Freddie I dislike Queen and Freddie only makes it worse. But anyway I said that WWRY annoys me regardless of the singer.