Hear & Gone in 60 Seconds Various Artists Rounder Kids, 2003   Buy it online Reviewed by Mark Gallo	What's the attention span of a three to 10-year-old? The 29 artists represented on this wonderful new collection of kid's songs have each contributed one full minute of music, which is what the producers figured must be just about right. Conspicuously missing are Raffi and Trout Fishing In America, but otherwise most of the big names in kids music are here, along with a number of folks who are new to these ears. Among those most well known are Ella Jenkins, who delivers "A Blues Recipe" ("a cupful of smiles is a way to start your day/and a bowl filled with laughs will take you on your way."), Fred Penner, who sings "Heartbeat" ("Listen to your heartbeat/tick-a-tick-a-tock all around the block") and Dan Crow, offering a lilting "Little Blue Chevy" ("The little blue Chevy can go so far runnin on Looooove"). Peter Alsop, the only performer on the disc with a Ph.D., checks in with "Peaceful Feet" ("My feet need air and lots of care/I tell them that I love them/I have to shout cause they're down there/I'm way up here, above them"). Rachel Buchman, a Vassar graduate who proves there's no lack of smarts at work here, sings about "Rocks in My Pocket," and Gary Rosen, a long-time veteran in kids music explains "Opposites" ("Smile, Frown, Up, Down/Famine, Feast, Beauty and the Beast"). Gunner Madsen, of the Bobs fame, sings the delightful "There's a Bowlful of Milk in the Moonlight" ("there's' a mouse on the mat at the door"). Maria Del Rey, who recorded the wonderful Lullabies of Latin America a few years ago, sings goodbye in a number of languages for the final cut. All of the selections on Hear & Gone in 60 Seconds are fun, but I'm particularly fond of Justin Robert's Paul Simon-ish "More Than Just A Minute," Grammy winner David Holt's banjo-driven "Down Where the Watermelon Grows," Dennis Hysom's finger-snapping "Cool Shoes," folk legend Tom Paxton's "I Love My Brother (Sometimes)" ("I love my brother sometimes/but not this morning"), Jack Grunsky's "Samba One, Samba Two," Cathy Fink's "It Only Takes a Minute" and her partner-in-rhyme Marcy Marcer's lead off title tune ("I'm so fast you won't believe it/Catch me if you dare/When you turn around to find me/You'll catch nothing! I'm not there/Two feet moving in a blur/When I pass you'll hear the whir/Sailing round the furniture/I'm here and gone"). Kid's music has come a long way since my Peter Rabbit 45s. The music is more intricate and the lyrics more respectful of the kid's intellect. And its more fun for us big people to listen to, too. | April 2004   Mark Gallo is a long-time freelance music journalist whose byline has appeared in over 30 publications in the past 25 years. He has also been a DJ, publicist and archivist/researcher. When not writing about music he is a social worker.