Laurie Berkner Band Dance Remixes It Up

Laurie Berkner is more than an American recording artist of popular children's music. After more than two decades in the public spotlight, she and the Laurie Berkner Band have become a brand. That means you can attend regular Mommy & Me classes where her songs are played – or go to specialized sessions that feature her music exclusively with instructors taught by her, personally. You can buy her music, videos, books, toys, towels, and even a bag to put everything into.

Children's music is no different than any other genre when it comes to the tropes of extending your catalog. When in doubt, release a greatest hits compilation. Or do a CD of contemporary standards. For pete's sake, Mariah Carey has recorded TWO albums of Christmas songs and BOTH contain "All I Want For Christmas Is You." And then there are artists whose songs are re-interpreted in other stylings – the Beach Boys and the Eagles had CDs recorded by country artists. Brian Wilson himself recorded a horrific CD of tunes with a Disney-fied theme. Notice I'm not linking to any of these particular recordings.

Another insidious new trend is the dance remix (you can see where this is going). Why a three-year-old needs a remix of a song he just heard for the first time six months ago is a SMH (shaking my head) moment. I'm not saying that these remixes are done with bad intentions or that they are inherently bad simply by being produced and released. Laurie obviously feels deeply for the songs chosen for LAURIE BERKNER: THE DANCE REMIXES. If you chose to buy the physical CD, it comes with descriptions of how the songs, such as "We Are the Dinosaurs" and "Bumblebee (Buzz Buzz)" came to be in the first place.

Again, I caution any parent reading this far that as a critic I understand the paramount and over-riding number one commandment – THUS SHALT NOT OVERTHINK CHILDREN'S MUSIC. My kids have both been attracted to disparate songs and recording artists. Does that mean they have bad taste? No, it just means that their tastes are different from mine and different from each other, as well. Neither of them has displayed a predilection for dance music, although my teenager attends every school dance and does not leave until they turn on the lights and hose everybody out of the building.

Whether or not you're familiar with Laurie Berkner's music, the dance remixes are a different creation, engineered by Grammy winner Dave Darlington. If your kids like the EDM sound or you just want to get them moving and grooving, and want the neighbors to think you're running house parties, then LAURIE BERKNER: THE DANCE REMIXES could be your thing. It's all the favorites, from "Monster Boogie" to "I Really Love to Dance" to "Victor Vito." Alas, it must be too tough to dance with a "Pig On My Head." Unless that's being saved for Volume Two.

LAURIE BERKNER: THE DANCE REMIXES is available September 22 from Laurie's website, Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play.

Here is the flash mob video for the dance remix of "We Are The Dinosaurs":