Tag: simon stanley

(Not-So) Terrifying Tunes

Librarians, Parents, Teachers, Uncategorized

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Am I talking about Christmas already? Heck, no. I’m talking about Halloween! It’s that time of year when the leaves on the trees are changing, the cozy sweaters and flannels are out and ready to be worn (if the temperature ever drops!), and children are dressing as their favorite characters to get some yummy candy. At a recent Halloween event for work, I saw lots of Blueys, Wednesdays, and ROBLOX/Minecraft, but do you know what I didn’t see? Vampires! Not one!! And that’s too bad because I love vampires. From the scary ones, I’m looking at you 30 Days of Night, to the funny ones, hello Hotel Transylvania, vampires are a classic movie monster. To celebrate them, I’m kicking off this post with two new tunes featuring these fanged friends.

 

To start things off, let’s get a little jazz-swing beat (oooh, that clarinet!!) going and enjoy Simon Stanley‘s new song about a creature of the night who really wants nothing more than to dance under the stars in “Vampire Boogie.” The lyric video adds a not-so-scary bouncing vampire head to help listeners follow along with the lyrics. Everyone’s going to want to do the “boogie woogie woogie woogie woo.”

 

 

Next up is the pop tune “Transylvania Town” from Todd ‘n’ Tina. Shot in an escape room, the video features Todd as a friendly-ish vampire who’s just looking for a drink of B-positive when Tina happens to come along. The cute video combined with the boppy melody and clever lyrics make this a fun one for children of all ages. 

 

But wait, we’re not done yet! There’s still more Halloween fun to be had. The vampires aren’t the only ones showing off their moves this year. Keeping the groovy, jazzy feeling of the bare trees swaying in a dark forest, Chanelle & Friends invite listeners to the “Monster Dance.” The lyric video features friendly characters with just a drop of creepiness, to make this fun for even the older kids to enjoy. 

 

Finally, what does every Halloween need? A party! And who better to host that party than Mr. Pete’s Playhouse? Combining animation and live action, “Halloween Party” is an incredibly upbeat song that is the perfect early afternoon, kids are full of candy-filled energy tune to get them moving around and burning off some of that sugary goodness. 

Still looking for more music to add to your Halloween playlist? Think outside the coffin this year. Rather than using some of the classic Halloween tunes, try using music by one of your favorite children’s musicians. Check out this massive “Preschool Halloween Playlist” curated by Itty Bitty Beats and featuring over 100 songs by dozens of today’s amazing children’s performers. Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

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Video Spotlight – “Marley Sitting On A Pumpkin Seed” Performed by Simon Stanley

Librarians, Parents, Teachers, Uncategorized

Listening to “Marley Sitting on a Pumpkin Seed” has had me thinking a lot about the role that pumpkins have played in my life. Growing up, pumpkins were a big deal at our house. We would grow our own pumpkins, carve them for Halloween and the very next day my mom would cook them down and freeze the pumpkin to be used for pies at Thanksgiving and bread at Christmas. While many folks around us would bake their pumpkin seeds to eat as a snack, we would dry ours out to plant the following year.

As an adult, sometimes we grow our own pumpkins and other times, like this year, we go to a local pumpkin farm and pick some out to take home. Now, rather than carve our pumpkins, we sit them in the front yard and project videos of singing jack o’lanterns on them during Halloween and use them as decoration leading up to Thanksgiving. This November though, the squirrels had a different plan and within two weeks post-Halloween had eaten so much from the inside of the pumpkins that they collapsed in on themselves (the pumpkins, not the squirrels). My husband decided to put the fate of the pumpkins in Mother Nature’s hands and dumped the whole pulpy mess in the garden to see if any of the seeds will surprise us next summer by taking root all on their own. 

In Simon Stanley’s recently released bluegrass-infused single, “Marley Sitting on a Pumpkin Seed,” a little tiny girl is sitting on a seed while listening to the music blowing in the breeze. This lyrical video features a lovely image of Marley, created by Auckland designer Rebecca Ter Borg. In the song, Marley is introduced to various instruments while the melody encourages viewers to clap and tap along. Listening to this upbeat ditty, I just close my eyes and imagine that there is a tiny Marley or two enjoying my pumpkin seeds and the music in the leaves as they continue to fall from the trees. “Marley Sitting on a Pumpkin Seed” is the perfect way to bid fall farewell.

 

 

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