Ben's Playlist - Monday, March 7, 2022

Helicopter Leaves – Ants Ants Ants
Remedy – Maroon 5 Feat. Stevie Nicks
Summer's Here – The Bazillions
I'm an Optimist – Dog On Fleas
Winter Bird / When Winter Comes – Paul McCartney
17 the ballad of the babypants – Caspar Babypants
Clown Shoes – Ratboy Jr.

Ben's Playlist - Thursday, February 24, 2022

weird weird dream – Caspar Babypants
Leave The Door Open – Silk Sonic
Taco Tuesday – The Lucky Band
Beautiful Mistakes – Maroon 5 Feat. Megan Thee Stallion
It's A Mistake – Men At Work
One More Hour – Tame Impala

Ben's Playlist - Thursday, February 10, 2022

Summer's Here – The Bazillions
Lo/Hi – The Black Keys
14 sour sweetheart – Caspar Babypants
Seasons – Maroon 5
Where We Are – The Lumineers
Word is Love – Alphabet Rockers
It Might Be Time – Tame Impala

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Cotton Fields (The Cotton Song) (Featuring Sonia De Los Santos, Elena Moon Park, & José Joaquin Garcia) – Dan Zanes & Friends
Do You Talk To Yourself – Dean Jones
Forever Young – Andrew & Polly
Lost And Loving It – Kepi Ghoulie
Loving & Kind – Aaron Nigel Smith
What Lovers Do – Maroon 5 Feat. SZA
Your Happy Place – Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, December 19, 2017

Cow Cow Yippee – The Okee Dokee Brothers
Have Some Fun Out There – David Tobocman
Jersey Dinosaurs – Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam
Help Me Out – Maroon 5 & Julia Michaels
You're The Best Thing About Me – U2
Beautiful Trauma – P!nk

Ben's Playlist - Friday, December 15, 2017

Cold (feat. Future) – Maroon 5
Must Be This Tall – Justin Roberts
Window – Gustafer Yellowgold
People Watching – Dean Jones
Calling All the Kids to the Yard – Cat Doorman
The Only One – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
New Pair Of Shoes – The Bazillions

Ben's Playlist - Thursday, December 14, 2017

How Lucky We Are – Justin Roberts
Do You Talk To Yourself – Dean Jones
I Love The Night – Gustafer Yellowgold
Rock Island Line (Featuring Billy Bragg) – Dan Zanes & Friends
Visions – Maroon 5
It's A Wonderful Life – Kepi Ghoulie

Kids Smitten With Kaplan's Mitten Trippin'

What if your only problem with a children's recording artist was that they were too damn clever? By that I mean, putting in stuff that not only goes over the kids' heads, but goes by so fast that most adults would miss it. They stare blankly even after hearing it a few times, or tracking back a few seconds in iTunes to make sure something was heard correctly.

Aside from that kerfuffle, I have no reservations about Randy Kaplan's new CD, TRIPPIN' ROUND THE MITTEN. He's been a longtime favorite ever since my older son was my younger son's age – for the uninitiated, that's more than a decade. Randy's MITTEN runs close to an hour and is filled with wacky and wonderful stuff like "Supernude," about a clothes-adverse youngster and "Comb Your Ear," a wistful remembrance of a mutt from Kaplan's past.

Randy is not adverse to the occasional cover song as well and his choices are remarkably diverse. There's the 1950s novelty "Mr. Bassman" with a science-oriented epilogue, "Mr. Spaceman," where he explains time/space travel dynamics to his car-trip-tired son. And the recent Maroon 5 tune "Sugar" gets a kid-centric rewrite about confectionary concoctions.

MITTEN is full of Kaplan-esque wordplay and unique situations. "Cat & Mice" allows Randy to rap about all the rotten things he and his friend (the prototypical kid who lived down the block) are gonna do when left unsupervised. Hence, a rap that includes Stardust Memories, A Night at the Opera, and Star Trek. "In "My Frigerator Broke," a desperate Randy tries to use perfectly good food for other purposes under dire circumstances:

Got tuna fish in my pocket
Butter up my sleeves
Eggs tucked in my dungarees
Socks are full of cheese
You might call me crazy
But this is not a joke
My frigerator, frigerator, frigerator broke
My frigerator, frigerator, frigerator broke

MITTEN wraps with the apocryphal "On the Phone on the Toilet,"  the Kids Place Live favorite, a child's paean to parents living immersed in the age of social media, and "Mommy Love Song," one of two charming songs featuring lead vocals by Julie May. Randy is entering the eleventeenth year of adolescence and we're all the better for it. You may take better-planned trips, or family trips, but Kaplan's MITTEN is one of the funner trips you can take your kids on.

TRIPPIN' ROUND THE MITTEN is available from Randy Kaplan's website, Bandcamp, Amazon, CDBaby, and iTunes.

 Here is the video for his song, "Crew Cut":

Ben's Playlist - Friday, October 31, 2016

Don't Wanna Know (Feat. Kendrick Lamar) – Maroon 5
Eyes on the Prize – Cat Doorman
How Can You Tell If It's Going to Rain? – Andrew & Polly
Mama Don't Allow – In The Nick Of Time
Rattlesnake – Caspar Babypants
What Kind Of Fruit – Dean Jones
Willie And The Hand Jive – Vanessa Trien & The Jumping Monkeys

Ben's Playlist - Monday, August 8, 2016

Thank You for the Box – Andrew & Polly
Hello – Adele
Don't Stop – 5 Seconds of Summer
Sunday Morning – Maroon 5
Caught in the Screen – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
New – Paul McCartney

Ben's Playlist - Friday, August 5, 2016

Fun – Coldplay Feat. Tove Lo
Rainbow Tunnel – Alison Faith Levy
Road Trip – In The Nick Of Time
Harder To Breathe – Maroon 5
Right Side of the Bed – Ratboy Jr.
California Kids – Weezer

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, July 27, 2016

The Grass Is Always Greener  – The Okee Dokee Brothers
Crazy Mountain Road – Eric Herman And The Invisible Band
A Head Full Of Dreams – Coldplay
Fresh Spokes (Featuring Susan Lapidus) – Hot Peas 'n Butter
Secret Superhero – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
This Love – Maroon 5

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, July 19, 2016

All Around the Kitchen – Andy Z
Don't Stop – 5 Seconds of Summer
My Favorite Sneakers – In The Nick Of Time
This Love – Maroon 5
Cow Cow Yippee – The Okee Dokee Brothers
Eyes on the Prize – Cat Doorman
Fourth Day Of July – Red Yarn

Ben's Playlist - Friday, July 1, 2016

Here Comes The Sun – Andrew & Polly
Amnesia – 5 Seconds of Summer
Water Under The Bridge  – Adele
Take Me Away – Sunshine Collective
Sugar – Maroon 5
One Day By The Riverside – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
Turned Out – Paul McCartney

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Carry a Tune – Recess Monkey
A Mapmaker's Song – Andrew & Polly
Sweetest Devotion – Adele
Harder To Breathe – Maroon 5
The Great Divide – The Okee Dokee Brothers
The Only One  – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
San Francisco – 5 Seconds Of Summer

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Wake Up – Red Yarn & Morgan Taylor
Hello – Adele
Shake a Friend's Hand – Andy Z
This Love – Maroon 5
New  – Paul McCartney
Wind in Our Sail – Weezer
Me On The Map – Brady Rymer & The Little Band That Could
The Start of Things  – Alison Faith Levy

Ben's Playlist - Thursday, June 16, 2016

Loving Cup – Cat Doorman
Bile Them Cabbage  – Red Yarn
My Teacher's An Alien – The Bazillions
Cheese World – The Dirty Sock Funtime Band
Harder To Breathe – Maroon 5
The Ultimate Frisbee – Jason Didner and the Jungle Gym Jam

Ben's Playlist - Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Sourwood Mountain – Red Yarn
Extraordinary – Eric Herman And The Invisible Band
Fresh Spokes (Featuring Susan Lapidus) – Hot Peas 'n Butter
This Love – Maroon 5
Hymn For The Weekend – Coldplay
Bad Haircut – The Bazillions

Ben's Playlist - Friday, June 10, 2016

Everything I Didn't Say – 5 Seconds of Summer
One After 909 – Caspar Babypants
Snaggletooth – Dean Jones
Road Trip – In The Nick Of Time
Extinction Really Stinks – The Whizpops!
Sunday Morning – Maroon 5

Ben's Playlist - Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Sunday Morning – Maroon 5
Washington, DC – The Not-Its!
The Word – Caspar Babypants
My Teacher's An Alien – The Bazillions
Voodoo Doll – 5 Seconds of Summer
California Kids – Weezer
Stay Up Late – Dean Jones