This year the Okee Dokee Brothers were the lucky winners -- their album Can You Canoe? was voted the best kids and family album of the year. It topped another list of outstanding releases from familiar names, big name artists trying their hand at family music, and newcomers, too.
This was the seventh year that the F&K awards were bestowed on children's musical acts. It was, however, the first year that I was asked to join the judging panel. It was truly a humbling experience, as I reviewed more than 30 CDs during the eligibility period – and still only placed three of my selections in the top 15!Why? I only considered artists that I reviewed, not CDs that we purchased during the year. This made for some truly head-slapping omissions, in my opinion. Not that I would bounce many of the artists that I chose for my list. But it would have been a much tougher process had I included another 15-20 performers.
For 2013, I suggested the administrators assemble some kind of master list to help smooth over such potholes. I even volunteered to at least list the artists that I reviewed, so that others could flesh out a master list prior to the start of voting.
In any event, here was my top 10:
| Because I Said So | Big Bang Boom | |||
| In Tents | Recess Monkey | |||
| Worlds of Wonder | Alison Faith Levy | |||
| Hot Dog! | Caspar Babypants | |||
| Blue Clouds | Elizabeth Mitchell | |||
| Mr. Diddie Wah Diddie | Randy Kaplan | |||
| Sing Loud | Melissa Green | |||
| Monster Suit | Mo Phillips | |||
| Family Values | Charity & the JAMBand | |||
| Escalator | David Tobocman |
And here are the five favorite songs:
| The Owie Song | David Tobocman |
| In Tents | Recess Monkey |
| Like A Spinning Top | Alison Faith Levy |
| Alien Girlfriend | Andy Z |
| Mister E | Zak Morgan |
Congrats to all the artists and to the PR people who deemed me worthy to add to their distribution lists!
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