DVD Picks: Imagination Movers Stir It Up!

Why it works: Think of what the Beastie Boys and Mr Rogers would create if they collaborated on an album.
Where to find it: Kids specialty shops.
Where to order it: Online at www.imaginationmovers.com, by phoning (504) 488-6444 or 1 (877) 25MOVER, that's 1 (877) 256-6837
The details: US$15.00 (S&H included) for a 40-minute DVD, with mini-poster

It's time for your kids to meet Scott, Rich, Dave, and Scotty, the Imagination Movers. These blue-coverall'd New Orleanians are among the most creative kids' music groups to hit the scene in years.

They started out like your average neighbourhood garage band, scraping together funds to release their first album, playing at neighbourhood birthday parties. Soon they were playing large venues like New Orleans' UNO Lakefront Arena, and being played on radio waves across the world. Deemed "the next big thing", the Imagination Movers play everything from rock to hip-hop, calypso to "old-school" rap.

With two albums and many concert appearances behind them, the Movers are offering their talents on the DVD Imagination Movers: Stir It Up!, produced in a MTV-inspired format. Jamming on guitars, banging on buckets and cans, the DVD offers a lively mix of concert clips and music videos.

The Movers' highly enjoyable, energetic songs step above much kids music. They've got a fresh sound, mixed in with educator-endorsed lyrics. The music doesn't even come close to stepping over the infamous cloying border, an easy, fatal mistake for kids bands. Consistently cool, the music these real-life dads have collaborated on perseveres in being authentically entertaining.

Their creativity certainly hasn't gone unnoticed.

"The Medicine Song" was a finalist in the USA Songwriting Contest, and "Toothache" won both a John Lennon Songwriting Contest Honor and Great American Song Honor Award.

Along with critical acclaim, the group is quickly gathering a fan base. At least one Imagination Movers song has been on the XM Radio countdown for the past 34 weeks, and since spread to digital radio in the UK. The group's albums recently won a Children's Music Web Award, an honor voted on by kids themselves. The launch party for their second album caused a line-up of hundreds, stretching around the block. Their nationwide tour has included two sold out shows in Manhattan.

Among the new "groupies" for the Movers is my niece Madison. I introduced her to the group through the DVD; she loves singing and dancing along to the disc. Her favourite segment was "My Favorite Snack", in which the Movers sing about their favourite snacks, while dancing all throughout a mini-supermarket, incidentally located in the Louisiana Children's Museum. Thankfully, the disc has strong replay

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