Category Archives: New Songs

Grandkid Rock is the latest album by Daddy A Go Go, released on February 28, 2011.  Ok, so technically these are not new songs per se, since they are from previously released Daddy A Go Go CDs, but chances are if you are reading this, they are new to you.   Plus they are all remixed and remastered versions, bonus points.

GRANDKID ROCK TRACK LIST:

I Wanna Be An Action Figure (Big Rock Rooster, 2002)
The Sports Song (Big Rock Rooster)
It’s Hard To Be A Kid (Monkey in the Middle, 2000)
Eat Every Bean And Pea on Your Plate (Eat Every Bean and Pea On Your Plate, 2006)
Big Rock Rooster (Big Rock Rooster)
Ants In My Pants (Cool Songs for Cool Kids, 1998 – 99)
Way To Go, Idaho (Rock of All Ages, 2008)
What A Wonderful World (Rock of All Ages)
I Caught My Granddad Watching Cartoons (updated lyrics – Big Rock Rooster)
Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (Big Rock Rooster)
For Those About To Walk, We Salute You (Eat Every Bean and Pea On Your Plate)
I Got My PF Flyers Workin’ (Cool Songs for Cool Kids)
You’re Not The Bossa Nova Me (Monkey in the Middle)
Adventures In Carpool (Cool Songs for Cool Kids)
Grandpa Says (Mojo A Go Go – Real Rock for Kids, 2004)
The Thang From Planet Twang (Cool Songs for Cool Kids)

For Those About to read the following Press Release accompanying this new CD Release, We Salute You!

DADDY A GO GO SAYS:
WHO NEEDS KID ROCK WHEN YOU’VE GOT
‘GRANDKID ROCK’?

“Boydston brings a percussive beat and sly humor to songs like ‘I Caught My Daddy Watching Cartoons.’”– People Magazine

“The lyrics are pure kid, but parents will hear nods to the Eagles, the Dead and even proto-punks the Vaselines. End result: a perfect soundtrack for changing diapers, washing the minivan or just bopping around the kitchen.” – Newsweek

“John Boydston celebrates kids and classic rock with slick ’60s pop references, entertaining lyrics with a froth of good-for-you messages and feel-good, sing-along bounce.” – Los Angeles Times

“You gotta love the brains and instruments behind Daddy A Go Go — John Boydston, a former CNN producer and current stay-at-home dad who came of age in rock’s golden era and is now trying to re-create it for kids. He does it with his original songs, groaner pop culture puns, smart covers and ripping guitar lines … Daddy A Go Go proves again that he’s one of kids-music’s rockin’-est rulers.” – Minneapolis Star-Tribune

ATLANTA, GA (Feb. 1, 2011) – Multi-award-winning children’s rock and roll recording artist Daddy A Go Go, a.k.a. Atlanta stay-at-home dad John Boydston, enthusiastically announces the April 19 release of his eighth CD, Grandkid Rock (Boyd’s Tone Records, $11.99, run time 40 minutes, for ages 3 – 10).

A leading advocate for rock and roll in kids’ music, former CNN producer John Boydston has been “rocking out and raving on” for families since 1998. The acclaim has been tremendous. Five Daddy A Go Go CDs have made Amazon.com’s “Best of the Year” critics’ list. Come on, Get Happy (The Best of Daddy A Go Go, Volume I) was included this past November on the AOL ParentDish “Top 25 Albums for Kids” list. Monkey in the Middle and Mojo A Go Go were honored with the prestigious Parents’ Choice® Award. The Washington Post credited Daddy A Go Go with helping change the face of kids’ music by moving “playroom tunes into the pop-rock era.” The New York Post enthused, “This is one hip daddy!” Kids’ music authority Warren Truitt (About.com/Children’s Music) characterized Boydston’s albums as “full of puns, parental pop music winks, and headbanging riffs … John Boydston lets the jokes fly and the rock and roll thunder.” Daily Candy Kids declared, “Not some watered-down musician for wee ones, Boydston isn’t afraid to shred some serious guitar riffs.”

A “greatest hits” album comprised of 16 remixed tunes that John Boydston considers his “rockingest rockers” from six previous Daddy A Go Go CDs, Grandkid Rock cheerfully continues the Daddy A Go Go alterna-rock tradition of what Stomp & Stammer described as “upbeat, wildly entertaining rave-ups, sing-alongs and silly puns that have endeared the group to kids (and their parents) nationwide.” While Boydston’s most recent release, Come On, Get Happy, focused on softer songs for younger children, Grandkid Rock goes the other direction, rocking out for the bigger kids with lots of electric guitars, drums, driving rhythms and power chords.

Why Grandkid Rock? John Boydston explains, “Grandparents are cool, beloved, and cherished, which is why on each of my CDs there are a couple of songs with shout-outs to them. I thought why not put some of those tunes together and share a little grandparental love? I even re-tracked the lyrics on ‘I Caught My Daddy Watching Cartoons,’ making the old guy even older yet.”

Boydston continues, “There are two themes that meet on this CD. The first is the grandparent theme, and when I first envisioned the album’s cover art, I considered a rocking chair, a grandfather clock, something like that. But I quickly realized those are clichés of another era and do not represent today’s grandparents at all. But how about a cool looking guitar that’s slightly aged, worn, and actually better looking for the wear and tear? Perfect, ‘cause it dovetails with the other theme, and that is the rockingest rock and roll guitar songs I’ve done.”

Rock music journalist Jeff Clark’s liner notes for GrandKid Rock zero in on Daddy A Go Go’s appeal. Clark writes, “Daddy A Go Go plays the sort of twangtastic pop-rock that’s been a cornerstone of rock ‘n’ roll since the music’s rambunctious youth, with an enthusiasm that’s entirely contagious. And these songs are simply FUN, and KIDS KNOW FUN! Intent on bringing the party to a family-friendly, kid-oriented level, he founded Daddy A Go Go a dozen years ago when his own sons were five and three, the boys surely providing inspiration for many of the earliest Daddy A Go Go songs. So why is Boydston re-releasing these sixteen choice cuts culled from DAGG’s first six albums? Pretty simple. He realizes his intended audience turns over every few years, as children grow up and move on so quickly. Before you can blink, a new generation of potential Daddy A Go Go fans romps into action. Why not polish up some of the best gems for the new kids in town? Believe me, these songs should be one of your kids’ (or grandkids’) musical landmarks. Because they ain’t
gonna look back and thank you for buying ’em a Wiggles record.”

Wrote Jem Aswad in Time Out New York Kids, “What separates Daddy A Go Go’s John Boydston from the rest of the alt-kids pack is his unfettered willingness to rock: While many (if not most) others in his field seem to do so tentatively, fearful of offending tender ears, this Atlanta-based father seems to know intuitively that rock is practically encoded into kids’ DNA.”

Born in Oklahoma, John Boydston graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Masters in Journalism. He spent ten years working as a television news producer, making stops at CNN, WSVN, and WSB before leaving the news biz in the mid-’90s to become a stay-at-home dad, a move that set the scene for his rebirth as Daddy A Go Go. All this happened when his sons were young, with the boys providing inspiration for many of the earliest Daddy A Go Go songs. Boydston has never looked back.

Grandkid Rock will be available online at www.daddyagogo.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com, iTunes, and at local specialty toy and bookstores. (Pssst,It’s here now for preview and purchase, and Amazon.com and iTunes too.)

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CD Details: Grandkid Rock. For ages 3 – 10.
Release date: April 19, 2011. SRP: $11.99
Run time: 40 minutes.