Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Got a Dime in My Pocket



I'm so old school, you guys.  Sometimes, I just have to laugh at myself.  For instance, I still have a tape player.  Yes.  Yes, I do...and a number of tapes that I play whenever I get a chance and which I never plan to get rid of.  Like this one:


Do any of you remember this tape or any of the songs on it?

Last year, when I was raving about Justin Cash's CD, I also received another at the same time called "Scripture Power."  It's a collection of dance versions of old and new Primary songs. 

When I first heard it, I wasn't a huge fan, because of the techno beat on some of the songs.  But over time, I started to give the CD a chance and I've really warmed up to it.  In fact, it's one of my favorites now to jam along to with the kids.

What happened was, Guy kept asking me to buy him some Kidz Bop music that he's heard on the bus.  I said I'd think about it...Then one day I gave a listen to some Kids Bop songs to make a decision and I realized that I didn't like even the Kidz Bop version of popular music...mainly because it didn't bring a good feeling into our home...but also, and more importantly, because I felt letting my kids fall in love with the "kid version" of a song which contains "adult content" is only tricking them.  What happens when they hear their favorite songs in the adult world?  They really won't know to turn it off, because I've played the song so many times in our home.

I honestly believe that children are unfairly targeted by the adult world, in tv, movies, and music.  As they innocently watch or listen to these things, they unknowingly walk into a very adult world that they are too young to navigate on their own just yet.  I never did tell you guys about the time that I was folding laundry in my room and a song came on the radio that was so pornographic...I was immediately shocked and embarrassed and angry.  Angry because I knew that the lyrics were chosen to sound innocent but to be alluring to children.  

Anyway, so lately I've been on a little bit of a personal mission to find good, enjoyable music that my children can listen to in our home.  I don't want them to miss out on the joy of all sorts of music, just because our world has lost their appetite for what is truly beautiful and good!

So, I went back to this CD and gave it a listen, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the songs are the same ones that appeared on this old tape of mine...and they kept them nice and sweet and pretty as the originals (songs like "I've Got a Dime in My Pocket" and "I Want to Be a Mother").  Even the ones that are "techno-ish" (like the anthem "Scripture Power") still ring true with their testimony-building Primary lyrics.  I love hearing Autumn walking around the house singing "God gave us families...to help us become what he wants us to be," "Saturday is a special day," and "I'll follow him in faith."

So to further the cause of giving children good music, I'm giving a Scripture Power CD to one lucky reader today.

To enter...Just leave me a happy little, funny little, whatever COMMENT ON THIS POST.

(You could even give me your best CD suggestions...that would be cool too.)

That's all.

Good luck.  And have a great day.


PS - You can give the CD a listen here...that oughtta perk you right up!

73 comments:

  1. I LOVED that old cassette tape. I saved it too, for many years (actually I think I still have it, but it doesn't play anymore)My favorite songs were "I Want to be a Mother" and "I'm a Mormon" I had another song but I don't remember the tape it was from, the song was "My Teacher Told Me I Should Never Tell a Lie." My oldest son would sing it at the top of his lungs. It was so great! Thanks for all of your posts, you are an amazing example of the moms we should all be. Have a WONDERFUL Day!!
    Shelly

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  2. Yay!! I have the original Popcorn Bopping CD & love to hear my kids jamming about wanting to go on missions & walking with the pioneers. But some of the songs are so sweet & still very spiritual. Love it! I want the Scripture Power CD now too!

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  3. Oh my goodness, those songs bring back memories! :) Love those songs!
    We are about to get rid of our tape player & it makes me sad! I'll have to track down some of the songs & download them I think! :)

    My husband & I just got released & called to new callings- we're team teaching a primary class :) I would love to win some updated children's music to listen to (for our calling, and for our kids! :)

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  4. Looks great. My kids love to sing primary songs and I love to hear it. For our secular picks, we love Laurie Berkner.

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    1. We love Laurie Berkner...as well as Keller Williams Kids...be careful though...one of my kids' favorite songs of his is called "Mama Tooted!" They just LOOOOOVE that one! ha ha!

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  5. My kids love to listen to Veggie Tales. I'm so old school that we just recently got a van with a cd player! So, I'd love a CD for us to all listen to! I always make a cd of the current years primary songs and my kids listen to that as they are falling asleep at night. I still have a tape player too :)

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    1. My van had a tape player until about a year or so ago when it died...so we "upgraded" to just a cd player! :)

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  6. I love I'm A Mormon. I would love to win the cd, too. I started following your blog last year and I love it!

    My friend gave me a CD once for my 5 year old when he was born about attitude and determination and such. I wish I could remember what it was called. We listened so much the cd ended up breaking. If I find the name I will let you know. they were great catchy songs!

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  7. Still listen to my "I am Trying to Be Like Jesus" tape. And I still have a tape player as well!

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  8. When I was little we had a tape of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing primary songs, and my favorite was the Popcorn Popping song. I loved the big, operatic voices singing my popcorn song. :) We'd love some new fun music at our house! justwhitingontheblog www.stevenwhitney.blogspot.com

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  9. I was sad the day my cassette player bit the dust. They're next to impossible to find anymore, so we have a drawer full of cassettes and nothing to play them on. :( It is so hard to tread the fine line between enjoying popular music and keeping it "good", especially as my kids get older.

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    1. I'll tell you where to find one easily...the church library!!! :)

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  10. We had that probelm with a Sesame Street version of a Jason Mraz song "Let's Go Outdoors" (instead of I'm Yours). The kids get so excited if it comes on the radio and then we are all disappointed. :(

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    1. Yeah that's tough! We definitely like popular music...as long as it's clean. Even I have a hard time changing the station when a song comes on that I know we all don't really need to hear!!! Old habits die hard. Music is powerful which is why I want to be careful as I help them decide what to listen to! But we still want to have fun with music for sure!

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  11. My parents had I Am A Mormon record. Except our record player never worked so i don't know those songs. I did grow up loving My Turn On Earth. I would love to have something for my kids to listen to because you are right, music now days is not appropriate for kids.

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    1. Records!!! Rule. And we have a cd copy of a vhs version of a play of MTOE...my kids love it...as grainy as it looks and sounds!

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  12. My parents had I Am A Mormon record. Except our record player never worked so i don't know those songs. I did grow up loving My Turn On Earth. I would love to have something for my kids to listen to because you are right, music now days is not appropriate for kids.

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  13. I also love scripture scouts, as well as Wee sing. A few years ago, I borrowed Wee Sing around the campfire (also a casette tape)from a friend, for a long road trip. It got stuck in my tape player and stopped working, and I couldn't get it out. That was one of my favorites ever! Kid folk music that didn't get old after the first listen through the tape. I think we listened to it over again and again for three hours, and then turned it off to have naps and enjoy silence. Actually, I think I'm gonna see if I can find it used....

    Also, I just discovered the Piano Guys, and requested the CD for Christmas. My entire family LOVES it! They also have some really fun videos on you tube.

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    1. I loved the Piano Guys cover of Coldplay's Paradise done with Alex Boye but I haven't gotten into any of their other songs...can you recommend your favorite songs?

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  14. We have the popcorn bopping cd and my kids enjoy it. I loved my brite music tapes as a child, and played them for my kids until a few years ago when my casette payer died. The one you are holding in your hand is my particular favorite. I would love to introduce them to my younger kids! If I don't win I might just have to go buy the cd anyway!

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    1. I have all of the standing tall tapes that my mom dubbed up from tapes to cds...they are way over-modulated. I'd love to get some of those although they look super expensive on their website!

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  15. I LOVE that tape! I grew up with it and even found the cd on janeen Brady's website for my kids. I would lve this cd! Thank you so much for the chance to win! I'm with you too, I love bringing "good" music in our home!

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  16. I'm pretty sure "I am a Mormon" is floating around here somewhere...give me just a minute to find it. I've enjoyed reading what others like to listen to. And thanks for the chance to win some new music!

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  17. Such fond memories of that "I'm a Mormon" tape! I even have the sheet music for those songs and it feels good to play them every once in a while.

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  18. We have all the Brite Music CDs and love them! I need to pull them out again, thanks for the reminder! And thanks for the giveaway! I know my kids would love that CD! baynrecky at gmail dot com

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  19. We also love scripture scouts and Wee Sing, we have the Christmas one, the Halloween one, and the patriotic one. The Lauriie Bernkner band is another favorite - it's not LDS music but its fun, upbeat and aimed at kids so the lyrics are appropriate (and often silly). Thanks for the giveaway! I totally agree with you about kids bop!

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    1. Are those the same ones that are available at Walmart?

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  21. Haha, I've been helping Mariel out with some blog stuff and so my comment was posted as her - sorry! I'm sure she'd love to be in the giveaway as well. Here is my original comment:

    Thanks for the giveaway! If I don't win, then the CD will be a birthday gift for one of my kiddos. I'm always looking for good music for my children as well. I love the CD by Elizabeth Mitchell, You are My Little Bird.

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    1. That's ok...I know how you are...trying to double-dip and all! :) Thanks for the Elizabeth Mitchell suggestion...I'll check her out!

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  22. We had the same I'm a Mormon tape when I was growing up! My parents had made a trip to the Washington D.C. temple from our farm in Wisconsin. (That was our temple at the time, several years before the Chicago temple was built) and brought home this tape, along with a huge picture of the temple. Living in such a remote area in the church, we had never heard anything like this music before. We only had the hymns and Sing With Me music book, and I was amazed these other songs even existed! Such fun memories, traveling to church and back learning and singing "I'm a Mormon, yes I am..."

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    1. The DC temple was also our temple growing up but we didn't live nearly as far away...(cleveland)...It was so cool to see what mom and dad came home with! When I was in college I went to a non-church school in Ohio. There were very few saints there and every sunday this friend of mine would drive all over picking up the Mormon kids and taking us all to church. She had a mix cd of her favorite church and seminary songs. It always brought the spirit for us driving in her car. Memories!

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  23. I also have several old LDS tapes that I love. We are slowly converting them to mp3's so I can put them on my IPOD. There isn't enough good music for children! I agree that things like Kids Bop are meant to lure our kids away from righteousness. It's so sad!

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  24. We still have a tape player and a VHS player :) I really want to cultivate a love for music in my children. Thank you for standing up for higher standards...what you said about using the 'kids version' really rang true for me. We would love this CD!

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  25. Hello! It's tricky to locate these Janeen Brady songs, but it can be done. On her britemusic.com website she's got her two albums "I'm a Mormon" and "Young Mormons Sing" combined on an MP3 download called "Beloved Songs" http://www.britemusic.com/beloved-songs-mp3. Or the same music is available on CD on the same title, same site.

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  26. We don't listen to much music in our home for the same reasons you listed (except at Christmas when Christmas music plays 24/7). My kids love music and to dance, but it's always challenging to sort through the bad to find the good. Please share any other suggestions you may have!

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  27. I've been thinking about the music we play in our home a lot lately. It is SO HARD to find any clean music that is still fun and maybe has a good beat. I want to find fun music to clean or boogie to with the kids but I'm always dismayed by the lyrics.
    I still have a tape player too. I have an old CD of young women songs I still love so sing along to. ( :
    I really like Mindy Gledhill's CD- Anchor. I wish I had more suggestions but I'm having trouble finding anything good myself.

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    1. We love Keller Williams Kids...and They Might Be Giants (Here Come the 1, 2, 3's)...Both are kid and adult friendly I think, but sometimes you aren't really in the mood to listen to "kid music" ya know? Which is why I sort of go back a few generations in search of feel-good music that pleases both of us...still is tough!

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  28. Voice Male is awesome and we have their children's CD called "Kid Stuff." Our kids love it, even our teenagers will listen to it. Fun, clean and a mix of church and fun music.

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    1. I"m not sure that I've sampled any Voice Male...but I will now! Thanks!

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  29. have you heard of InsideOut? LDS group. They spruce up primary songs and it's SO fun. It's also only voices- not instruments. Check out there CD; Primary Colors. Also a group called "Voice Male" who were at USU, have quite a bit of music out there. Deseret Book used to sell them. Also voices only and all clean songs because they are also LDS. You'll love it all! http://www.voicemalemusic.com/
    http://www.insideout-acappella.com/

    I believe Janene Brady has all her music on CD's now.

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    1. We love InsideOut...a friend told me about them a few years ago. Our favorite is probably the PB & Jelly song...and Primary Jamboree always makes me tear up for some reason...even though it's a super fun and upbeat song. It just makes me happy thinking about Primary...happy that there is still one safe place on earth where children can learn truth and be loved...but sad at the same time that for some children that is the last safe place for them...

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    2. Ditto...we love them too!!

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  30. I've been listening to the tape of I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus by Janice Kapp Perry and find I love the bold gospel messages of the songs. I also review a lot of indie kids music on my blog. There are some great musicians out there trying to provide wholesome lyrics with catchy music. Some of my favorites are Bari Koral and Vered (we listen to "Good Morning, My Love" every morning to wake up for school), Ben Rudnick and Friends and Milkshake.

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    1. Those are a lot of names I haven't heard of, thank you! It looks like you certainly do review a lot of music...I check out your blog! Good stuff, thanks!

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  31. I love that CD! For non-church, but awesome uplifting kids songs, we love love LOVE Sandra Boynton. She has three CD's and we love Dog Train and Philidephia Chickens. We also love the Piano Guys.

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    1. We love her books, but have none of her CDs, thank you!

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  32. I would love to listen to it! Thanks

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  33. My kids LOVE Alexandar's Amazing Adventures from the Eyre's, check it out at this link: http://www.valuesparenting.com/values/ I think this Scripture Power CD would be awesome! Thanks for sharing!

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  34. Glad to hear I am know not the only mom out there with this struggle and still using a tape player ;)

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  35. I was just singing, "When I grow up, I want to be a Mother!" to my kids yesterday. I guess I haven't sung it before because they looked at me funny. My sweet 11 year old wrote for a school project that she wanted to be a Mother when she grew up. I was so proud of her. I think that song gave me confidence that it was a great choice to be a mother!

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  36. We need to expand our kids music. We listen to the primary songbook cd and lullaby music.

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  37. One of my favorite old school songs was "Norman the Mormon!" Loved those type of songs when I was young! We loved the Popcorn Popping version of that CD too! It's great to have something positive for the kids to listen to!

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  38. Oh my gosh! I know that "Hey, Won't Somebody Come And Play" song! That's the only song on the tape you have that I'm familiar with but I can still sing it. Wow. Blast from the past! I ordered a Brite Music (the Obedience one) a few years ago and Toby and I love it.

    I just discovered this CD I used to listen to in high school. It's the book of Mormon scripture mastery scriptures, set to really catchy tunes. The CD is by Jennifer Wilson. You can get the whole thing on iTunes. Also, the new Lex deAzevedo movie/CD "Articles of Faith with Zack and Zooey" is really, really, really good.

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  39. Sweet! Here's my little note...Jocelyn, if you have not yet heard the Scripture Scouts Cd's/tapes, they are the best!! We LOVE them, love them, even the older kids. In fact, we have lost all the ones we used to have (tapes) and I think I am going to replace them with the CD's ...they are that good! Have a great day!

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  40. We had that tape when I was a kid. We currently have a cd version, but it doesn't have all the same songs on it. I would love to get a copy of that cd. I love to have fun uplifting music to listen to when we're driving around.

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  41. You are so right! I remember my niece going to school and singing "My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard," and my sister being horrified (what parent wouldn't be?). The lyrics are so catchy that nobody even realizes what they are singing. I'm going to order this CD. We need some fun stuff for the car.

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  42. I LOVE the I'm a Mormon tape. I still have the one I had as a kid. It is so worn out that it sounds kind of funny. But, I found a CD version that we have and listen to. It doesn't have all the same songs, but most of them...the ones I really like. I agree, it's hard to find good music for kids to listen too. We mostly stick to primary songs, church music and classical....and some country. ;)
    Emily (familysuds(at)gmail(dot)com

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  43. We stopped listening to the radio a few years ago when my oldest started repeating some pretty horrifying lyrics! We love the Scripture Scouts, the Wee Sing Series (Wee Sing America is our favorite), and the Putamayo Kids and Dreamland collection. Other than that we listen to a lot of Classical music, and church music.

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  44. I would love the CD! I am sure that my kids would like it, but I KNOW I would LOVE it. See I have been trying to workout and read my scriptures in the morning. I like to work out first so I can "wake-up" but I kinda like a jazzy beat to listen to. I have been scouring for uplifting workout songs . . . hard to find! There are plenty that "aren't bad" but just don't put me in the right spirit for scripture study. I mostly listen to EFY stuff, but this would be GREAT!!!

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  45. I love to listen to the Wee Sing and the Classic Disney songs from their movies (can't just say Disney songs anymore lol) I love being able to use a site called Grooveshark to listen to a variety of music of my choice and mixing it up without worrying about what my kids are listening too :)

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  46. Hello it is me your kindred spirit who adores the sound of music as well. I have a new grandaughter coming in April. I would love this CD to give to her Mummy and Daddy so they could start her off listening to postive beautiful words!!!! I am sure they will but this could be a fun addition!!

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  47. We love EFY songs, the Laurie Berkner band, Scripture Scouts, and The Piano Guys around here. Lately I will pull up the Mormon Channel or lds.org/youth/music to listen to as we clean the house. I love having good music that I don't have to worry about!

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  48. Like many others who have commented, we LOVE the EFY cd's. Right now my kids are listening to Scripture Scouts and the CD the Primary gave us at the beginning of the year. We also love the group InsideOut's "Primary Colors"(http://deseretbook.com/Primary-Colors-InsideOut/i/4684486). It's so fun! We have also watched a bunch of the Piano Guys videos with our boys and have most of the music. They aren't all church songs but they are classical and fun!

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  49. John Lithgow's Sunny Side of the Street is a favorite here. I got an iPod for Christmas, and I love that it is easier to pick and choose appropriate songs. One bad song can ruin a whole cd or cassette! We listen to movie soundtracks, too, such as The Hobbit or Brave.

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  50. Joe Scruggs was a favorite of ours. My kids are grown out of these, but the songs are all so fun and creative. Late Last Night is great!

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  51. I LOVED those songs growing up! Maybe I'll have to see if I can find a cd of that music somewhere so that my kids can listen to it too.

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