My 5yo neice asked me to make her a mix CD. She wants upbeat, dance type stuff. She does like the Move It song from Madagascar, and the Chunky song from Madagascar 2 (I can't put that one on the CD), and other than that I have a track from the Josie & the Pussycats CD, and Hillary&Haley with Our Lips are Sealed. Any other suggestions?

Edit to add: I have some iTunes credit, so I'm willing to purchase a track here and there.

eh
Paramore "thats what you get"
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Avril "sk8r Boi"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iRkqqVXJdM
Hillary Duff "do you want me"
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pick a bunch of songs off this list:

http://radio.disney.go.com/music/top30.html

I used to play upbeat, non-adult lyric Ben Folds songs for my young cousins. Favorites included "Steven's Last Night in Town," "Narcolepsy," "Jackson Cannery," "Philosophy," and "Song for the Dumped." Okay, maybe not that last one...

Good suggestions, I pulled a few from that disney list. Lets mix it up a bit... how about some ideas for upbeat "pop/dance" type christian music? I'm trying to stick to all female (since everything I've got so far is all female).

Thanks again!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH.
I just got that song out of my head after having seen Madagascar 2 over the weekend. Now it's back in there, rattling around. Again.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

"I like to move it, move it" indeed!

They aren't all female fronted, but here goes:
The band Go Fish fits your category of upbeat and "Christian." They are a "kids" band.
"I'm So Happy" by Hokus Pick would be a very good song for your purpose.
SuperChick and BarlowGirls are both female fronted Christian bands. They both have a lot of songs that would work for a 5 year old. They both have a few songs about abstinence if you want to start that message early.

I am not a believer in toning down music for kids - give them the good stuff.

If you want female lead singers, the ones that really impress me are:
Neko Case
Jenny Lewis
Brandi Carlyle (listen to "Closer to You")

If you want to give her music, ask for advice here. If you want to give her fucking Cheetah Girls, then just make a shitty Disney CD.

Almost any song from Whoah Nelly! would be pretty good.

Generally I agree with you. The only caveat I would give is lyrics. There is a lot of very good music that has lyrics I don't want my 5 year old hearing.

I quickly read the thread title and thought "'Syo girl'? What's a 'Syo girl'?"

My 5 year old niece loves Harry Nilsson's "Coconut."

And no one's mentioned They Might Be Giants yet?!

For Christian stuff (albeit not female-fronted), maybe Five Iron Frenzy's "A Flowery Song." Upbeat AND there are barnyard animal sounds!

Another idea would be to give her a "best of the '80s" (new-wave) music CD. That's what my kids (8 & 11) are into right now.

As far as lyrics go, yes, weed out some of the more blatent songs but much will fly over their heads. Take "Puff the Magic Dragon" as an example, or "Afternoon Delight" - there is no way a 5 year old (or an 8 or 11 year old) will figure out that these songs are really about drugs and sex.

How about some early Beatles?

Don't tell Robert DeNiro that.

Yeah, don't forget Yellow Submarine.

hannah montana, jonas brothers, HSM.

That is a good idea!

The key is to find something that the 5-year old likes, but that is also acceptable to the parents to listen to. That way, in their car, they could listen to the music together.

It's also never too early to introduce a kid to classical music.

Don't underestimate little kids. They can appreciate Vivaldi just as much as Top 40. Don't raise them on a diet of sugar alone.

My 5 year old loves Taylor Swift although I am not sure if it is dance music or not. She also loves early Beatles and The Beach Boys.

Good tips from everyone. At this point I think I'm going to mix disney pop with christian pop and see how it turns out.

Rockin' the Suburbs was on Over the Hedge. Make sure you get the original album cut.

My almost-5-year old loves the Beatles, but not the early stuff as much. She's more into the trippy, psychedelic stuff. Sgt. Peppers, Yellow Submarine with a good amount of Abbey Road and White thrown in.

Her "iPod" has 90 Beatles songs and that's it on there.

Aly & AJ's "Walking On Sunshine" originally done by Katrina & the Waves 80's

Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian"

How 'bout early (before whitening) Michael Jackson? "Gotta Be Startin' Something" & "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough"

My two nieces, ages nine and four, pretty much listen to Radio Disney.
It's a shame that they are not growing up on AM rock, easy listening, and disco like I did.

What was the final tracklisting?