What Kind of [Fill In The Blank] Are You?

Last night on Kids Place Live, "re-percussionist" Billy Jonas made an appearance plugging his upcoming family CD Happy Accidents (due out next month). And for those of you who find "What Kind of Cat Are You?" ridiculously compelling ("Kat..hmandu"), you're in luck -- there's a sequel.

"What Kind of Dog Are You" makes an appearance, and on the radio, Jonas went through a whole list of animals (e.g., cows), not just dogs. Clearly, Jonas has stumbled upon a song format which he'll probably be playing for, like, the next 20 years.

In case this confuses you, watch (OK, just listen) to this:

Or if you want to see what "re-percussionist" means, watch this:

Back From the Tall Tree: Zooglobble on Kids Place Live

So that was fun. If you're hearing after hearing me talking with Robbie Schaefer on Kids Place Live, thanks for stopping by. Lots of stuff 'round these parts, feel free to dig in. If you're looking for more info on what we talked about (and listened to) tonight, here are some pointers...

-- First we talked about Scribblemonster and played "The Song of LIFE" from their new album Songs With No Character (review).
-- Then we played the awesome Yo Gabba Gabba track from the Roots, "Lovely, Love My Family".
-- Next up was a brief talk about Randy Kaplan -- we played "No Nothing" from his new album Loquat Rooftop (review).
-- Finally, we wrapped up with a brief talk about the Fids and Kamily Awards, whose 2008 list of the year's best kids and family music will be broadcast this Saturday morning on Spare the Rock.

'Twas lots of fun, and I think I'll be back on soon. Not, like, tomorrow night, but before, say, 2009.

On a related note (especially for you radio programmers out there)...

There is lots of angst out there about the Sirius-XM merger and its impact on the lineup, including the loss of the old Sirius Kids Stuff and the rebranding of "XM Kids" as "Kids Place Live." I am obviously by no means a neutral observer (read the paragraphs above, duh), but I am an XM subscriber and although I got retain my kids stuff station, there were other stations (XMU, POTUS, to name a couple) that were essentially wiped out, at least in terms of the program/music directors. So I understand Sirius subscribers' frustration with KPL.

My one thought is that perhaps everybody should wait a week or two to see how the whole thing shakes out. Complaining that you never hear Laurie Berkner seems a bit harsh given that they seem to have played her quite a bit, both before and after Nov. 12. (Insert whatever other artist you like.) It's been less than 48 hours and trying to figure out how they're gonna recalibrate their programs seems premature.

Oh, and everybody take a deep breath. Am I disappointed that some of my stations appear wiped out? Sure. Might I unsubscribe in the future? I suppose that's a possibility, albeit distant. It just seems that people are getting a little too worked up about the whole affair. Complain, sure, unsubscribe if you have to, but let's have a little perspective. You (and your kids) will survive.

Now, for those of you reading who are radio programmers... what's the worst complaint you've ever received for something you've done or played on the air?

Radio Reminder

Whether you like to hear me live or taped on the radio, you can do so in both ways...

First, in less than an hour, you can hear me make my first appearance (so to speak) on Sirius/XM's Kids Place Live at around 8 PM Eastern.

Second, this weekend be sure to turn in to Spare The Rock, Spoil The Child where you can hear the announcement of the winners in the 2008 Fids and Kamily Awards.

You can find something good on the radio!

Repeat After Me: Kids Place Live

Like many listeners with satellite radio receivers at home or in their car, I turned on my XM Radio receiver this morning with a mixture of anticipation and dread. Would the merger between XM and Sirius improve variety and selection, or would the combination result in the worst of both channels and the loss of favorite DJs and program directors? Seeing channel names on the lineup released last week didn't really answer my questions. And, really, it's impossible to answer that question completely based on, oh, 15 hours of broadcasting. (Even if you're listening online as I am today, you can't listen to everything.)

So the jury's out for the moment.

But even awaiting today one channel I wasn't worried about was the Station Formerly Known As XMKids. And there's a good reason for that...
XMKids has now been rebranded as Kids Place Live, but "rebranding" is the right verb as little if anything has changed from the old XMKids lineup. (Which might be unfortunate for artists who got lots of play on Sirius Kids Stuff, but oh well...) Kenny Curtis is still there in the morning with the Animal Farm, Absolutely Mindy holds down the afternoon, and Robbie Schaefer is still going to be stuck in that Real Tall Tree this evening.

And it's in that Real Tall Tree I'm going to be stuck in myself tomorrow (Thursday) night. That's right, I'm going to be making my live radio debut tomorrow night about 8 PM Eastern, talking with Robbie about new albums, live shows, Fids and Kamily (but not the results), and who the heck knows what else. The chat will be the first in a semi-regular series, which could even see me make an appearance or two on the Absolutely Mindy show.

Anyway, hope you'll tune in -- you can even get a free trial to listen on your computer here. And for more Kids Place Live news, I'd recommend Kids Place Live Fans, where Gwyneth's got constant news and updates.