After strapping the boy into his car seat, I got in myself and checked to see if the next song on the iPod was inappropriate. “Son, would you like to hear a really good song?”
“Yeah!”
“It’s Earth, Wind & Fire, and it’s really funky.”
Pressed play and watched his face as “Shining Star” started to play way too loud.
Preston sat, listened, judged, pronounced: “It’s not funky enough.”
I’ve never been so proud. Still, that’s as funky as it’s going to get until he’s old enough for George Clinton. What’s that, about five?
There’s plenty of kid-appropriate P-Funk. Most of the drug references will go right over his head, and some of the sex references just might go over yours. From 3-9 or 10 I wouldn’t hesitate to play anything off of Mothership Connection (except maybe “Handcuffs”) or Motor Booty Affair. (I don’t think a line like “You may want to rent a blow-hole” are going to cause uncomfortable questions from anyone younger than 11 or so.)
There’s also Bootsy Collins’ solo work – he’s got several songs I think kids would like.
A five-year-old would appreciate P-Funk album cover art and Clinton’s frequent references to “doo-doo!”
My son isn’t yet 3 and can sing “Stayin’ Alive”.
Do we want to really turn this into a competition?