Search - Barry Louis Polisar :: Naughty Songs for Boys and Girls

Barry Louis Polisar, little kids' answer to Adam Sandler, clearly was on the receiving end of some flak around the time he recorded 1978's Naughty Songs for Boys & Girls. "I've had to listen to my share of adults who are concerned that I might be giving children bad ideas," he writes in the CD liner notes, but "if my songs were acceptable to absolutely everyone, I wouldn't feel as if I was doing anything worth noting." That said, and rebel spirit intact, Polisar pelts his listeners with a perfectly polished batch of wacky, imagination-stretching, roundly hilarious songs suitable to any parent/child team willing to poke fun at itself. Included are the perfectly reasonable "Don't Put Your Finger up Your Nose" (which carries the equally logical lyric, "Don't stick your finger in your ear / 'Cause then your ear will find it hard to hear"), "Never Cook Your Sister in a Frying Pan," and "You Can't Say Psbpsbpsb on the Radio"--"psbpsbpsb" being the equivalent of a raspberry. There's also a smidgen--thankfully not an overdose--of sweet fare on this disc, in the form of "With a Giggle and a Hug and a Tickle and a Kiss" and "You're as Sweet as Sugar on a Stick." There's only one track on Naughty Songs conceivably capable of inciting young listeners to rebellion, and that's the exceptional last tune, the anthem "Marching Shoulder to Shoulder," featuring the fictitious Front for Kids' Liberation, led by Polisar. "One, two, three, four / Lower the doorknobs on the doors! / Five, six, seven, eight / Don't eat the dinner on your plate!" demand the Front's members. After spinning this disc in its entirety, one gets the sense that there's probably no better advocate for those under three feet. By refusing to make nice on his records and instead zooming in on the not so warm-and-fuzzy aspects of kids' lives, he gives them oft-overlooked props. That he's so funny is the kicker that ought to convince more folks to give him a listen. --Tammy La Gorce