There is only so much Katy Perry a sane person can take...
June 20, 2015 3:10 PM Subscribe
My high energy 4 year old loves Katy Perry to a degree that my ears can no longer tolerate. Roar, Firework, This Is How We Do are often in heavy rotation around our house and in the car. I'm glad she likes music and I appreciate some of the themes in Katy Perry's music (female strength and independence) but I'd like to interest her in some other music as well.
Her dad and I have tried unsuccessfully to get her interested in the music we listen to with only a minimal amount of success. The girl's soul loves pop. I am not well versed in pop music so am in need of some recommendations. My preference would be music with female-positive lyrics, kicky beats and catchy choruses. Bonus would be music that her parents would like to. For reference we like to listen to The Shins, Black Keys, Metric etc but also listen to a lot of world music.
Thanks for helping my poor, Katy Perry tired soul find a reason to turn on the radio again.
Her dad and I have tried unsuccessfully to get her interested in the music we listen to with only a minimal amount of success. The girl's soul loves pop. I am not well versed in pop music so am in need of some recommendations. My preference would be music with female-positive lyrics, kicky beats and catchy choruses. Bonus would be music that her parents would like to. For reference we like to listen to The Shins, Black Keys, Metric etc but also listen to a lot of world music.
Thanks for helping my poor, Katy Perry tired soul find a reason to turn on the radio again.
Best answer: Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift might work.
posted by terretu at 3:31 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by terretu at 3:31 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My niece liked Pink at a similar age, though the lyrics may not be considered appropriate by some, you can pick & choose songs or find the radio versions of songs if that's a concern for you. She was obsessed with Stupid Girls.
posted by wwax at 3:38 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wwax at 3:38 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: These are all fantastic. We are listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun now and she loves it! Any suggestions about particular Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift songs?
posted by teamnap at 3:44 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by teamnap at 3:44 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I'd say most of the 1989 album by Taylor Swift will work (my 3 and 5 year old daughters love it) but especially "Shake It Off."
posted by katie at 3:49 PM on June 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by katie at 3:49 PM on June 20, 2015 [6 favorites]
Best answer: I adore Christina Perri and Shakira. A Fine Frenzy is also pretty good. And seconding Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. I don't have any small children to give me that perspective, but these are the ones I find on my playlists a lot.
posted by lhauser at 4:02 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by lhauser at 4:02 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: I made sure that my niece owned album/greatest hits by the Go-Gos and B-52s, as far as youth-friendly female-positive pop goes.
posted by rhizome at 4:05 PM on June 20, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 4:05 PM on June 20, 2015 [9 favorites]
Best answer: Taylor Swift - Blank Space, Shake it Off, Welcome to New York (or basically anything from 1989, her most recent and poppiest album)
Lady Gaga - Poker Face, Bad Romance, Just Dance, Paparazzi, Born This Way, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
posted by terretu at 4:10 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lady Gaga - Poker Face, Bad Romance, Just Dance, Paparazzi, Born This Way, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
posted by terretu at 4:10 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: ha, I was going to say TUnE-yArDs too.
Here's some more music your child may like and may drive you crazy:
GANGNAM STYLE (it works for this kid)
CALL ME MAYBE
(obviously she's asking this person to call her for a playdate)
and GET THIS PARTY STARTED
and Beyonce''s classic, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES
another classic: Paula Abdul, STRAIGHT UP
and of course MADONNA! (Express Yourself)
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:15 PM on June 20, 2015
Here's some more music your child may like and may drive you crazy:
GANGNAM STYLE (it works for this kid)
CALL ME MAYBE
(obviously she's asking this person to call her for a playdate)
and GET THIS PARTY STARTED
and Beyonce''s classic, ALL THE SINGLE LADIES
another classic: Paula Abdul, STRAIGHT UP
and of course MADONNA! (Express Yourself)
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:15 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: We are listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun now and she loves it!'
I went through a bit of an 80s kick in high school at the same time I was nannying a little girl whose parents were teenagers in the 80s. We spent a lot of time in the car going back and forth between her various activities, and a few weeks into it her mom pulled me aside when she got home from work and was like, "I found my daughter going through my old cassettes the other day...are you to blame for bringing Bananarama back into my life?"
Cyndi Lauper, The Go-Gos, The Bangles, and Bananarama were all huge wins with her.
posted by phunniemee at 4:39 PM on June 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
I went through a bit of an 80s kick in high school at the same time I was nannying a little girl whose parents were teenagers in the 80s. We spent a lot of time in the car going back and forth between her various activities, and a few weeks into it her mom pulled me aside when she got home from work and was like, "I found my daughter going through my old cassettes the other day...are you to blame for bringing Bananarama back into my life?"
Cyndi Lauper, The Go-Gos, The Bangles, and Bananarama were all huge wins with her.
posted by phunniemee at 4:39 PM on June 20, 2015 [5 favorites]
Best answer: How about Destiny's child - independent women, survivor, etc. Madonna's La Isla Bonita. Some Black Eyed Peas (censored versions of boom boom pow and let's get it started). Bruno Mars uptown funk. Michael Jackson Beat It (I also showed my daughter the Weird AL version, Eat It). Have fun!
posted by leslievictoria at 4:44 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by leslievictoria at 4:44 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This is a great age for Kidz Bop (cleaned-up modern pop hits sung by kids). There's albums, but we listen to it on Pandora.
posted by gnutron at 4:52 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by gnutron at 4:52 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: All the best answers!! She is loving it and I am reliving some of my youth.
posted by teamnap at 4:53 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by teamnap at 4:53 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: Yeah, 80s and early 90s pop is the way to go. I'm continually amazed at how these young artists remind me so much of what I listened to as a kid before they were born. Madonna, the Eurythmics, Janet Jackson, George Michael, TLC, Prince, or really anything from the pop charts circa 1984-1994.
posted by decathecting at 4:54 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by decathecting at 4:54 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: My go-tos for poppy, energetic music I put on when I need to clean the house, and I don't think I've heard a song I don't like:
Jackson 5 (try Gold)
Mika (try Life in Cartoon Motion) (supposedly "Lollipop" is about not falling in love/having sex too fast, but some people think it sounds dirty when they first hear it, just FYI)
posted by spelunkingplato at 5:29 PM on June 20, 2015
Jackson 5 (try Gold)
Mika (try Life in Cartoon Motion) (supposedly "Lollipop" is about not falling in love/having sex too fast, but some people think it sounds dirty when they first hear it, just FYI)
posted by spelunkingplato at 5:29 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: Oh, and you mentioned world music, so you're probably already aware of Putumayo kids. But if you aren't : we love Putumayo kids world playground (accompanied by our toy maracas) , rock and roll playground, or African dreamland for bedtime.
posted by leslievictoria at 5:31 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by leslievictoria at 5:31 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: Hilary Duff's earlier work (it's poppier than her later, grown-up work)
Apparently Britney Spears has yet to come up????
Meghan Trainor, especially All About That Bass and Lips Are Movin'
My kids who also really like upbeat pop also really like up-tempo Motown (plenty of girl groups!) and they loooooove Rockabilly -- it's an older sound, but it's up-tempo, happy, cleanly-structured with simple lyrical schemes. Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, early Elvis, early Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry ... not so many women, Wanda Jackson maybe, but since it was mostly on the radio in the 50s it's all got pretty clean lyrics. Pop changes, but it's still pop!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:32 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Apparently Britney Spears has yet to come up????
Meghan Trainor, especially All About That Bass and Lips Are Movin'
My kids who also really like upbeat pop also really like up-tempo Motown (plenty of girl groups!) and they loooooove Rockabilly -- it's an older sound, but it's up-tempo, happy, cleanly-structured with simple lyrical schemes. Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, early Elvis, early Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry ... not so many women, Wanda Jackson maybe, but since it was mostly on the radio in the 50s it's all got pretty clean lyrics. Pop changes, but it's still pop!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:32 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: You could go further back and try things like The Monkees.
Some They Might BE Giants. Especially Flood, and No!
posted by edgeways at 5:33 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some They Might BE Giants. Especially Flood, and No!
posted by edgeways at 5:33 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Try some Peter, Paul & Mary --- oldies, I know, but my parents raised us on them, my siblings raised their kids on them, and now the next generation of kids are loving that same music. What kid DOESN'T love Puff the Magic Dragon?!?
posted by easily confused at 6:16 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by easily confused at 6:16 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: omg no one has mentioned Janelle Moane yet!
How about some old some old school soul? poppy, danceable, and clean lyrics.
posted by vespabelle at 7:25 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
How about some old some old school soul? poppy, danceable, and clean lyrics.
posted by vespabelle at 7:25 PM on June 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: S club 7, my favourites are Bring it all back and Reach
Also Steps, 4,6,7,8 is fun but you might want to kill me later :-)
posted by kitten magic at 7:34 PM on June 20, 2015
Also Steps, 4,6,7,8 is fun but you might want to kill me later :-)
posted by kitten magic at 7:34 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: Jessica Harper's Rhythm In My Shoes is an album for kids but really fun and intelligent. I didn't mind listening to it over and over again when my kids were that age.
posted by Dragonness at 8:01 PM on June 20, 2015
posted by Dragonness at 8:01 PM on June 20, 2015
Best answer: Blondie
Tina Turner
Whitney Houston
posted by NikitaNikita at 9:35 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Tina Turner
Whitney Houston
posted by NikitaNikita at 9:35 PM on June 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The Pipettes are pretty rad.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:36 AM on June 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Happy Dave at 2:36 AM on June 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: If you you encounter some opposition, perhaps some musicians who she has covered, or musicians that cover her material?
posted by Jack Karaoke at 4:37 AM on June 21, 2015
posted by Jack Karaoke at 4:37 AM on June 21, 2015
Best answer: Hanson, MMMBop
Avril Lavigne, Sk8er Boi and Complicated
ABBA!
And they're closer to the folk side of the spectrum, but maybe try Love You Like a Burrito and This Is My Jam by the Doubleclicks. (Confession of bias: I'm in both those crowdsourced videos.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2015
Avril Lavigne, Sk8er Boi and Complicated
ABBA!
And they're closer to the folk side of the spectrum, but maybe try Love You Like a Burrito and This Is My Jam by the Doubleclicks. (Confession of bias: I'm in both those crowdsourced videos.)
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:34 AM on June 21, 2015
Betty Who is a lot like a better, smarter, and more musically interesting Katy Perry.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:15 AM on June 21, 2015
posted by yellowcandy at 10:15 AM on June 21, 2015
Just though of...
The Blow (mixed bag as far as uptempo, but you could put together a tight playlist) (YT, YT, YT)
posted by Jack Karaoke at 12:42 PM on June 21, 2015
The Blow (mixed bag as far as uptempo, but you could put together a tight playlist) (YT, YT, YT)
posted by Jack Karaoke at 12:42 PM on June 21, 2015
Sleater-Kinney! Especially "You're No Rock and Roll Fun"
posted by WeekendJen at 2:29 PM on June 24, 2015
posted by WeekendJen at 2:29 PM on June 24, 2015
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posted by mochapickle at 3:23 PM on June 20, 2015