You might not be aware that the music for The Backyardigans isn't done by just anyone. The man behind the music is Evan Lurie, a founding member of The Lounge Lizards.
Rockin' In The Wee World, an article up at WSLS.com, looks into how an increasing number of talented musicians, with established track records in creating music for adults, are turning to making music that also appeals to children.
Evan Lurie is one of the musicians covered by the article. Lamentably, we don't get to hear much from him, but he did talk a little about how children's music doesn't need to be as sanitized as we are used to hearing. In fact, there was only one music genre that was rejected for The Backyardigans, and that was only because the show's producers were worried about how parents would react.
The section of the article dealing with Evan Lurie is titled, "Rattling Parents' Cages" and starts half way down the page.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Evan Lurie Interview
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I am 60 years old, and I don't have kids myself, but Evan Lurie's music of the Backyardigans never fails to put a huge grin on my face. The music lift spirits. The lyrics are clever and amusing. The values are just what I want to indoctrinate the young generation with, without being preachy. I also love it that kids get introduced to so many different musical genres, just as a matter of course. This is head and shoulders above anything else aimed at pre-schoolers.
ReplyDeleteHello! I am a parent of a two year old son who LOVES all things Backyardigans, and also a musicology student at UCLA who is working on a study regarding the response of toddlers to certain types of music. I came across your blog in my research, and was wondering if it would be possible for you to send me the links to the articles that you've posted here with commentary from Evan Lurie. I tried just clicking on them, but no luck! Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteIf you could, my email is jamie.latsko@gmail.com. Thanks again!
an article from variety mag here:
ReplyDeletehttp://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/evan_lurie/
(and a couple of great youtube vids of his old band)
and Yes, my children are tiring of the cartoon a little, but I'm not. Ride on the Range (which I make as a tip to Miles Davies Kind of Blue/Bitches Brew)
SteveH
I really love The Backyardigans. I found the Lurie article here:
ReplyDelete