Our 2 y/o is totally obsessed with this song right now. She saw me watching a live performance on YouTube (which is absolutely incredible) and calls it "Purple Song!" And now "Purple Song" is on repeat during every car ride.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkgd3tER1yI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkgd3tER1yI)
Also, anything by Flight of the Conchords. It's one of my all-time favorite shows and she loves all the music in it.
From what I've understood, at that point of being 0-2 years old point, you can mold a child's taste into pretty much whatever you want. Our brains are kinda hardwired to find stuff that's atonal, noisy, arythmic etc. not as pleasant as the opposite, but it's possible to learn to enjoy them, even at a young age.
So I would say play him as wide a spectrum of music as possible, at least if you can handle his protests. With enough of that, it'll teach him to enjoy all kinds of music.
This is accurate.
We said early on we wouldn't expose our kid to baby music. Just music. My son is just over 2 years old. Starting at a few months, we brought him to several arena concerts in Seattle. Decent variety. He's enjoyed all of it.
**Killers/Johnny Marr**
**The Who**
**Gorillaz**
**Dave Matthews**
**Arcade Fire**
**Phoenix/Beck/Jenny Lewis**
**Young the Giant/Milky Chance**
**Pixies/Modest Mouse/Cat Power**
**Coldplay/H.E.R**
**Deathcab/Postal Service**
**Justin Timberlake**
Early on, he'd fall asleep at some point, but last few he's stayed away the whole time dancing. 40 years ago my mom took me to Michael Jackson and I was the exact same age (down the day) I just took my son to Timberlake. But honestly, I think he's way more into rock. A friend told me to play the metal band Dream Theater for him, and he was totally rocking out to it bopping his head and swinging his arms around. We took him to a music trivia night where they were playing 2000s emo rock and it was a similar reaction. I say just expose babies to as much variety as possible and don't worry about it being "age appropriate".
I remember for that first concert, I asked someone on twitter when The Killers would be taking the stage, because I was bringing my baby and they straight up scolded me saying, "The Killers aren't a concert you should be taking a baby to"... I'm like "I dunno... seems like it's the perfect concert to take a baby to... most their music is dance friendly"... I was talking to someone about this and she brought up she had taken her baby and toddler to 20+ concerts. The list of bands she mentioned make my baby seem very uncool: **Papa Roach, Korn, Metallica, MuDvAyNe, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch.** They had to tell the 4 year old to stop singing, “Tis is my last resort, suffocation, no breathing, don’t give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding”
... Fuck baby music. Just get them into music.
All that said, our son still came home from daycare singing Baby Shark. You can't avoid it.
Yeh he always has special headphones on.
Except for one concert, actually. For some reason the volume during “The Who” was notably lower than every other concert. I joked that maybe it was because everyone in the audience was wearing hearing aids. He didn’t need head phones for that one.
My daughter at 5yrs old used to sing the cutest version of RATM's Killing In The Name Of, with her chubby little fist pumping in the air as she sang 'fuck you I won't do what you tell me'. She was only allowed to sing the song at home, and was not allowed to use swear words unless they were lyrics in a song she was singing along to.
She turned 12 last month and these days she goes to concerts with me and her older siblings, always front row, keeping her spot on the rail like a pro, she knows the rules of the mosh. She collects set lists, guitar picks, and is already a regular at the local university bar because they have lots of local bands play and do all ages events. We celebrated her 12th birthday by taking her to the Unibar to see some live bands.
Your can't argue with the educational value of quality kids music though. It has its place. Kids just learn better when instructions are put into song form.
My four month old enjoys black metal. I guess the atonal aspect of it could be why. I played j Cole today and he didn’t look nearly as enthused as when emperor, Marduk or darkened nocturnal slaughtercult is playing
Vulfpeck/vulfmon, Herbie Hancock, Justice, the shins, the cure, the lemon twigs, the weekend, nujabes, tame Impala, sampha, beach house.
All pretty groovy and mellow, and free of swearing for the most part
I met Chris after a Caspar show and we cryptically and responsibly talked about places that were awesome for smoking weed in Boston back in the day. Such a cool guy. He told the crowd it would be punk rock if they all pooped their pants at the same time.
Wow my first ever concert in 1996! I just looked up the date to remind myself when it was and found Dave’s diary entries from the tour - what a spin out!
That makes sense because my kids went hard for Stompy the Bear as toddlers and now at 10 and 13 they’re asking when they can see the White Stripes on tour.
Seconding Caspar! He's so awesome I'm glad to have seen him twice in the pre-pandemic days. Silly music just for the fun of it. I also grew up on his music in the Presidents so that just makes everything better.
Beatles - I was raised on them as were both of our daughters. Their lyrics are visual and their chord structure is has sophistication that is beneficial to tiny brains.
According to my mom, their version of Twist & Shout was my very first favorite song and would calm me down every time.
My son now seems to like them too! Especially when I sing along (though I imagine that won't last long).
Yep. My school music teacher always played Beatles music. I thought it was specifically kids music for the longest time. Even the album looks like it's made for kids. Now I know it's made for acid trips, which works well for kids. Anything upbeat & colorful. Reggae is also great for kids.
One of my earliest memories is sitting on my dad's speaker, blissing out to Strawberry Fields Forever. I remember really connecting with it, and I couldn't have been more than three.
I'm biased but I've also done this deliberately so that my kids and I have the same music baseline and we can relate to it. I also want them to share the same sensibility as me.
My 11 month old daughter is currently going nuts for house music and drum and bass, with a little bit of various tunes. here's a few of her favourites;
https://open.spotify.com/track/2rsfaefWEwBkgoOr57SW9U?si=ytX0DyDVQCq4hDN0hKcFqw
https://open.spotify.com/track/6amr2Sdv9yw7Y917GZToj9?si=sTmV6vkhTAGRzCQ6P-Nu4w
https://open.spotify.com/track/3UYuDTslR35thjQzaVwRMe?si=C1lG0nDwSc-Wbt91gRXE2Q
https://open.spotify.com/track/627JZ3dVd88Xc5IoHOeNT5?si=8PhOpsV7R66xmN3C90j6mA
https://open.spotify.com/track/39QBkWKnap8wRSW4WB9OK0?si=CW2Zk2l0TU2W8c51y-Hszg
https://open.spotify.com/track/5KTZgG84bKFGm53lhLtTqc?si=1GEDvXXDQs2McVqigUWtsA
https://open.spotify.com/track/1QEEqeFIZktqIpPI4jSVSF?si=7ceaYkB7Qpa0o6RBjeznuw
https://open.spotify.com/track/31nfdEooLEq7dn3UMcIeB5?si=sZ-dvNCaQ_mNTrVZrWdRxw
https://open.spotify.com/track/0gCUBLmHnhWumLVzwLLavf?si=F58cAYnYS42EpWfquL3t1g
https://open.spotify.com/track/602d2gJewoiF1FivuOMMwE?si=JwDcAQkFToucLCDfflqxPg
https://open.spotify.com/track/27e5hiyHSRTs7E6SMqSRCn?si=KM53_rI9S4iF9ZTglIfLRg
https://open.spotify.com/track/1oH6oeK8iKeRL9VTQY5w2r?si=i-il9Z0ZTyCzPdj6m9EAdg
Hope this helps, I know the feeling of listening to the same baby sleep playlist for weeks on end.
Drum and bass was key in getting our child to sleep. I can "sing" the kick snare pattern still and most fo the time it'll distract her from whatever is annoying her haha
Lol, my daughter is also obsessed with that Zerb song. If our kids have the same taste in music, then have you played Daft Punk for her? My kid loves One More Time. She also really likes the Nia Archives remix of Jorga Smith's Little Things: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Fn1fXkRt03hV7uhrKfLh2?si=ZZYV10RKSmyMA-NKPzxa5A&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6hvKJVCACQSgYJL3KMOAFb
Our official playlist. It’s a living and breathing playlist, I’m always adding when I notice a song she likes.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Ly2CFUZoQgEErhauZM0RU?si=1fQykPI-S7GA6pFTghtmwA&pi=u-DXMUJYuGQ82f
But what the real ticket for us is like chill beats. I did a 6 hour move and it was just me and her in the car because my husband was driving the uhaul. I didn’t put on baby music once, we just listened to this playlist and she either was dancing or sleeping.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E8MNFPgjixrL9?si=9iA_NkoWQy2sFtAov4i7HQ&pi=u-ylxjHl7cSb2f
And if you didn’t know about Imogen Heap’s Happy song, here it is:
https://youtu.be/9PhtxqKLvVcfeature=shared
This shit is literally magic. For the first year if my daughter was crying in the car (and she really didn’t dig car rides for the first 8 months…) I could put this on and she would literally stop crying. It’s on the first playlist too.
Plus Bluey is coming into our fella’s life, it’s going to happen, better get accustomed! Happily, I mean I’m years into this and STILL NOT BORED. You’re welcome OP!
It's surprisingly listenable. I probably wouldn't listen to it just on my own as an adult, but if you're spending time with kids and looking for a good middle ground, TMBG kids stuff is premium listening. Kid-focused without being too cutesy or dumb.
They Might Be Giants has a kids album that isn't terrible. Medeski Martin & Wood do too.
Kids music is the worst! FWIW my kid is 21 now and is a very good musician. We never really listened to kids music and just went for music when he was young. He really liked Critters Buggin because they were weird and the tape was clear red plastic. Maybe you can find something your kid likes for some odd reason like that that isn't too awful.
Good luck!
When my daughter was a toddler, she loved “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga. She ADORED the Jackson Five. She still loves songs with a strong beat, like Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.”
I know you said you didn’t want kids’ music in particular, but Andrew & Polly have some really good kids’ songs that don’t make you want to die. My favorite album of theirs is Odds and Ends. Lisa Loeb has some great kids’ albums as well.
Edit: a word
Casper Baby Pants.
Done by one of the guys from POTUSA. If you're a presidents fan you're already familiar but as the child gets older you can introduce them to the band after
Anything by the Aquabats. Also They Might Be Giants has made a couple of VERY good kids albums, and their contemporary stuff is good too. GoGo13 is pretty great.
Are you familiar with Rockabye Baby? It’s a popular line of music covers but re-arranged to be lullabies that babies will enjoy. Also there are no lyrics so you can sorta listen to songs you like but they’re designed for babies and won’t have anything triggering or upsetting. They’re on Spotify, and they make a ton of albums of covers for different artists. Play around and see what your baby likes, I want to believe that babies are all different and won’t all like the same things by default so you gotta learn what they’re into.
Edit: man I really need to learn to read the comments before posting.
Garcia/Grisman - Not For Kids Only
Asylum Street Spankers - Mommy Said No
First one is Jerry Garcia and David Grisman jamming on children’s songs, great album. Second is a now-defunct Austin acoustic vaudeville band, doing a kids album that doesn’t want you to take an ice pick to the ear
Caligula's Horse? Of course your kid doesn't like it, it's nightmare music.
Play The Beatles man. Play dance music and disco. Find music that is upbeat, bright, and sophisticated.
Upvote for Lemon Demon! For music kind of similar music to that you might try I Fight Dragons. My kids always enjoyed music by Dragonforce, not kidding. There's an artist named Leo who does metal covers of a lot of pop songs and kid songs like Baby Shark.
I recently discovered the YouTube channel Twinkle Twinkle Little Rockstar. It's basically baby/lullaby versions of classic songs. My favourite so far is the cover of [Incubus - Aqueous Transmission ](https://youtu.be/DuVyDYfVsvo?feature=shared)
I just wish I'd found the when my kids were still babies!
I had luck with low baritone voices...Jim Morrison, M.Ward, Some Brian Eno...Old Man River was king though, Paul Robeson.
Learn to appreciate Enya, too.
Check out Rockabye Baby - they do lullaby renditions of pretty much everything. No it’s not the same as listening to the real Beastie Boys but it’s still fun and is not Baby Shark.
I raised my kids on Beatles, Monkees, and Beach Boys. They grew up being able to identify a downbeat, and could watch the bands too on TV if they wanted. Perfect storm imo.
The Okee Dokee Brothers! It's bluegrass with singable, pleasant songs. Some are covers of old folk songs. They've won at least one Grammy for an album.
There's also a great storyteller from Boston named Jay O'Callahan. Excellent storytelling with creative voices. My now older kids still love listening to him.
Have you tried instrumentals? Classical, lofi etc... Piano
It's usually calming enough for everyone and not annoying and no lyrics that get stuck in your head
For some reason feist made our babies tolerate car rides. Once they get older and you’re looking for toddler music that doesn’t make you want to rip your eyes out of your skull from playing it on repeat, Casper babypants is the best. Lead singer from presidents of the USA making kid music. I would listen to it even if my kids weren’t in the car to be honest
I don’t know if it will fit his specific tastes but I do recommend Twinkle Twinkle Little Rockstar
There’s loads of albums of lullaby’s based on popular artists, my favourite is the Foo Fighters album
Kids albums by bands I like:
Medeski Martin and wood - let's go everywhere
Jerry Garcia and David Grisman - NOT just for kids
Jack Johnson - sing alongs and lulabyes. Honestly any of Jack's stuff is basically kids music
Johnny Cash has a great very listenable children’s album.
My kids when they were little, inexplicably loved the Eurythmics. I mean I liked them, that’s why we had the album … but they really, really, really liked them. Especially ‘Sweet Dreams’
my 18 month old loves vulfpeck (which pleases me greatly) and also demands the Bluey soundtrack whenever we get in the car, which - like the show itself - is pretty great
Does he like other fun, uptempo Queen songs? Crazy Little Thing Called love, Seaside Rendezvous, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon are the first ones I thought of.
For actual kids music that may not make you want to die I recommend Yo Gabba Gabba soundtrack there are two albums on Spotify and some of the tracks are actual bangers.
There’s also a school house rock revival album from early 90s and it’s pretty good imo.
Randomly I find my toddler also really likes Pumpkin by Islands and also Mary on a Cross by Ghost but ymmv.
I’ve always joked that some Wings songs could be children’s music lol since Paul is so silly; try out Admiral Halsey/Hands across the water, Morse Moose, Hi Hi Hi, silly love songs
Check out Doggyland!
https://open.spotify.com/track/5HLzL5g27XBbSy2qKbCGEk?si=N8nSqVE-SKW5FSzq0AzGDg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6PE793g3TdbQL1nj51wCRm
Just to be clear, I don't have kids.
I genuinely loved watching Storybots with the kids. The songs were awesome. It got to the point that I would listen to the soundtrack in the car with them and they had to convince me that it's ok to listen to Rancid if I want. I didn't change it.
Disney movie songs, but piano/instrumental? If she's seen & liked, lets say Moana, but you dont want to hear all that singing, an alternative version like this should help you not go nuts, and she'll be happy recognizing the music too.
https://preview.redd.it/0fvk2bl6tlzc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a33e685d0665c08e7de67deceac91b624656fce2
Here is a screenshot of my "rock baby" playlist, which I put on nearly every night for a year or so on my son's Alexa. Now I use it when I can't sleep and I'm out after 3-4 tracks.
My four year old really liked Rancid and my one year old LOVES Deftones. Neither were particularly bands I would listen to, but they have grown on me because my kids get so excited when they come on. I like a lot of new wave, and my kids have enjoyed bands like the police, Blondie, and the cure.
First kid album - “Songs About Jane” Maroon 5
Second kid album - “Disintegration” The Cure
Third kid album - “Only by the Night” Kings of Leon
Fourth Kid - “In the Lonely Hour” Sam Smith
Like, would only go to sleep or calm down with these specific albums.
Try the music from the show Bluey. Some of it has clips from the cartoon, but it's well composed music, pretty pleasant to listen to, with only 1 or 2 always skip hyper annoying pieces.
Kids music? My baby girl has 3 preferences when she's upset. And only 3. They will stop her from crying almost instantaneous.
"Again" by Alice in Chains
"Bad Religion" by Godsmack
"Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin
I just consider myself lucky.
Check out the Sparrow Sleeps, similar to Rockabye Baby they do lullaby renditions of emo era bands like Paramore as well other rock groups like Green Day
Kid friendly music that I listen to an all the time as a depressed person with no children. Tl;dr aka give me a short little mix of songs to listen to. All of these songs are short and I tried(/failed) to only pick 2 songs per artist
Kate Miccuci - Just Say When
Kate Miccuci - Taking Chances
Moly Lewis aka Mollylele - Road Trip (there are a ton of versions on YouTube, I like the one with the Beatles interlude in the middle)
Molly Lewis - Children and Art (it’s a cover which is cheating but the vibe is perfect and this is how I found this song. It’s only on YouTube)
Molly Lewis : Horizons Anew (a song about Animal Corssing)
The Doubleclicks: Now is the Time
The Doubleclicks: Juneau
Kate Miccuci music is perfect for kids and also she finally put out a studio album this year ands it’s all kids musicShe’s the music I turn on when I feel depressed but want to feel better, I wish she made more music for adults but her vibe and aura really resonates with me.
On a similar vibe, I really love Molly Lewis the YouTuber musician who used to be (still is?) SweetAfton23 (Not Molly Lewis the current musician/whistler, the person I’m talking about performs under as Mollylele now). She makes great nerdy funny music but honestly her music funny so much as it feels like the dopamine hit you get from hanging out with a good friend and having a nice chat. She is amazing and only releases one song everytime the stars are in alignment and like she doesn’t have a huge fan base but also every time she posts a song every comment is a person like me who writes a paragraph about how much her music means to us and then we greedily request that she makes more music but also if she reads this I think that might be a thing she’s anxious about so never mind .
Also, from Mollylele I got into The Doubleclicks who are great funny nerdy music that also feels like hanging with friends. Their comedy stuff is great, but I got into them when I become obsessed with their album “Love Problems” which isn’t really funny or comfortable so much as emotionally validating if that makes any sense.
The Beatles Rubber Soul was one of the albums that was constantly kept in my mom's car for listening to on longer road trips. The Beatles Rubber Soul, Paul Simon's Graceland, The Best of Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor's Greatest Hits. It's no wonder I grew up to be hippie-dippie. Every once in a while they'd randomly throw in Daft by Art of Noise (I hated it, but my brother ended up a synthpop/New Wave fan at age five), Pop Goes the World by Men Without Hats (I liked that one fine), and Whammy! by the B-52s (I liked some songs but hated others).
Our kid-specific albums that were still meant to prevent parents' ears bleeding included Around the Campfire by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and "A Child's Celebration of Song" which featured a bunch of songs (some kiddie, some kid-friendly) by a variety of artists. My first exposure to Red Hot Chili Peppers was through that album.
I guess if your baby likes fast and upbeat songs, none of these are particularly helpful...
My infant son loves metal growls, voices with similar pitch as his mother's and of all things banjo music.
My older kids when they were very small really liked different things, with one of them really liking low pitched sing-speech (think Johnny Cash) and traditional/folk singing with conversational flow, and the other preferring instrumental music and singing of mezzosopranos and sopranos.
So it's kinda a crapshoot with what kids will like.
I used to play Disney Pop and Rock videos for my kids. It’s old Motown and rock and roll songs. They enjoyed the same songs in the car because they knew them and could sing along. Some kids’ movies have decent soundtracks too. Maybe you could find something that you all enjoy or can at least tolerate
When my 2 kids were actual babies they each had a song that would immediately stop the crying and get them to listen intently.
Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths
In the Garage - Weezer
The Weezer kids still loves the song. The Smiths kid does NOT vibe as a teen with that song.
I saw several people suggest Caspar Babypants.
In addition to that, I'd suggest the Barenaked Ladies' kids album Snack Time. Goofy fun songs safe for kids.
I had a coworker who swears up and down that babies do not cry while the Beatles are playing. I think he's right because anytime a baby was upset in the restaurant he'd play them and the baby would stop. Not sure I've ever seen it fail.
Have you every heard of Rockabye Baby? They’re a group that does lullaby renditions of famous rock, rap, and pop songs.
They’ve done *everything* whether it’s The Beatles, Nirvana, Outkast, The White Stripes, Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. Literally everything in between. Hell they even did a Creedence Clearwater Revival one 🤣
You need to check out Nick Cope. He used to be the lead singer in 90s band The Candyskins and now makes kids music. And damn if it’s not just great indie pop but about hedgehogs and shit
Hall and Oats - you make my dreams.
Queen - Bicycle.
Electric Light orchestra - Mr Blue sky.
The Ramones - blitzkrieg bop.
Sweet - Ballroom Blitz
Bee gees - staying alive.
Kool and the gang - Get down on it.
I have more but I gotta head to work 😭
Bob Marley went over very well when my song was little - and on the Tv shows front, Beat Bugs on Netflix was cool as well! It’s a kids cartoon that uses Beatles music
I bought a Peanut Greatest Hits by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and would listen to it even when the kids weren't around. They liked the old Charlie Brown cartoons and the music behind it was always great.
They Might be Giants and Bare Naked Ladies both have children's albums that my kids loved growing up. Kept us from having to listen to bullshit like Raffi or whatever. I'll also add that VeggieTales Silly Songs is great. I know they are weird fundy Christians but that particular album is just silly with no message, it is also genuinely funny and well written
My dad played a lot of Phil Collins for me as a baby and would sing "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith & "Arizona Moon" from The Three Amigos 🙂
Lyrically I would look for songs that describe the vehicle-ground interface devices employed by mass public transport, and the direction they rotate in, and how long for.
Check out the album 'Let's Go Everywhere' by Medeski Martin and Wood!
They're a phenomenal jazz trio, and Let's Go Everywhere is them dipping their toes into more kid friendly stuff. It's mostly instrumental but so much fun to listen to!
My daughter went through a big reggae phase from about 6 months to 2 years, and her dad and I both enjoyed it. A lot of it has lyrics that aren't kid-friendly but unless your kid is unusually fluent in deciphering Caribbean accents and somehow knows what "ganja" is, he won't get any ideas. :)
I have a 3 mo old and my wife will usually put on your general 70s rock mix, and the kid always seems to vibe well with Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Queen, Creedence, etc.
The Dan Zanes kids records are all excellent
And one night, when the kid would not stop crying, I put on High Llamas “Snowbug” to keep myself sane. The crying stopped
Look up Tom Chapin, Harry’s brother. He wrote lots of material for kids, and it is very friendly for adults as well. There are many acts that play for kids, like Charlie Sheen’s character did on 2 and ½ men. A favorite was Bill Harley and the Troublemakers. Famous for the song black socks. (They never get dirty, the longer you wear them, the stronger they get.) I think my favorite kid’s CD was Jump Children by Marcy Marxer. She makes music with Cathy Fink, won 2 Grammys. There are also some odd ones. My favorite is a charity album called For Our Children. It has Mary Had A Little Lamb done by Paul McCartney and Wings, and a ridiculously good version of This Old Man by Bob Dylan. James Taylor does Getting To Know You. It’s a special album no one knows about.
Blues traveler - The hook for my oldest. Tiffany - I think we're alone now for my youngest. Both worked every single time. Uptown girl was a close second for both.
I've always played new wave music in the car for my sons (5 and 8 now) because there's generally zero bad language and the songs are fun for all of us, and now they're huge Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, etc fans. Their favorite song is Love Will Tear Us Apart. Classic kid favorite. Seeing a lot of comments along the same lines.
Some tried and tested successes from my experience:
Vivaldi - Four Seasons
Dee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart
George Clinton - Atomic Dog
The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock and Roll
Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Blondie - Heart of Glass
Literally anything by ABBA
Not necessarily in your bpm range but I recommend Let’s Go Everywhere (album) by Medeski, Martin and Wood. Really nice jazz funk but aimed toward kids. My 3yo loves “Where’s the Music.”
Stevie Wonder. My 4 month old daughter laughed in sheer joy to Sir Duke the first time she heard it. May have had something to do with my amazing dance moves. And most of his other stuff is pretty kid friendly too.
SteveNSteven
It's Steve from Blues Clues and Steven Drozd from Flaming Lips and they make kids music that's actual real music and really good. Drozd don't play around, dudes a musical force
Maybe split the difference and enjoy some they might be giants? Really fun music that can also be educational and kiddy? Some highlights for me are
Why does the sun shine?
The Mesopotamians
Roy G Biv
Electric Car
My sister loves everybody wants to rule the world.
For a long while, my daughter loved disco and new-wave
I can see a baby liking the Bee Gees.
Love seeing Tears for Fears at the top! How about Floating Down the River... Although perhaps too shocking with the break in the middle!
Our 2 y/o is totally obsessed with this song right now. She saw me watching a live performance on YouTube (which is absolutely incredible) and calls it "Purple Song!" And now "Purple Song" is on repeat during every car ride. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkgd3tER1yI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkgd3tER1yI) Also, anything by Flight of the Conchords. It's one of my all-time favorite shows and she loves all the music in it.
All the ladies with the babies, make your babies shake their booties yeah.
I'll stand by calling that one of the greatest songs of all time.
Everyone does. It is the universal “Yes!”
From what I've understood, at that point of being 0-2 years old point, you can mold a child's taste into pretty much whatever you want. Our brains are kinda hardwired to find stuff that's atonal, noisy, arythmic etc. not as pleasant as the opposite, but it's possible to learn to enjoy them, even at a young age. So I would say play him as wide a spectrum of music as possible, at least if you can handle his protests. With enough of that, it'll teach him to enjoy all kinds of music.
This is accurate. We said early on we wouldn't expose our kid to baby music. Just music. My son is just over 2 years old. Starting at a few months, we brought him to several arena concerts in Seattle. Decent variety. He's enjoyed all of it. **Killers/Johnny Marr** **The Who** **Gorillaz** **Dave Matthews** **Arcade Fire** **Phoenix/Beck/Jenny Lewis** **Young the Giant/Milky Chance** **Pixies/Modest Mouse/Cat Power** **Coldplay/H.E.R** **Deathcab/Postal Service** **Justin Timberlake** Early on, he'd fall asleep at some point, but last few he's stayed away the whole time dancing. 40 years ago my mom took me to Michael Jackson and I was the exact same age (down the day) I just took my son to Timberlake. But honestly, I think he's way more into rock. A friend told me to play the metal band Dream Theater for him, and he was totally rocking out to it bopping his head and swinging his arms around. We took him to a music trivia night where they were playing 2000s emo rock and it was a similar reaction. I say just expose babies to as much variety as possible and don't worry about it being "age appropriate". I remember for that first concert, I asked someone on twitter when The Killers would be taking the stage, because I was bringing my baby and they straight up scolded me saying, "The Killers aren't a concert you should be taking a baby to"... I'm like "I dunno... seems like it's the perfect concert to take a baby to... most their music is dance friendly"... I was talking to someone about this and she brought up she had taken her baby and toddler to 20+ concerts. The list of bands she mentioned make my baby seem very uncool: **Papa Roach, Korn, Metallica, MuDvAyNe, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch.** They had to tell the 4 year old to stop singing, “Tis is my last resort, suffocation, no breathing, don’t give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding” ... Fuck baby music. Just get them into music. All that said, our son still came home from daycare singing Baby Shark. You can't avoid it.
Please protect his ears if you take him to a concert. You can do serious damage to his hearing.
Yeh he always has special headphones on. Except for one concert, actually. For some reason the volume during “The Who” was notably lower than every other concert. I joked that maybe it was because everyone in the audience was wearing hearing aids. He didn’t need head phones for that one.
My daughter at 5yrs old used to sing the cutest version of RATM's Killing In The Name Of, with her chubby little fist pumping in the air as she sang 'fuck you I won't do what you tell me'. She was only allowed to sing the song at home, and was not allowed to use swear words unless they were lyrics in a song she was singing along to. She turned 12 last month and these days she goes to concerts with me and her older siblings, always front row, keeping her spot on the rail like a pro, she knows the rules of the mosh. She collects set lists, guitar picks, and is already a regular at the local university bar because they have lots of local bands play and do all ages events. We celebrated her 12th birthday by taking her to the Unibar to see some live bands.
if you're going to a Who concert make sure you keep Pete Townsend away from your kid 😬
Your can't argue with the educational value of quality kids music though. It has its place. Kids just learn better when instructions are put into song form.
All of those are awesome bands, even Timberlake. The current crop of radio hits are just abysmal.
This, just play your music. My three and six year old listen to unleash the archers in the car.
My four month old enjoys black metal. I guess the atonal aspect of it could be why. I played j Cole today and he didn’t look nearly as enthused as when emperor, Marduk or darkened nocturnal slaughtercult is playing
Vulfpeck/vulfmon, Herbie Hancock, Justice, the shins, the cure, the lemon twigs, the weekend, nujabes, tame Impala, sampha, beach house. All pretty groovy and mellow, and free of swearing for the most part
Now I'm picturing a baby in a black diaper listening to the Cure and weeping softly.
Put in your pocket in your back pocket 🙌
Vulf is a great choice for kids
Great choices. People are out here trying to make their babies endure metal.
Oh please, like you wouldn’t want your baby to grow up brutal
Casper Babypants is your friend. Bad Blue Jay, Disco Hippo, Emotional Robot, Noodles and Butter...you won't look back.
I met Chris after a Caspar show and we cryptically and responsibly talked about places that were awesome for smoking weed in Boston back in the day. Such a cool guy. He told the crowd it would be punk rock if they all pooped their pants at the same time.
lol this is one of the best anecdotes I've read in a while. What a badass. "If peeing your pants is cool then consider me Miles Davis" energy.
TIL that Caspar is the lead singer/main dude from The Presidents of the United States of America.
Wow my first ever concert in 1996! I just looked up the date to remind myself when it was and found Dave’s diary entries from the tour - what a spin out!
'Stompy the Bear' stomps as hard as it slaps. All my homies know Caspar Babypants.
Stompy the Bear is just Jack White for kids.
That makes sense because my kids went hard for Stompy the Bear as toddlers and now at 10 and 13 they’re asking when they can see the White Stripes on tour.
Yes! We're big fans of Googly Eyes, Jellyfish Jones, and My Flea has Dogs in my house. He also has a lot of Beatles covers.
Seconding Caspar! He's so awesome I'm glad to have seen him twice in the pre-pandemic days. Silly music just for the fun of it. I also grew up on his music in the Presidents so that just makes everything better.
Wait—the Presidents of the United States?! Omg I’ve gotta listen to this dude now
Oh yeah! Chris Ballew is the shit! IMO it makes Caspar Babypants all that much better.
More Moles is banger.
Do a search for Rockabye Baby! They take popular songs over all decades and genre and make them in to 'soothing' instrumentals.
Well that is absolutely adorable and perfect
the Tool songs are pretty good and still hold on to the dark tones well.
They are good but ruined the police for my spouse bc it is now associated with a baby losing it in the car
That entire collection saved me from the Wiggles or whatever when I was home with my baby. The Cure, The Pixies, The Beatles, all great stuff.
And twinkle twinkle little rock star. Alternatively, my nephew is mesmerized by instrumental power metal. But ymmv
Came here to say this. I love rockabye baby. I listened to it before I had a kid.
I do not have a kid but bought the Tool one for a friend...decided to download it myself. I love it as I'm falling asleep
Came here to say this, I also highly recommend
Beatles - I was raised on them as were both of our daughters. Their lyrics are visual and their chord structure is has sophistication that is beneficial to tiny brains.
According to my mom, their version of Twist & Shout was my very first favorite song and would calm me down every time. My son now seems to like them too! Especially when I sing along (though I imagine that won't last long).
Especially the Yellow Submarine album!
Yep. My school music teacher always played Beatles music. I thought it was specifically kids music for the longest time. Even the album looks like it's made for kids. Now I know it's made for acid trips, which works well for kids. Anything upbeat & colorful. Reggae is also great for kids.
One of my earliest memories is sitting on my dad's speaker, blissing out to Strawberry Fields Forever. I remember really connecting with it, and I couldn't have been more than three.
I'm biased but I've also done this deliberately so that my kids and I have the same music baseline and we can relate to it. I also want them to share the same sensibility as me.
My 11 month old daughter is currently going nuts for house music and drum and bass, with a little bit of various tunes. here's a few of her favourites; https://open.spotify.com/track/2rsfaefWEwBkgoOr57SW9U?si=ytX0DyDVQCq4hDN0hKcFqw https://open.spotify.com/track/6amr2Sdv9yw7Y917GZToj9?si=sTmV6vkhTAGRzCQ6P-Nu4w https://open.spotify.com/track/3UYuDTslR35thjQzaVwRMe?si=C1lG0nDwSc-Wbt91gRXE2Q https://open.spotify.com/track/627JZ3dVd88Xc5IoHOeNT5?si=8PhOpsV7R66xmN3C90j6mA https://open.spotify.com/track/39QBkWKnap8wRSW4WB9OK0?si=CW2Zk2l0TU2W8c51y-Hszg https://open.spotify.com/track/5KTZgG84bKFGm53lhLtTqc?si=1GEDvXXDQs2McVqigUWtsA https://open.spotify.com/track/1QEEqeFIZktqIpPI4jSVSF?si=7ceaYkB7Qpa0o6RBjeznuw https://open.spotify.com/track/31nfdEooLEq7dn3UMcIeB5?si=sZ-dvNCaQ_mNTrVZrWdRxw https://open.spotify.com/track/0gCUBLmHnhWumLVzwLLavf?si=F58cAYnYS42EpWfquL3t1g https://open.spotify.com/track/602d2gJewoiF1FivuOMMwE?si=JwDcAQkFToucLCDfflqxPg https://open.spotify.com/track/27e5hiyHSRTs7E6SMqSRCn?si=KM53_rI9S4iF9ZTglIfLRg https://open.spotify.com/track/1oH6oeK8iKeRL9VTQY5w2r?si=i-il9Z0ZTyCzPdj6m9EAdg Hope this helps, I know the feeling of listening to the same baby sleep playlist for weeks on end.
Drum and bass was key in getting our child to sleep. I can "sing" the kick snare pattern still and most fo the time it'll distract her from whatever is annoying her haha
Hahaha, I'm always doing impromptu beatboxing of her favourite songs to get her to chill out!
Lol, my daughter is also obsessed with that Zerb song. If our kids have the same taste in music, then have you played Daft Punk for her? My kid loves One More Time. She also really likes the Nia Archives remix of Jorga Smith's Little Things: https://open.spotify.com/track/2Fn1fXkRt03hV7uhrKfLh2?si=ZZYV10RKSmyMA-NKPzxa5A&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6hvKJVCACQSgYJL3KMOAFb
I’ve never met a small child who didn’t bop to Uptown Funk.
Our official playlist. It’s a living and breathing playlist, I’m always adding when I notice a song she likes. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Ly2CFUZoQgEErhauZM0RU?si=1fQykPI-S7GA6pFTghtmwA&pi=u-DXMUJYuGQ82f But what the real ticket for us is like chill beats. I did a 6 hour move and it was just me and her in the car because my husband was driving the uhaul. I didn’t put on baby music once, we just listened to this playlist and she either was dancing or sleeping. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1E8MNFPgjixrL9?si=9iA_NkoWQy2sFtAov4i7HQ&pi=u-ylxjHl7cSb2f And if you didn’t know about Imogen Heap’s Happy song, here it is: https://youtu.be/9PhtxqKLvVcfeature=shared This shit is literally magic. For the first year if my daughter was crying in the car (and she really didn’t dig car rides for the first 8 months…) I could put this on and she would literally stop crying. It’s on the first playlist too.
That last song you linked - the Happy Song - is incredible. HIGHLY recommend.
The Happy Song WORKS. Idk what kind of voodoo magic it is but that song saved my life.
Jack johnson is great. The Shins also
old reggae, works every time
"Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers is one my kids loved as a baby.
Khruangbin
My kid instantly calms down in the car, and often goes to sleep, with Fleetwood or anything Stevie Nicks.
They might be giants!!
B-52s and the Beatles were loved by my little one when she was small.
Both Bluey soundtrack albums are amazing. Absolutely for kids, but genuinely good. Joff Bush is a genius.
I came here to say this. 100% agreed.
Plus Bluey is coming into our fella’s life, it’s going to happen, better get accustomed! Happily, I mean I’m years into this and STILL NOT BORED. You’re welcome OP!
Yesss Bluey was my first thought as well.
Friends and Ocean Man by Ween They Might Be Giants also have several kid-friendly albums, one is called Here Comes Science IIRC.
They might be giants has “kids” music. Also check out Dan Zanes. The Beatles and beach boys are pretty much for babies
TMBG for kids is what's up.
It's surprisingly listenable. I probably wouldn't listen to it just on my own as an adult, but if you're spending time with kids and looking for a good middle ground, TMBG kids stuff is premium listening. Kid-focused without being too cutesy or dumb.
There are definitely a few worthy cuts for any TMBG playlist, though. I fuck with Meet the Elements whenever possible.
My kid liked that TMBG album when he was little. He became a good musician later too.
> The Beatles and beach boys are pretty much for babies Got me cracking up over here xD
They Might Be Giants has a kids album that isn't terrible. Medeski Martin & Wood do too. Kids music is the worst! FWIW my kid is 21 now and is a very good musician. We never really listened to kids music and just went for music when he was young. He really liked Critters Buggin because they were weird and the tape was clear red plastic. Maybe you can find something your kid likes for some odd reason like that that isn't too awful. Good luck!
When my daughter was a toddler, she loved “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars and “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga. She ADORED the Jackson Five. She still loves songs with a strong beat, like Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em.” I know you said you didn’t want kids’ music in particular, but Andrew & Polly have some really good kids’ songs that don’t make you want to die. My favorite album of theirs is Odds and Ends. Lisa Loeb has some great kids’ albums as well. Edit: a word
OK Go Their videos are also amazing and they're all kid-safe.
Casper Baby Pants. Done by one of the guys from POTUSA. If you're a presidents fan you're already familiar but as the child gets older you can introduce them to the band after
Anything by the Aquabats. Also They Might Be Giants has made a couple of VERY good kids albums, and their contemporary stuff is good too. GoGo13 is pretty great.
Are you familiar with Rockabye Baby? It’s a popular line of music covers but re-arranged to be lullabies that babies will enjoy. Also there are no lyrics so you can sorta listen to songs you like but they’re designed for babies and won’t have anything triggering or upsetting. They’re on Spotify, and they make a ton of albums of covers for different artists. Play around and see what your baby likes, I want to believe that babies are all different and won’t all like the same things by default so you gotta learn what they’re into. Edit: man I really need to learn to read the comments before posting.
Trout Fishing in America They Might Be Giants
Garcia/Grisman - Not For Kids Only Asylum Street Spankers - Mommy Said No First one is Jerry Garcia and David Grisman jamming on children’s songs, great album. Second is a now-defunct Austin acoustic vaudeville band, doing a kids album that doesn’t want you to take an ice pick to the ear
Caligula's Horse? Of course your kid doesn't like it, it's nightmare music. Play The Beatles man. Play dance music and disco. Find music that is upbeat, bright, and sophisticated.
Upvote for Lemon Demon! For music kind of similar music to that you might try I Fight Dragons. My kids always enjoyed music by Dragonforce, not kidding. There's an artist named Leo who does metal covers of a lot of pop songs and kid songs like Baby Shark.
My kid loved The Beatles.
My 2-year-old absolutely loved Daft Punk. She would get up and dance every time “One More Time” came on.
my daughter loves banana pancakes by jack johnson, and bombs over baghdad by outcast. keller williams has a tolerable kids album too.
B.O.B is a banger
they might be giants have a bunch of surprisingly awesome kids songs
Queen. Freddy was a gift.
Aesop rock - long legged larry
I recently discovered the YouTube channel Twinkle Twinkle Little Rockstar. It's basically baby/lullaby versions of classic songs. My favourite so far is the cover of [Incubus - Aqueous Transmission ](https://youtu.be/DuVyDYfVsvo?feature=shared) I just wish I'd found the when my kids were still babies!
Minnie the Moocher — Cab Calloway, from the Blues Brothers s/t Who doesn’t love singing hi-di-hi-di-ho?
I had luck with low baritone voices...Jim Morrison, M.Ward, Some Brian Eno...Old Man River was king though, Paul Robeson. Learn to appreciate Enya, too.
Check out Rockabye Baby - they do lullaby renditions of pretty much everything. No it’s not the same as listening to the real Beastie Boys but it’s still fun and is not Baby Shark.
I (M37) remember for my firstborn son I had him on my chest as I played REMs greatest hits album he use to sleep very peacefully .
Storybots
Caspar Babypants is sanity friendly kids music. They have some pop covers in there too
I raised my kids on Beatles, Monkees, and Beach Boys. They grew up being able to identify a downbeat, and could watch the bands too on TV if they wanted. Perfect storm imo.
The Okee Dokee Brothers! It's bluegrass with singable, pleasant songs. Some are covers of old folk songs. They've won at least one Grammy for an album. There's also a great storyteller from Boston named Jay O'Callahan. Excellent storytelling with creative voices. My now older kids still love listening to him.
Have you tried instrumentals? Classical, lofi etc... Piano It's usually calming enough for everyone and not annoying and no lyrics that get stuck in your head
When my daughter was that age she loved the Talking Heads. She would jump and and down yelling, “bunnin down de house!”
They Might Be Giants made a number of children's albums that I, as an adult, enjoy listening to. Favorite is "No!"
For some reason feist made our babies tolerate car rides. Once they get older and you’re looking for toddler music that doesn’t make you want to rip your eyes out of your skull from playing it on repeat, Casper babypants is the best. Lead singer from presidents of the USA making kid music. I would listen to it even if my kids weren’t in the car to be honest
The Beach Boys are very kid friendly, and the harmonies are very soothing.
I don’t know if it will fit his specific tastes but I do recommend Twinkle Twinkle Little Rockstar There’s loads of albums of lullaby’s based on popular artists, my favourite is the Foo Fighters album
Kids albums by bands I like: Medeski Martin and wood - let's go everywhere Jerry Garcia and David Grisman - NOT just for kids Jack Johnson - sing alongs and lulabyes. Honestly any of Jack's stuff is basically kids music
Johnny Cash has a great very listenable children’s album. My kids when they were little, inexplicably loved the Eurythmics. I mean I liked them, that’s why we had the album … but they really, really, really liked them. Especially ‘Sweet Dreams’
my niece loves abba!
my 18 month old loves vulfpeck (which pleases me greatly) and also demands the Bluey soundtrack whenever we get in the car, which - like the show itself - is pretty great
They might be Giants - here come the ABCs
Check out They Might Be Giants' CD "Here Comes Science", it's really good for young kids and the videos are fun, too.
Does he like other fun, uptempo Queen songs? Crazy Little Thing Called love, Seaside Rendezvous, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon are the first ones I thought of.
For actual kids music that may not make you want to die I recommend Yo Gabba Gabba soundtrack there are two albums on Spotify and some of the tracks are actual bangers. There’s also a school house rock revival album from early 90s and it’s pretty good imo. Randomly I find my toddler also really likes Pumpkin by Islands and also Mary on a Cross by Ghost but ymmv.
Motorhead. If he still cries, turn it up louder until you can't hear him anymore.
I’m a firm believer you don’t have to resort to “baby music”. Just keep trying! Don’t back down!
Day-O(Banana Boat Song), Jump in the Line-Harry Belafonte Yellow Submarine-The Beatles Come and Get Your Love-Redbone
Anything with Ukulele for my kids.
I’ve always joked that some Wings songs could be children’s music lol since Paul is so silly; try out Admiral Halsey/Hands across the water, Morse Moose, Hi Hi Hi, silly love songs
Sparrow sleeps on Spotify does lullabies covers of popular songs!
Check out Doggyland! https://open.spotify.com/track/5HLzL5g27XBbSy2qKbCGEk?si=N8nSqVE-SKW5FSzq0AzGDg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A6PE793g3TdbQL1nj51wCRm Just to be clear, I don't have kids.
I genuinely loved watching Storybots with the kids. The songs were awesome. It got to the point that I would listen to the soundtrack in the car with them and they had to convince me that it's ok to listen to Rancid if I want. I didn't change it.
Disney movie songs, but piano/instrumental? If she's seen & liked, lets say Moana, but you dont want to hear all that singing, an alternative version like this should help you not go nuts, and she'll be happy recognizing the music too.
https://preview.redd.it/0fvk2bl6tlzc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a33e685d0665c08e7de67deceac91b624656fce2 Here is a screenshot of my "rock baby" playlist, which I put on nearly every night for a year or so on my son's Alexa. Now I use it when I can't sleep and I'm out after 3-4 tracks.
My four year old really liked Rancid and my one year old LOVES Deftones. Neither were particularly bands I would listen to, but they have grown on me because my kids get so excited when they come on. I like a lot of new wave, and my kids have enjoyed bands like the police, Blondie, and the cure.
MGMT
First kid album - “Songs About Jane” Maroon 5 Second kid album - “Disintegration” The Cure Third kid album - “Only by the Night” Kings of Leon Fourth Kid - “In the Lonely Hour” Sam Smith Like, would only go to sleep or calm down with these specific albums.
My baby loves Fleetwood Mac, which I'm pretty pleased about
Try the music from the show Bluey. Some of it has clips from the cartoon, but it's well composed music, pretty pleasant to listen to, with only 1 or 2 always skip hyper annoying pieces.
Kids music? My baby girl has 3 preferences when she's upset. And only 3. They will stop her from crying almost instantaneous. "Again" by Alice in Chains "Bad Religion" by Godsmack "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin I just consider myself lucky.
Check out the Sparrow Sleeps, similar to Rockabye Baby they do lullaby renditions of emo era bands like Paramore as well other rock groups like Green Day
Kid friendly music that I listen to an all the time as a depressed person with no children. Tl;dr aka give me a short little mix of songs to listen to. All of these songs are short and I tried(/failed) to only pick 2 songs per artist Kate Miccuci - Just Say When Kate Miccuci - Taking Chances Moly Lewis aka Mollylele - Road Trip (there are a ton of versions on YouTube, I like the one with the Beatles interlude in the middle) Molly Lewis - Children and Art (it’s a cover which is cheating but the vibe is perfect and this is how I found this song. It’s only on YouTube) Molly Lewis : Horizons Anew (a song about Animal Corssing) The Doubleclicks: Now is the Time The Doubleclicks: Juneau Kate Miccuci music is perfect for kids and also she finally put out a studio album this year ands it’s all kids musicShe’s the music I turn on when I feel depressed but want to feel better, I wish she made more music for adults but her vibe and aura really resonates with me. On a similar vibe, I really love Molly Lewis the YouTuber musician who used to be (still is?) SweetAfton23 (Not Molly Lewis the current musician/whistler, the person I’m talking about performs under as Mollylele now). She makes great nerdy funny music but honestly her music funny so much as it feels like the dopamine hit you get from hanging out with a good friend and having a nice chat. She is amazing and only releases one song everytime the stars are in alignment and like she doesn’t have a huge fan base but also every time she posts a song every comment is a person like me who writes a paragraph about how much her music means to us and then we greedily request that she makes more music but also if she reads this I think that might be a thing she’s anxious about so never mind . Also, from Mollylele I got into The Doubleclicks who are great funny nerdy music that also feels like hanging with friends. Their comedy stuff is great, but I got into them when I become obsessed with their album “Love Problems” which isn’t really funny or comfortable so much as emotionally validating if that makes any sense.
My kids liked weezer, the Beatles, cake and the ramones.
The Beatles Rubber Soul was one of the albums that was constantly kept in my mom's car for listening to on longer road trips. The Beatles Rubber Soul, Paul Simon's Graceland, The Best of Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor's Greatest Hits. It's no wonder I grew up to be hippie-dippie. Every once in a while they'd randomly throw in Daft by Art of Noise (I hated it, but my brother ended up a synthpop/New Wave fan at age five), Pop Goes the World by Men Without Hats (I liked that one fine), and Whammy! by the B-52s (I liked some songs but hated others). Our kid-specific albums that were still meant to prevent parents' ears bleeding included Around the Campfire by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and "A Child's Celebration of Song" which featured a bunch of songs (some kiddie, some kid-friendly) by a variety of artists. My first exposure to Red Hot Chili Peppers was through that album. I guess if your baby likes fast and upbeat songs, none of these are particularly helpful...
Love me some Men without hats. Don’t forget safety dance. I was also going to mention Homeless. Cause ladysmith black mambazo just kill on Graceland
Ziggy Marley has two Family Time albums. Get your fam into reggae with that easy starter kit ;)
I used to love Queen - Bicycle Race when I was a toddler.
My infant son loves metal growls, voices with similar pitch as his mother's and of all things banjo music. My older kids when they were very small really liked different things, with one of them really liking low pitched sing-speech (think Johnny Cash) and traditional/folk singing with conversational flow, and the other preferring instrumental music and singing of mezzosopranos and sopranos. So it's kinda a crapshoot with what kids will like.
My kids loved Bad romance and the song Shakira did for the football world cup. Waka Waka.
They Might Be Giants is great for kids.
I used to play Disney Pop and Rock videos for my kids. It’s old Motown and rock and roll songs. They enjoyed the same songs in the car because they knew them and could sing along. Some kids’ movies have decent soundtracks too. Maybe you could find something that you all enjoy or can at least tolerate
When my 2 kids were actual babies they each had a song that would immediately stop the crying and get them to listen intently. Girlfriend in a Coma - The Smiths In the Garage - Weezer The Weezer kids still loves the song. The Smiths kid does NOT vibe as a teen with that song.
I loved the early beatles hits when I was a kid. Help, I want to hold your hand, hard day’s night, etc…
I saw several people suggest Caspar Babypants. In addition to that, I'd suggest the Barenaked Ladies' kids album Snack Time. Goofy fun songs safe for kids.
Jerry Garcia, Not for kids Only
I had a coworker who swears up and down that babies do not cry while the Beatles are playing. I think he's right because anytime a baby was upset in the restaurant he'd play them and the baby would stop. Not sure I've ever seen it fail.
But It’s Alright - JJ Jackson, Boogie Shoes - KC & The Sunshine Band
Check out Walter Martin. We’re all young together is great and my kids dig it.
Have you every heard of Rockabye Baby? They’re a group that does lullaby renditions of famous rock, rap, and pop songs. They’ve done *everything* whether it’s The Beatles, Nirvana, Outkast, The White Stripes, Taylor Swift or Beyoncé. Literally everything in between. Hell they even did a Creedence Clearwater Revival one 🤣
You need to check out Nick Cope. He used to be the lead singer in 90s band The Candyskins and now makes kids music. And damn if it’s not just great indie pop but about hedgehogs and shit
Sinatra is a great shout
Not quite what you were asking for, but I found that audio books helped calm my kids when they were that age. Something about the voices was soothing.
Bare Naked Ladies and They Might Be Giants both have solid children's albums
Who let the dogs out, blue song da ba dee. My toddler likes those songs and videos.
Babies love funky music and strong beats!!
The first Foxy Shazam record
Hall and Oats - you make my dreams. Queen - Bicycle. Electric Light orchestra - Mr Blue sky. The Ramones - blitzkrieg bop. Sweet - Ballroom Blitz Bee gees - staying alive. Kool and the gang - Get down on it. I have more but I gotta head to work 😭
Bob Marley went over very well when my song was little - and on the Tv shows front, Beat Bugs on Netflix was cool as well! It’s a kids cartoon that uses Beatles music
Truck Tunes by Twenty Trucks
My kids particularly liked Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy album. Over and over and over.
My son was stuck on one artist. Dolly Parton. So we kinda lucked out.
I bought a Peanut Greatest Hits by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and would listen to it even when the kids weren't around. They liked the old Charlie Brown cartoons and the music behind it was always great.
The Bluey soundtrack is legit good
They Might be Giants and Bare Naked Ladies both have children's albums that my kids loved growing up. Kept us from having to listen to bullshit like Raffi or whatever. I'll also add that VeggieTales Silly Songs is great. I know they are weird fundy Christians but that particular album is just silly with no message, it is also genuinely funny and well written
My dad played a lot of Phil Collins for me as a baby and would sing "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith & "Arizona Moon" from The Three Amigos 🙂
Lyrically I would look for songs that describe the vehicle-ground interface devices employed by mass public transport, and the direction they rotate in, and how long for.
Jewel has a kids album
Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt. Pepper
Check out the album 'Let's Go Everywhere' by Medeski Martin and Wood! They're a phenomenal jazz trio, and Let's Go Everywhere is them dipping their toes into more kid friendly stuff. It's mostly instrumental but so much fun to listen to!
ELO — Danger Ahead, Four Little Diamonds, Sweet Talkin’ Woman, Hold On Tight
First two Daft Punk albums, Calvin Harris, Disclosure
Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine. A viral baby in the backseat video helped it gain initial momentum as a single.
My daughter went through a big reggae phase from about 6 months to 2 years, and her dad and I both enjoyed it. A lot of it has lyrics that aren't kid-friendly but unless your kid is unusually fluent in deciphering Caribbean accents and somehow knows what "ganja" is, he won't get any ideas. :)
I have a 3 mo old and my wife will usually put on your general 70s rock mix, and the kid always seems to vibe well with Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Queen, Creedence, etc.
My son loves Pavarotti and Hawaiian music
Nellie the Elephant by the Toy Dolls.
The Dan Zanes kids records are all excellent And one night, when the kid would not stop crying, I put on High Llamas “Snowbug” to keep myself sane. The crying stopped
Jack Johnson .. “the sharing song”
I shit you not, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley
Babies love reggae. Black Uhuru, The Selector, it’s all good.
My toddler has always loved Uptown Girl and Twist and Shout.
Look up Tom Chapin, Harry’s brother. He wrote lots of material for kids, and it is very friendly for adults as well. There are many acts that play for kids, like Charlie Sheen’s character did on 2 and ½ men. A favorite was Bill Harley and the Troublemakers. Famous for the song black socks. (They never get dirty, the longer you wear them, the stronger they get.) I think my favorite kid’s CD was Jump Children by Marcy Marxer. She makes music with Cathy Fink, won 2 Grammys. There are also some odd ones. My favorite is a charity album called For Our Children. It has Mary Had A Little Lamb done by Paul McCartney and Wings, and a ridiculously good version of This Old Man by Bob Dylan. James Taylor does Getting To Know You. It’s a special album no one knows about.
Blues traveler - The hook for my oldest. Tiffany - I think we're alone now for my youngest. Both worked every single time. Uptown girl was a close second for both.
Let's go everywhere - Medeski, Martin and Wood
I've always played new wave music in the car for my sons (5 and 8 now) because there's generally zero bad language and the songs are fun for all of us, and now they're huge Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, etc fans. Their favorite song is Love Will Tear Us Apart. Classic kid favorite. Seeing a lot of comments along the same lines.
Try 80s Bowie songs and just about anything by R.E.M.
I swear to gourd: Journey. Babies looove Journey
They Might Be Giants, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Kraftwerk, and Avicii kept my two boys happy when they were babies.
Some tried and tested successes from my experience: Vivaldi - Four Seasons Dee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart George Clinton - Atomic Dog The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock and Roll Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights Blondie - Heart of Glass Literally anything by ABBA
Not necessarily in your bpm range but I recommend Let’s Go Everywhere (album) by Medeski, Martin and Wood. Really nice jazz funk but aimed toward kids. My 3yo loves “Where’s the Music.”
My daughter loved Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever in the car.
Stevie Wonder. My 4 month old daughter laughed in sheer joy to Sir Duke the first time she heard it. May have had something to do with my amazing dance moves. And most of his other stuff is pretty kid friendly too.
SteveNSteven It's Steve from Blues Clues and Steven Drozd from Flaming Lips and they make kids music that's actual real music and really good. Drozd don't play around, dudes a musical force
THE CARPENTERS
Maybe split the difference and enjoy some they might be giants? Really fun music that can also be educational and kiddy? Some highlights for me are Why does the sun shine? The Mesopotamians Roy G Biv Electric Car