Published on Mar 25, 2001
In recent weeks, it’s gotten harder to go to certain stores with
my daughter. This isn’t because she throws tantrums or embarrasses
me in public. This is because, every time we’ve gone to Target, she
and my wife always have to extract me from the audio/video
section… and instinctively my daughter headed for the display
featuring
Radio Disney Jams Vol. 3. This is the same four-year-old who
can’t read or tell time (despite my getting her a “learn to tell
time” audio tape via eBay, which she listens to incessantly), but
can sing Faith Hill’s “The Way You Love Me” from memory each time
it comes on the radio.
“Daddy, I want the Disney CD,” she’d exclaim each time – and
each time, Daddy would have to tell her that he was waiting for a
copy to arrive in the mail to review. So, when the package finally
arrived, it almost turned into a battle royal, seeing who would get
the CD first.
This collection of hits is the first in recent memory that
doesn’t feature a song from one of the “official” Disney animated
movies (the exception being Myra’s cover of “Dancing In The
Streets” from
Recess: School’s Out), but it does not disappoint either
target audience: the kid, or the kid inside all of us.
Granted, I am not a big fan of today’s dance-pop, though I can
listen to it objectively. This CD is crammed full of such acts,
ranging from the household names (“Thinkin’ About You” from Britney
Spears, “Jumpin’ Jumpin’ featuring Solange Piaget” from Destiny’s
Child) and the lesser-known but equally enjoyable acts (“Mamma Mia”
from A*Teens, “Dance With Me (Radio Disney Edit)” from Debeleh
Morgan – why do I think a naughty word was cut out of this one?).
There’s even some AOR pop included for good measure, including
BBMak (“Back Here”) and Smash Mouth (“All Star”).
If
Radio Disney Jams Vol. 3 has any flaws, I’d point out two –
and, no, I’m not listing Vengaboys. Slip number one was Hoku’s “How
Do I Feel (The Burrito Song)” – I’m sorry, but I honestly don’t see
how this track got popular. I could, though, see Taco Bell hiring
Hoku to hock their products.
Mistake number two is a song I should have expected someone
would come up with, but I still can’t believe it – “The Hampster
Dance Song” by Hampton the Hampster. If you’ve spent any time on
the Internet, you’ve undoubtedly come across the “Hampster Dance”
site, one of the most inane pages ever invented since someone
pointed a camera at a coffee pot and updated pictures of it every
60 seconds. (Personally, I prefer “Hamster Blast,” a site which
supposedly really pissed off the webmaster of “Hampster Dance”.
Since this is a review for the kiddies, I won’t list the URL – also
because I don’t like having all sorts of ad windows pop up when I
visit a site like this one does. But “Hamster Blast” is still a fun
page, and you can find it with a simple Yahoo! search. But I
digress.) Anyone who would base a dance song off of a
freaking dancing hamster page
… whoops, sorry, getting a little passionate here about a
stupid little pop song.
Radio Disney Jams Vol. 3 is really a disc aimed for slightly
older kids, though I think my four-year-old will enjoy it as
well… that is, if she’s ever able to get the disc away from
Daddy.