Great old-school kids' album... nice arrangements, ear-catching melodies. "Home" could be a song Paul Simon forgot to record! And check out the Sublime/Sugar Ray-like "Favorite Son (Every Day)" ... oughta be on a kids' show or movie soundtrack.

 

What do you think about when you listen to this music video? I thought, "I'm sure going to miss when my kids outgrow children's music." That's Home, by David Tobocman. He doesn't know it yet, but he just launched a long and prestigious career writing and performing children's music. Up until now it appears he's been wasting his life composing music for films, and before that, TV shows, and before that, producing records. Having an 18-month and almost 4-year-old daughter has torqued his brain just so. His first CD, "I Count to Ten" and Other Very Helpful Songs, is worth a serious look.

 

(video) Tobocman's a southern California musician, and "Home" reminds me of nothing so much as the wistful songs on the soundtracks from another southern California musician, Randy Newman. The illustrations of Valerie Walsh make an excellent match. It's a great little video.

 

(album) Many CDs attempt to impart lessons to kids -- I know, I've heard a lot of them -- but very few do so in a totally appealing musical manner. This CD easily makes that small but distinguished list.... The songs are, for the most part, solid -- they're great melodies backed up by well-crafted instrumentation. And more than half a year after I first heard it, I'm still moved by "Home," easily one of the top kids music tracks of the year... David Tobocman's I Count to Ten and other Very Helpful Songs is a solid little album... Recommended.

 

“Home” is an incredibly touching song that makes me want to immediately run over and kiss my wife, hug my kids, pet my cat, not yell quite so much at my fish, and otherwise be extra grateful for the home and love that I feel blessed to have in my life.... the song is so heartwarming that it’s almost heartburning, and the beautiful video created for it, with pictures by Valerie Walsh just takes it over the top into heartmelting territory... Thankfully, the rest of David’s album is really great too...

 

David has blown the lid off of the steroetype of so-called "helpful" children's music with this album... The jazz element in children's music has been done many times, as well as the the idea of teaching elementary tasks through music, but David created a combination style that brings a new element of excitement to watching your children learn these concepts, because they'll learn to love music at the same time... Appeal to children? Definitely! My two children (ages 2 1/2 and 1) both danced along with me, and my son even kept the beat. The older one was also able to count along with the number song, and as I said above, picked up key words in other songs like, "brush," "jammies," "love," and more. Appeal to parents? Positively easy on the ears. Some songs are even enjoyable to listen to when not catering to my children!

 

K-Man loves this CD. From the very first song, “I Count to Ten,” K-Man quite literally rocked out in his car seat... The ultimate test? G actually leaned over and turned up the volume on “Favorite Son.” And, my wife isn’t some kind of music pushover. The fact that she wanted to “turn it up,” well, it speaks volumes (pun intended)... David Tobocman is clearly a talented musician who can write a variety of styles of music. I hope that someday we’ll be listening to David Tobocman’s fifth or sixth CD.