Search - Mr. Ray :: Family Ride

Mr. Ray doesn't mess around with warm, fuzzy renditions of classic kiddie tunes, even though the crowds he aims to please are still in the lower single-digit age bracket. Instead, as his black, sticker-emblazoned guitar and groovy Elvis Costello glasses hint, he's built a reputation on revving up the little ones with kicky, bounce-around pop/rock numbers, a 12-song clutch of which is represented on Start Dreaming. These tunes sail along, some unloading simple messages that any preschooler can relate to ("Boo-Boos Go Away," "When I Grow Up") and others dipping into more didactic, imagination-inflating waters ("Roy G. Biv," about a boy whose name is an acronym for the colors of the rainbow and "Why Are There So Many Questions," an invitation to stare down such head-scratchers as who thought it would be a good idea to put feet in shoes and how so many spots get on cows). All stand solidly on suck-you-in hooks and melodies--something not entirely surprising from a musician who's brought acclaim to his own grown-up bands, including Stone Pony and Blue Van Gogh, and toured with Meat Loaf and matchbox twenty. If that's not reason enough to take notice of Mr. Ray, his label might be: Start Dreaming is the first in a new family series from Sugar Beats Entertainment, home of irresistible kids' rock band, the Sugar Beats. This debut will keep musically with-it kids crossing their fingers that label head and Sugar Beats' creator Sherry Kondor, also daughter of Carole King, will start dreaming up her label's next pop pick-me-up pronto. --Tammy La Gorce