Released in 1972, Dougal and the Blue Cat is a full-length spin-off from Serge Dinot's The Magic Roundabout (Le Manège Enchanté) televis

This article was first published in the New York Times on 25 Jan 2018. Written by Alex Marshall. A new study suggests that some types of...

Just in case you missed it, Elvis released a book for children this week. According to publishers Penguin, Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender...

'It's the wolf' '20 FANTASTIC NEW SONGS ABOUT YOUR FAVOURITE CARTOON CHARACTERS'. This much-loved album is one of the strongest and in some ways strangest British records ever made for children. It had a big TV advertising campaign leading up to its release at Christmas 1973 and clearly ended up on the Dansette in many children's bedrooms (like mine). The soulful sunny syncopation of much of Spin a Magic Tune must have brightened up that dark UK winter for many a lucky chi

[This post is related to my article in the Jazz Research Journal] Jazz music in children's television sends out contradictory messages...

Book titles are like song titles, album titles or even band names. Believe me, I've spent a lot of time on the last three. They need just the right combination of words, sounds and signifiers to make them sit just right. They need a bit of creativity and a whole lot of crafting to sum up the product, grab people's attention and help everyone involved to feel nice about it. ​​My book is about recordings made for children. I use the word 'records' to refer not only to the spin

I have been writing and performing music for children and families for nearly 15 years. I've written and recorded at least 200 songs for youngsters. I've done hundreds of 'gigs for cool kids' with my band Johnny and the Raindrops. But why, oh, why, oh, why (Woody Guthrie reference) do I do it, and continue to do it? Without getting too deep into psychoanalysis and my own childhood experiences ('nuff said) here are my four reasons for writing and performing for children. 1. I

Surely, there's nothing that makes me, or you, or anyone else angry about music made for children. Anger is such a strong emotion and children's music is nice and smiley and colourful, right? First up, for me, the best children's culture depicts anger (and other emotions) and allows children to recognise it, and deal with it. Think of Animal from The Muppets, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, the characters of Pixar's Inside Out, Angry Birds, or the perils of UniKit

Once upon a time, not so long ago, everyone seemed to be singing to me, or about me. Records made for children or even by children seemed to