Kids Nonsense Songs

By definition, truly great pop should be "popular" with the whole family, which makes our Kids Nonsense Songs playlist the mummy and the daddy of all party mixes. Every little rascal in the land will sing along ad infinitum to the catchy gibberish of "Mah Na Mah Na" by Piero Umilani, the surreal lunacy of "Bingo Stingo" by Fifi and the Flowertots, and Ringo Starr's groovy, out-of-this-world underwater jam "Octopus' Garden". When there's excess energy to be spent, just dial up "The Hampsterdance Song", and if your littl'uns need a challenge, set up a singalong to Julie Andrews' "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious".

Motown and reggae get the nonsense treatment, in Next Steps.

These tracks might appear nutty on the outside, but there's a solid core of musicianship holding the wilder elements together, in a variety of styles — check out the reggae-flavoured "A Pirate Says Arr" by the Backyardigans, the rollin' piano groove of soul legend Lee Dorsey's "Ya Ya" and the Motown-channelling medley by Boogie Beebies featuring "Carousel", "Shoe Shop Hop" and "Turning Around". Canadian alt rockers Barenaked Ladies take us to the great outdoors with "The Other Day I Met a Bear", while the hybrid flamenco-pop of "The Ketchup Song (Asereje)" is given a kid-centric spin by the Bubble Boys and Glitter Girls.

Bath-time offers the perfect excuse for more sonic nonsense, in Deep Cuts.

The best of our Kids Nonsense Songs have titles that sound better the more you shout them, preferably while pogo-ing and turning a pucer shade of red . . . like "Purple People Eater", originally a hit for Sheb Wooley in 1958, here covered by the Hit Crew; "Hop Hop Hooray", a pumped-up celebration of jumping up and down on the spot by "Bill & Ben"; or "Splish Splash", Sha Na Na's sud-filled update of the Bobby Darin's bath-time classic. Thing-a-Ma-Kid's "Skinny Marinky Dinky Dink", meanwhile, has all the trappings of a nonsense classic, including a plainly-spoken message that cuts through all the gibberish and reminds us that — in the end — it all boils down to "I love you".

The eternal nipper in all of us loves a hearty dollop of nonsense every now and then, so we're delighted to offer you a playlist in which gibberish, gobble-de-gook, and fun-filled lunacy take centre stage. Here, we check all conventional verbiage at the door and play havoc with the queen's English, all in the cause of hearty singing and uncontrollable giggling — for every "Gitchee Gitchee Goo" there's a "Wiloughby Wallaby Woo" and for every "Hokey Cokey" there's a "Knick Knack Paddy Whack". The animal kingdom becomes larger than life, populated by the likes of "The Dingle Puck Goat", "Surfin' Bird" and "Disco Duck", and everyday activities like eating suddenly become a barrel o' fun thanks to tunes like "Nibble Munch Crunch Chew" and "On Top of Spaghetti".