"Happy Holidays" from Rocknoceros

Late last season our friends at Waldmania sent a CD from Rocknoceros titled "Happy Holidays".   Rocknoceros is a three-man band: Coach Cotton, Williebob, and Boogie Woogie Bennie.  The trio hails from the Washington D.C. area, and is a family-friendly, kid-focused group that combines music with a little bit of learnin' and a whole lot of fun.  Think They Might Be Giants doing kid music all the time (instead of just part of the time).

"Happy Holidays" takes on the plural form as it indeed spans the holiday season, from Halloween through Thanksgiving and Hannukah, spending some extra time at Christmas before ending with a Happy New Year.  "Halloween Masquerade" kicks off the album, a whimsical minor-key song about spooks and goblins and bags of candy, all in the name of Halloween dress-up and fun times.  "This Thanksgiving" conjures up memories of food and family at Grandma's house.  "The Dreidel Song" adds some new and unexpected dimensions to the classic tune we all know and love.  Christmas gets a 5 song treatment, including "Snow Day" about the joys of, well, a snow day, and "Wenceslas", a retelling of one of my favorite Christmas songs with modernized lyrics and a first-person point of view through most of the song.  It's a wonderful adaptation of the classic that makes the essence of the story much more understandable to the younguns.  Wrapping up the album is "Auld Lang Syne (Enjoy Yourself)", an uplifting message in song encouraging us to keep things in perspective, especially as the year turns over, and make sure we enjoy ourselves and our friends and family.  It's a very positive and happy conclusion to the record, and an important one at that.  Enjoy yourself!

"Happy Holidays" is a joyful, upbeat, and chock-full-of-fun record.  I love what Rocknoceros has done with their original songs and their re-molding of Christmas classics.  I don't know how the kids' music market works these days, but if I had had this album when I was growing up in the late '60s (a vinyl LP for my little blue record player) I would have played it all year round.  It has just the right spirit and energy for the kids, and it's fun for adults too.

If there are kids in the family, you should check out Rocknoceros' "Happy Holidays".  Maybe as a pre-holiday gift. Someone have a September or October birthday?  It's a perfect present!

And kudos to Waldmania PR, too.  I love their approach to their market and their focus on kids entertainment.  All of their offerings that have come my way have been very high quality, with focus on talent, creativity, and all-around good entertainment.

"Happy Holidays" Amazon link
Rocknoceros website

Septembrrrr!

I'd love for it to actually be Septembrrrr! weather, but the truth is that it was in the mid-80s today here in Kansas City, and the 7-day forecast is for all highs in mid-80s and lows in low 60s.  I'm ready for the 40s and below.  Just call me Snow Miser.  (Go ahead - many others already have).

September does bring about the awakening of the blog and blog-related activities.  Der Bingle has been busy in the off-season, and I have already been working on many things for all of you faithful readers.

Like what, you say?

Well, I have almost all the principle ripping done for this year's shares, with only one album left to rip and just one other set of audio files to process.  Way ahead of schedule on that front.  Then there is the cover art scanning and stitching, the file zipping and uploading, and then everything will be ready to share.  Interesting stuff this year, folks, with a story behind it all, too.

What else?  I'm working on some artist interviews and/or mini Q&As.  I have one new album submission sent to me this year already, and a couple leftover from last year.  Hopefully (as always) I'll keep up with what is coming in.  I may have some art of a different kind to share out, too, as I'm always branching out to the new shiny Christmas object that catches my eye.

Assuming I can keep up the pace, I have lots of stuff for you all this year, and some of it will start pretty early in the season.  So, please check in early and often so you don't miss out!

Fall begins in just a few days, and the blog posts soon after.  Stay tuned!