While many in the music biz claim the whole industry is going to the dogs, it turns out it might actually be going to the kids. Over the last few years, bands like They Might Be Giants and Barenaked Ladies have effectively launched second careers with children's music. The latest act to climb aboard the kiddie train is East L.A.’s Los Lobos.
Los Lobos Goes Disney, the band’s first new material in three years, is due Oct. 27 and features 13 tunes from Disney theme parks and classic films.
Cinematic songs getting the Los Lobos rock-meets-blues-meets-traditional Mexican music treatment include “Heigh-Ho,” “I Wan’na Be Like You,” “Bare Necessities,” “Not in Nottingham,” “Oo-De-Lally,” “Cruella De Vil,” “Bella Notte,” “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” “I Will Go Sailing No More” and “The Ugly Bug Ball.”
Fans of Disneyland and Disney World will find familiar cuts like “Grim Grinning Ghosts” (from the Haunted Mansion) and “The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room” (from the Enchanted Tiki Room).
And of course no Disney-inspired album would be complete without the mind-melting theme song from Uncle Walt’s tribute to international cooperation, “It’s a Small World.” For the new collection, the band combined the tune with the Disney signature melody “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Although it's filled with childhood favorites, Los Lobos saxophonist Steve Berlin said he doesn’t expect the album to be relegated to the playroom.
“We’re all really happy with it,” Berlin explained. “The kids record doesn’t sound like a kids record. It just sounds like Los Lobos playing funky old songs, so I imagine over time we’ll probably be integrating some of those songs into our set.”
Fans who want to catch the band live and see just which songs wind up in Los Lobos live act will have plenty of opportunities through the end of the year.
Upcoming stops on the group’s schedule include The Big Fresno Fair in California (Oct. 14), Sooner Theatre in Norman, Okla. (Oct. 28), Northern Lights Theater in Milwaukee (Oct. 31), Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. (Nov. 6-8), Birchmere in Alexandria, Va. (Nov. 15), Goshen College Music Center in Indiana (Nov. 21) and the Cascade Theatre in Redding, Calif. (Dec. 10).