Right, here's a challenge for you.

I'm looking for some 'crossover' songs... Current/recent artists that people in their 30s will be familiar with, but individual songs that have something obviously simple and childlike about them, that will appeal to 4 year olds.

Examples to give you an idea of the kind of thing I'm after:
Jack Johnson - The Sharing Song (and several of his other songs)
Fourtet - Go Go Ninja Dinosaur
They Might Be Giants - Doctor Worm
Belle and Sebastian - The Monkeys are Breaking Out of the Zoo

(I've looked on last.fm, but everything tagged 'children' or similar is either Disney or death metal. Not helpful.)

Thanks!

"Can't Stop The Pop" by Kid Carpet? That's pretty much tartrazine in audio form...

Ha! That is literally the only track I'd already thought of myself. But yes, that's great, thanks. Can you think of anything else?

The Shins - They'll Soon Discover.

Kids love it.

The Hussy's - Tiger.
Danielson - Did You Step On My Trumpet?
Fountains of Wayne - I Want An Alien for Christmas

Can you have songs by older artists like The Beatles? Octopus's Garden, Yellow Submarine and more...

Hmm, that's trickier than it sounds. I don't know whether any of these would be any use:
The White Stripes – Hotel Yorba
The Ting Tings – That's Not My Name
Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down

Friday I'm in Love by the Cure?

you should try "The Terrible Twos"

they consist of members of the Get Up Kids and The New Amsterdams (they basically are the latters alter ego).

they write songs specifically for young kids, and play acoustic shows for parens and toddlers at festivals during the day before becoming a headline act at night.

the album is called If You Ever See An Owl, and i admit i rather like it...

they're not exactly mainstream, but the Get Up Kids were emo kings (one of my top 3 albums of all time).

Hooookay! I'm in the business of young children. I run four Infant discos a year, and they are a NIGHTMARE!

If I'm brutally honest, if you want to know what four year olds do at disco's, watch Peter Kay's impersonation.

Only he's funny, and they're not.

They run round like demented banshees, screaming and doing knee slides, using the forehead/wall interface as a means of arresting progress. We issue as many bumped head notes at a disco as we do in a week! And why do mothers dress little girls like Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver?? They stuff themselves with pop sweets and crisps, then jump up and down until they're either sick, crying or both.

And all to "American Idiot"

'Nuff said! :unsure:

Is "The Birdie Song" still played at all such occasions?

Thanks for all these - I'll have a listen to them all with my toddler hat on (it has a bell on top) and let you know what we end up playing. Any more ideas though, keep them coming. We have hours and hours of airtime to fill! :)

Hang on... "American Idiot" has the word 'mindf***' in it - you're playing that at toddler discos? :o

I am shamed that I can't think of anything more suitable off the top of my head right now. I'm pretty sure The Divine Comedy have a couple of contenders, but I forget the track titles... I'll check later on.

1) The Birdie Song is indeed still played on such occasions.

2) As is Agadoo

3) And Nelly the Elephant

4) "Mindf***" ? You think they LISTEN to the lyrics? Do you think the DJ actually knows the lyrics? Anyway, during this song I am conveniently found patrolling the toilet areas to prevent such juvenile hilarity as using the drinking fountains as Water Cannon, seeing who can wee the highest (yes, still! It's never lost its popularity), and mopping up sick from excess hotdog ingestion and subsequent ejection from the aforementioned four year old body.

After the Infant one we have an hour and a half of Junior Disco. This is more of the same (without the sick bit), but with more hair gel, culminating in the joining of arms and a lung bursting rendition of that bloody awful Celine Dion Titanic crapola! One hundred and twenty 8-11 year olds screaming at the top of their unbroken voices!

Disco's? F*****g love 'em! :angry:

How could I possibly forget this record in a "songs for toddlers" topic?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colours-Are-Bright...27127389&sr=1-1

I came away from the football to type this when it suddenly came to mind, before I forgot.

Yeah, I think that's the only British album by 'real' bands especially for children. Sorry to wee on your chips, but we've got a copy and it's not that good... apart from the Belle and Sebastian song.

There are loads more albums like that in the USA but they're not appropriate for us (mostly lots of yee-hahhhh!-ing or sorrowful warbling). Reckon there is an unexploited niche in the market here - music for those parents who buy baby clothes with skulls and slogans on.

There's one inappropriate song I've come across though, which has some of the best lyrics ever...

Mum's antique chairs
Were covered in coloured lines
And I guess she's not a fan of those rainbow designs
Cos she's having a meltdown
(Meltdown! Meltdown! Meltdown!)

They Might Be Giants have released 3 albums for children. No!, Here Come The ABCs and Here Come The 123s. The latter two come with a more proactively educational bent but No! is well worth listening to whether child or adult. Listen to Where Do They Make Balloons? and try not to smile!

Hey! Took me aaages to find my user name. Hope everyone's okay on here. You should check out Chris Ballew's new album, recorded especially for kids. The album is out in February and you can preview some tracks here: http://www.babypantsmusic.com/

In case you don't know, Chris Ballew is the lead singer for the Presidents of the USA!

Oh cool, thanks! Sorry - didn't notice your post on here for ages.

Sometimes this thread randomly pops into my head, so I thought I'd find it. What was the outcome? Did you get down with the kids?

Oh, I can't remember what made it on to the playlist in the end. Seems ages ago now! There was some There Might Be Giants I think... I don't work at CBeebies any more.