Other Voices
From Sesame Street’s
Big Bird…
…to the Radioactive Chicken Heads
Sesame Street was the first to cover one of Barry’s songs. In 1981, they released an album called Grin and Giggle with Big Bird, recording I’ve Got a Dog and My Dog’s Name is Cat. More recently, Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog has been featured in two different Sesame Street “Live” shows (see below).
National Public Radio has featured Barry’s songs and books many times through the years, but in 1977, Connie Goldman did a full hour long feature on his music in her Options in Education program. Portions of this show were also broadcast on All Things Considered and Morning Edition.
Betty May, a Columbia, Maryland author included the lyrics to Barry’s song, “To Mommy” in her 1977 movement and motion book for kids, Tickle, Snug, Kiss, Hug.
Barry wrote the liner notes to Caedmon’s 1981 release of Carol Channing reciting the poems of Gelett Burgess, the poet who wrote the poem, “The Purple Cow”(“but I will tell you anyhow/I’d rather see than be one”).
WETA Radio’s Songs Jumping In My Mouth, a series of half hour radio programs designed for kids and hosted by Yeardly Smith, featured Barry as a guest musical performer each week. The show began airing in 1983 and was later syndicated on National Public Radio.
The Dignity of Risk, a 1983 documentary film on mainstreaming disabled children into the schools, featured the soundtrack by Barry Louis Polisar. Especially memorable were Barry’s song lyrics in a totally new context: “I never thought I’d fall again, least not like this, with a giggle and a hug and a tickle and a kiss.”
Peter Alsop of Topanga, California recorded two of Barry’s songs in 1983 on his first album for kids, Whaddya Wanna Do? Peter recorded “My Brother Threw up on my Stuffed Toy Bunny” and “I Wanna Be A Dog,” introducing Barry’s work to a whole new audience out west.
Charlotte Diamond, a Canadian Juno Award winner, recorded Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog in 1985 on her award-winning recording, Ten Carrot Diamond.This album went on to sell over 200,000 copies. Charlotte later included the song on her video, 10 Crunchy Carrots which came out in 1999 as well as a compilation CD.
The Weekly Reader Book Club published two of Barry’s songs as stories in 1985. Published were “I Don’t Wanna Go To School” and “When the House is Dark and Quiet.”
Noises From Under the Rug: The Barry Louis Polisar Songbook was published in 1985. This 200 page collection of Barry’s early song lyrics, with sheet music, chords and black and white line drawings, is no longer in print. A new abridged paperback edition of Noises From Under the Rug was published in 2005 to mark Barry’s 30th year singing and writing for children and families.
Susie Crate of Durham, NC recorded Barry’s song, “I’m A 3-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” in 1985 on her recording, Songs and Stories for the Young at Heart.
Caedmon recordings issued a sampler recording in 1986 of Barry’s older songs in their collection, Barry’s Songbag.Caedmon specialized in recording poets reciting their work (W.H. Auden, Robert Frost, Richard Wilbur) and was later sold to Harper and Row publishers which later merged with Collins Press and is now a division of Harper-Collins. This compilation recording is no longer in print.
Connor Prarie in Indiana, was the location for two half hour videos that Barry recorded in 1986 that were released the following year and earned Barry another Parents Choice Award. Songs from both of these videos later ran daily on The Learning Channel on weekday mornings.
Peter Alsop recorded Barry’s song “He Eats Asparagus, Why Can’t You Be That Way?” on his 1986 album,Take Me With You. Barry will always remember being in the audience at one of Peter’s concerts and listening to the woman sitting next to him shouting out requests for Barry’s songs. It was on Peter’s recommendation that Barry performed at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Alberta, Canada.
The Songsisters of Ann Arbor, Michigan recorded Barry’s “I Wanna Be a Dog” on their 1987 release, Come Along.
Mary Miche of Berkeley, California recorded three of Barry’s early dog songs on her 1988 recording of animal songs called, Animal Crackers. Mary recorded “Our Dog Bernard,” I Wanna Be a Dog,” and “I’ve Got a Dog and My Dog’s Name is Cat.”
Bev Boss and Michael Leeman of Roseville, California recorded Barry’s “I Wanna Be a Dog” on their 1988 recording, Hand in Hand.
Dave Fry of Bethlehem, PA recorded “I Wanna be a Dog” on his 1988 recording, Aw Shucks.
Rise Up Singing, The Sing Out Songbook, published in 1988, included two of Barry’s songs: “I Wanna Be a Dog” and “Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose.”
Nan Hoffman of East Amherst, New York recorded Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be A Dog” on her 1989 release, Special Request.
Nancy Cassidy recorded Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog” for Klutz Press in 1990, selling over 350,000 copies of the recording and accompanying songbook, KidSongs Jubilee. The song was also reissued on Klutz Press’ KidSong Sampler tape and was beamed up to the astronauts on a shuttle flight, making this song one of the first children’s songs to find an orbital audience!
Clare Norelle of Davis, California recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on her 1991 release Good Things Grow.
Peter Alsop included two of Barry’s songs that he recorded in his music songbook, published by Music Sales.
Robert and Eddie Hiebert of Kansas recorded Barry’s “I’m A 3-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” on their 1991 release Ham-Pic-Sing.
Bonnie Phipps recorded Barry’s song, “Tomorrow” on her book and tape release, Singing With Young Children.
Rhythms of Learning an educational sourcebook for teachers and parents by Chris Brewer and Don Campbell is published in 1991 and includes Barry’s song, “I Don’t Want To Go To School.”
Jay Stailey, a storyteller from Texas recorded Barry’s “I Wanna Be a Dog” on his 1991 recording for children, Sittin’ Together, Talkin’ to Each Other, Sometimes Singing.
Peter Alsop included another one of Barry’s songs in his second music songbook, published by Music Sales.
We Like Kids Songbook published in 1992 by KTOO radio in Juneau, Alaska included Barry’s song “Oh No, I Like My Sister” in their songbook and CD release.
Bonnie Phipps of Denver, Colorado recorded Barry’s song, “I’m a 3-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” in 1992 on her Dinosaur Choir release.
Sandy Bradley and the Small Wonders Big Band of Seattle, Washington recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on their 1992 recording Happy Jive Live.
Dave Fry of Bethlehem, PA included Barry’s song “I Wanna be a Dog” on his new recording, I Like Peanut Butter.
Bethie’s Discovery Music recording of 1993, Really Silly Songs about Animals included Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be a Dog.”
Johnny Kelleher of Boston, Massachusetts recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on his 1993 release, Party in the Park.
Fast Folk Musical Magazine distributed and sold by the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian Institution invited Barry to record and sing his song The Apple of My Eye.
Mrs. Bush’s Story Time featured the former first lady, Barbara Bush, reading some of Barry’s animal poems from his book Peculiar Zoo in her weekly radio show on ABC Radio.
Jack Prelutsky, the well known children’s author and poet, used two of Barry’s poems in his anthologies of funny poems for kids: “First It Bit My Behind” was included in the US edition of For Laughing Out Loud published in 1991 and also in the edition published in England.
Jack Prelutsky, also included Barry’s Poem, “Emperor Penguins” in his animal anthology, The Beauty and the Beastpublished in 1997 in the US and England.
The National Wildlife Federation’s Ranger Rick Magazine published artwork and poems from two of Barry’s animal poems from Peculiar Zoo.
The National Wildlife’s magazine, Your Big Backyard. reprinted Barry’s book The Snake Who Was Afraid of People.
Tom Vincent of Baltimore, Maryland recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on his 1995 recording, Teddy Bear.
Mary Linda Morlock of Nashville, Tennessee recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on her 1995 release. We can’t find any cover art for this album.
Tom Sieling of Ithaca, New York recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on his 1995 release for kids A Good Life For All and also on his next CD for children, Swimming With The Sharks.
Scholastic Books published Barry’s poem on the Emperor Penguin in their Seasonal Poems for the Classroom series.
Instructor Magazine asked Barry to write an article on using music and poetry in the classroom which was published in their March, 1994 issue.
Peter Alsop recorded Barry’s song, “My Brother Threw Up On My Stuffed Toy Bunny” on his professional CD on death education, entitled, Loss and Grief.
The Highsmith Company, a national supplier of educational materials for the classroom published a series of school art posters and children’s bookmarks featuring the poems and illustrations from Barry’s book, Peculiar Zoo.
University Publishing Projects of Israel reprinted the lyrics to Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be a Dog” for it’s KidWorld course book for teaching English as a second language within the Israeli State school system.
CJ Fallon of Ireland reprinted Barry’s poem, “Emperor Penguins” in it’s series that helps teach literacy in the State school system.
NJ Ask also reprints Barry’s poem, “Emperor Penguins” in it’s Spring Field Test books for 4th graders in the State school system.
The Learning Channel featured song clips of Barry’s songs in their morning programming and aired daily. Barry recorded a series of songs in 1986 which were later released as videos, winning a Parents Choice Award. You may not recognize the bearded 1986 Barry but the songs are unmistakably his.
Field Trip! Barry hosted a children’s TV show for the Washington ABC TV affiliate station in 1995-1997. These 26 shows were then broadcast nation-wide for a number of years; then put on Cable in the Classroom, an educational television network; then appeared overseas on the Armed Forces TV network and in clips on PBS. Some of the shows were turned into educational videos for the school and library market.
Prairie Patch of Saskatchewan, Canada recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on their 1998 release, Surprise.
The Canote Brothers of Seattle, Washington recorded a version of Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be A Dog” on their CD Thinga-Ma-Jig in 1998.
Barry’s song “It’s My Mother and My Father and my Sister and the Dog” was featured on National Public Radio’s Car Talk radio program.
Faith Petric of San Fransisco, CA recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on her 1999 release, When Did We Have Sauerkraut.
Seamus Kennedy of Annapolis, Maryland recorded two of Barry’s songs in his 1999 children’s release Seamus Gets on Everybody’s Nerves. Seamus, who has a national reputation as an Irish singer, recorded “Don’t Stick Your Finger up Your Nose” and “I Wanna Be a Dog.”
Bill and Robyn Fisher of Olympia, Washington recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog” on their 2000 recording, Bagful of Beans. Barry got to meet Bill and Robyn when he performed in Olympia in 2002 at Lakefair and on a great tour sponsored by the Timberland Public Library.
Joseph Helfrich of Ohio recorded “I Wanna Be a Dog ” on his 2001 recording, Make a Difference.
Joe and the Chicken Heads of Orange, California recorded Barry’s song, “Underwear” on their rock and roll, punk-influenced mini-cd in 2002. Barry loves this version…..a real, great spirited rendition! Aaron Cohen, the lead singer, was a fan of Barry’s music growing up!
Muzak!!! BMI reports indicate that Barry’s songs were “covered” by Muzak….oh no, Elevator music of…..”My Brother Threw Up on my Stuffed Toy Bunny.”
Sesame Street Live used Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog” in it’s live US and European theater productions of 1,2,3 Imagine from 1996-2002. This production was revived in 2002 and is currently running in cities throughout the US.
Michael Lowenthal’s second novel for adults, Avoidance,published in 2002, describes the characters singing and talking about their favorite Polisar songs, such as Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose. In chapter ten, he includes a section where some of the characters begin singing Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog.”
The Cockroach Chronicles by Marion Copeland, published in 2003 by Reaktion Press, London, reproduced Barry’s poem and illustration from his book, Insect Soup of…you guessed it: “The Roach.”
Thaddeus Rex recorded Barry’s song, “I’m a Three-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” on his 2004 CD release, Martian Television Invasion. Barry got to meet T-Rex on his 2004 Midwest school author tour!
Earl Bradley of Utah recorded Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be a Dog, in 2004. We haven’t heard the album or seen the cover art, but we did find this photo of Earl in concert.
Nan Hoffman of East Amherst, New York, releases a retrospective CD called “Almost Two Much” featuring her cover of Barry’s song, “I Wanna Be a Dog.
Charlotte Diamond of Canada included Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog in her songbook and compilation CD World of Music.
Themes and Variations of Canada included Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog in their Kindergarten Musicplay CD.
Click Magazine jointly published by Smithsonian Magazine and Cricket Magazine featured Barry’s poem, Emperor Penguins on the inside front cover of their February, 2004 issue.
Eso No Se Hace, the Spanish edition of Barry’s book, Don’t Do That: A Child’s Guide to Bad Manners, Ridiculous Rules and Inadequate Etiquette was translated into Spanish and published internationally in 2004.
Kid Kazooey sang a verse of Barry’s song, “I’m a Three-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” on his wonderfully titled CD Gratuitous Van Driving. Kid Kazooey, (aka Kevin MacDowell, the Singing, Swinging Librarian of the Ballroom Roustabouts) told Barry that he grew up listening to Barry’s songs as a child in Fort Wayne, Indiana….Barry is honored to be an inspiration to such silliness!
Alan King asked Barry to contribute a story for his last book, Matzo Balls for Breakfast and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish published in December, 2004 by The Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster. The book is a collection of short pieces by noted Jewish authors, comedians, playwrights and other personalities on their experiences growing up in America. Barry is anthologized along with Billy Crystal, Neil Simon, Sid Caeser, Gene Wilder, Larry King, Daniel Schorr, Jerry Stiller and others….
This American Life an American Public Radio production used Barry’s song “Shut Up In The Library” on their 2005 broadcast.
Sneak Out!, an independent film released in 2005 featured two of Barry’s songs on the soundtrack–I Don’t Believe You’re Going to the Bathroom and Me and You.
Charlotte Diamond has recorded Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog on her DVD release Ten Crunchy Carrots.
Jen and Wendy Bernard of Portland, Oregon, recorded and sing a version of Barry’s I Wanna Be a Dog and even wrote a parody of Barry’s original song, which they called I Wanna Be a Cat.
The Radioactive Chicken Heads(formerly Joe and the Chicken Heads) released their debut CD Growing Mold in 2005 featuring two wonderfully inspired covers of Barry’s songs: I Eat Kids and I Looked Into the Mirror (What Did the Mirror Say?). Aaron Cohen, the lead singer, was a fan of Barry’s music growing up!
Lee Cloud-Pitt and Friends from Seattle, Washington recorded Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog on his 2005 release entitled Heartwarming Songs for Kids and Everyone.
Teva Sandals used Barry’s song Water in an animated commercial aired on the Outdoor Life Network during the summer 2005 broadcast of the Teva Mountain Games. The commercial features two petroglyphs dancing to Barry’s song just before they hop into the river and paddle away singing.
Mr. Snail’s Halloween Party included Barry’s song Thump, Thump, Thump in this compliation Halloween disc released in October 2005. This CD features artists as diverse as Ego Plum, The Ghastly Ones, Rutherford B. Hayes Is Dead, The Dust Jackets, Hot Waffles, Mailbox, Romak and the Space Pirates, Nightmare of the Elf, the Metrolites, Haunted Cologne and more…sounds creepy!
Thaddeus Rex recorded Barry’s song, “I’m a Three-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur” on his 2006 DVD release.
Free Prize Inside, a compilation CD released in 2006 of fifteen noted children’s singers and songwriters includes Barry singing his classic song Early Sunday Morning.
The Hominy Mamas have recorded a version of Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog on their debut CD, released in 2006.
Charlotte Diamond has recorded a Spanish version of Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog on her 2007 CD Todo el Mundo Come Bananas.
Children’s Jukebox–a subject index of children’s recordings by Rob Reid is published in 2007 by the American Library Association. Barry’s audio recordings are highlighted in this book which indexes over 540 recordings for children and recommends Barry’s CD Old Dog New Tricks as one of the outstanding recordings for children. Many songs from Barry’s additional recordings are also discussed and listed as the author’s Favorite Original Children’s Songs in a separate chapter.
The American Library Association also published Rob Reid’s Something Musical Happened at the Library in 2007. This book also highlights and features many of Barry’s songs and recordings.
Eat Your Vegetables, Please! is a collection of fun songs for kids about nutrition and includes Barry singing his song I Still Don’t Like Asparagus on this 2007 CD release.
Ham and Burger, recorded Barry’s song Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose for his 2007 CD release entitled Ham and Burger. Danny Rockett tells Barry that he came to one of his concerts as a child and was inspired to perform, calling Barry “one of his earliest song-writing influences.” Barry describes Danny’s music as Frank Zappa meets Biff Rose while channeling wonderfully frantic primordial jungle rhythms.
The Radioactive Chicken Heads have recorded a music video of Barry’s song I Looked Into The Mirror, What Did the Mirror Say? which they covered on their debut CD in 2005. This video was recorded and released in 2007.
PBS aired Barry’s song I’m a Slug in an episode of it’s children’s TV series, Dragonfly in the Spring of 2007.
Barry’s song It All Comes Back To Me is featured on the soundtrack of Did You Know? This TV show, produced in 2007 for the WSSC’s Patuxent River Watershed Conservation efforts, will also be used in the schools as part of the WSSC’s environmental education programming.
Oscar Night and Barry’s harmonica solo from All I Want Is You is played before thirty-two million people just before Diablo Cody wins an Academy Award for Juno…but Barry fell asleep about ten minutes before and missed it!
MTV is airing a video of the opening animation from Juno featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You. YouTube has a number of videos of people covering this song and other songs by Barry.
Juno B-Sides is released in April, 2008. This is a second compilation of songs from the Juno verse…the songs director Jason Reitman would have liked to have included in Juno. Barry’s song Me and You from his first record released in 1975 is featured on this CD as is a cover of Barry’s song All I Want is You (see below).
Kimya Dawson does a brand new cover of Barry’s song All I Want is You for the new compilation album Juno B-Sides: Almost Adopted. Barry’s original song from 1977 was used in the opening credit sequence in the film.
Hal Leonard Music is publishing the Juno movie soundtrack songbook featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You. Juno. Juno. Juno.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show plays a sample of Barry’s song All I Want is You while introducing Ellen Page as a guest in February, 2008.
Juno goes international playing in movie theaters all over the world and opening with Barry’s song All I Want is You.
Juno Poster advertising the film in Germany…..Schwanger Na Und?
Juno continues to go international followed by DVD releases in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia and the rest of the world.
Sesame Street Live goes international again featuring Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog with concerts overseas in 2008-2009 from Spain to Dubai.
Oxford University Press publishes the lyrics of Barry’s song All I Want is You in their Quest books series in 2008.
Free Prize Inside II compilation recording includes Barry’s song I’m A Slug on its follow up release in Spring, 2008.
Playing With Scratches is Ruckus Roboticus’ 2008 debut rap and hip-hop, mash-up album, created entirely from found sounds. It may feature the first sampling from Barry’s song catalogue, although we can’t be sure it is the first; it took us nine years to discover this recording–and only because a fan of Barry’s heard it and immediately identified samples of Barry’s performance piece I Can’t, I Can’t on the song track How to Handle Grown Ups.
The Radioactive Chicken Heads issue a new CD in 2008 called Music for Mutants featuring two of Barry’s songs: I Eat Kids and I Looked Into the Mirror, What Did the Mirror Say?
Being John Harris a documentary film from England uses Barry’s song Giggle Tickle Fiddle Little Wiggle Around.
More Juno Music The film Juno spawned a hit soundtrack, reaching number one on the Billboard Music charts. Now there’s even more music available from the movie. Rhino Records is combining the popular soundtrack with a Juno B-sides collection for a double-disc release on Barry’s Birthday, November 18th. The Juno: Deluxe Edition comes with songs from the original soundtrack recording plus additional songs by Barry, Kimya Dawson and others.
Ian Jackson’s Animal Portraits is published in England and sold internationally in August, 2008 and includes Barry’s poem Emperor Penguins from his book Peculiar Zoo.
Significant Others, a 2009 short film from Poland by Dara Van Dusen, uses Barry’s song Me and You on the soundtrack. Also known by its original title Malzonkowie, Dara’s film was chosen as an official selection at the Cannes Film Festival for May, 2009.
Tristan Prettyman recorded a great cover of Barry’s song All I Want is You. This song is now available on iTunes.
NRMA of Australia and New Zealand begins airing a series of commercials in October, 2008 featuring Barry’s guitar and harmonica. We’ve seen six of them so far and they are a lot of fun.
SGIO of Western Australia airs a series of commercials featuring Barry’s guitar and harmonica as part of their Unworry campaign.
Nescafe of Australia begins airing Barry’s song Me and You in commercials in October, 2008.
Camelot’s Lottery Campaign begins airing Barry’s song All I Want is You in their commercials throughout England and the United Kingdom in December, 2008.
The Onko Olympic Campaign for Children uses Barry’s song All I Want is You in their short film Run Away From Cancer. This Public Service Announcement was broadcast in 2009 on Polish Television.
Warner Music releases Barry’s song All I Want is You in their CD compilation The Ultimate Chick Flick Soundtrack in April, 2009 along with songs by The Pretenders, Natalie Cole, Jennifer Warnes, Joe Cocker and The Monkees.
The Juno Soundtrack wins a Grammy Award in 2009 for “Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For a Motion Picture” and sells over a million copies internationally. Barry’s song All I Want is You is the first song on the film soundtrack recording.
Vodafone uses Barry’s song All I Want is You in their 2009 commercial throughout New Zealand.
RBS, the Regional Railway Company of Bern, Switzerland, uses Barry’s song Me and You in their 2009 commercial.
Vodafone uses Barry’s song All I Want is You in their 2009 commercial throughout the Czech Republic.
Alison Faulds of Lincolnshire, England animates Barry’s song I Wanna Be Your Baby in the summer of 2009.
Sesame Street Live records Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog in the summer of 2009 for sale at their 1,2,3 Imagine Show with Elmo and Friends.
Packed to the Rafters, the Award-winning Australian TV show used Barry’s music in 2009. This family-orientated comedy-drama television series premiered on the Seven Network and is the highest rated show on the network with an average audience of almost 2 million viewers tuning into each episode.
Santa Dads records Barry’s song For My Sister Wherever I May Find Her on the Wham City Lonely Blanket CD in 2009. Lead singer Joshua Kelberman used to listen to this song on Barry’s records with his sister, artist Dina Kelberman, when they were both growing up.
Kab Country releases their CD Just Ask Me. Ken Conklin, Al Lowden and Bob Davis are joined by pedal steel player Rex Raines and record a country version of Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog.
Oxford University Press publishes the lyrics of Barry’s song Bad Guys Broke Into Our Car in their Quest books series in 2009.
Spicks and Specs, an Australian TV comedy game show on the ABC network uses Barry’s first album, I Eat Kids, from 1975, for a question in their October, 2009 broadcast.
Eric Harteru, a wonderful musician from Brittany, has translated and recorded a version of Barry’s song Our Dog Bernard in French. Mon Chien Bernard appears on Eric’s album La Boite a Musique.
One Way Road is a student film by Romy Heezen featuring Barry’s 1978 song, You’re As Sweet as Sugar on a Stick on the soundtrack.
Playtime is a short film created by Celeste Leizer, a student at the Vancouver Film School and features Barry’s 1975 song, Me and You.
Warner Music Australia releases a second compilation album in 2010 called “Songs to Make You Smile” which includes Barry’s song, All I Want is You.
Ali Faulds of Lincolnshire, England created another great video of one of Barry’s songs in the summer of 2010–this one to Barnyard Stomp.
Vicks Honeydrops features Barry’s song All I Want is You in a European commercial that aired in Germany and Austria in 2010.
Nescafe begins airing Barry’s song Me and You in commercials in Mexico in August, 2010.
Ham And Burger release their second CD in the summer of 2010. It’s called Kidtopia and the last song is an inspired cover of Barry’s song You Can’t Say ‘Psbpsbpsb’ on the Radio. Barry likes it more than his original.
The Boogers release their second CD in the fall of 2010 and include Barry’s song What If a Zebra Had Spots?
It’s not the cover of the Rolling Stone…but it will do!
Barry is featured on the cover of Songwriters Monthly in August, 2010.
Axe Deodorant ran a series of ads that copied the sound and style of Barry’s song “All I Want is You” after his song was featured in the film Juno. They even included a harmonica solo! They say that “imitation is the best form of flattery.”
Zed Marty of Graz, Austria recorded and released an audio and video cover of Barry’s song “All I Want is You” in the Fall of 2010. He then went back and recorded and re-released an audio version of the song as “Zed Marty and Liz.”
March Forth, a compilation CD from Pick Up America, is released in March, 2011 and includes Barry’s song Everywhere You Go.
Honda uses Barry’s song All I Want is You in a very clever commercial called “Date With a Woodsman” which begins airing throughout the United States during Prime Time in April, 2011.
Craig Fisher of Edinburgh, Scotland creates a 2011 video of Barry’s song I’m a Slug.
All About Bullies a compilation CD that hopes to raise awareness about the effects of bullying is released in August, 2011 and includes Barry’s song Town of Round but this time Barry performs a new version of his 1982 song as a poem.
Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get–and Keep–Your Creativity Flowing is the new book by Noah Scalin released in November, 2011. Barry is happy to be one of the contributors offering his insights and experience.
Honda begins broadcasting their “Woodsman” ad throughout Canada in the summer of 2011, featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You.
The Pink Ribbon campaign begins television broadcasts in Holland. This Public Service Announcement about breast cancer airs throughout Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands in September, 2011 and features Barry’s original song All I Want is You.
The Squidshow Theatre in Telluride, Colorado is developing a play based on Barry’s songs which will be performed at the Sheridan Opera House in December, 2011.
Gart Westerhaut, of Komatsu-shi, Ishikawa, Japan put Barry’s poem on Emperor Penguins to music in December, 2011, turning it into a song to mark the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen’s expedition to the South Pole.
A Very Friendly Holiday, a collection of holiday themed songs, is released in December, 2011. It includes Barry’s song It’s My Mother and My Father and My Sister and the Dog–a song about going on a family car trip to see relatives.
24 Carrot, a Greatest Hits album by Charlotte Diamond, is released in December, 2011. It includes Barry’s song I Wanna Be a Dog which Charlotte originally recorded in 1985.
A second Grammy Nomination! Another one of Barry’s songs is included in the compilation CD “All About Bullies.” This recording was nominated in December, 2011 for a Grammy Award in the category for “Best Children’s Recording.”
All About Bullies a compilation CD that includes Barry’s song Town of Round(recorded as a poem) wins a Parents’ Choice Award. Barry’s own recordings have won five additional awards from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.
American Idol features Barry’s song All I Want is You in their January, 2012 broadcast nation-wide.
A second Grammy Win! “All About Bullies” wins a Grammy Award in the category for “Best Children’s Recording” in February, 2012. Barry’s song Town of Round is included in this compilation album. The album also won a Parents’ Choice Award.
10 Years is an upcoming film that features one of Barry’s songs during a scene. The film has an all-star cast and releases their first movie poster and film trailer in 2012.
Neverlost, by Chad Archibald of Blackfawn Films, is a Canadian film released in 2012 that uses Barry’s 1978 song You’re As Sweet As Sugar on a Stick in the opening credits.
Neverlost, a Canadian film by Chad Archibald that uses Barry’s 1978 song You’re As Sweet As Sugar on a Stick in the opening credits is released on DVD.
The Homeschool Experiment is a novel published in the Spring of 2012 that has a scene built around Barry’s song I’m a Three-Toed, Triple-Eyed, Double-Jointed Dinosaur. The scene features kids arguing about the lyrics of Barry’s song and is the second time a book has featured one of Barry’s songs in a car scene; Michael Lowenthal’s novel Avoidance, published ten years earlier, includes a scene where kids are singing Barry’s songs I Wanna Be a Dog and Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose during a car trip.
10 Years, released in the Fall of 2012, is another film that features one of Barry’s songs. You Can’t Say ‘Psbpsbpsb’ on the Radio plays on the car CD player for their kids, as the character–played by Chris Pratt–begs his wife to turn it off. The character, played by actor Oscar Isaac, is a great sport and sings along with Barry’s song as it plays for the kids in the back seat. The film also stars Aubrey Plaza, Channing Tatum, Ron Livingston, Justin Long,
and Rosario Dawson.
Follow Your Dreams, another compilation album from the same Grammy-Award winning team that produced an earlier collection of songs featuring one of Barry’s songs, includes Barry’s recording I’d Be Me in this summer of 2012 release.
We Love To Be Free, another compilation album released in 2012, includes a cover of Barry’s song All I Want is You, recorded by the group Sonic Love Child, featuring Nicole Schwartz Navratil and David Alderson of Minnesota.
Painted Fait, a group from Loveland, Colorado, records a cover of Barry’s song All I Want is You, featuring Joshua and Ashlee Sturgeon.
Matt Farley, also know as The Passionate and Objective Jokerfan records his humorous song Barry Louis Polisar, I Bet You Love Juno! on his Album Good Songs About People Who Make Good Songs Always in December, 2012.
Quaker Oats begins airing a commercial on television in Mexico featuring Barry’s 1975 song Me and You in the Spring of 2012.
Del Monte Foods, begins airing a national commercial on US television featuring Barry’s song “All I Want is You” in the fall of 2012.
Nestle Maggi, begins airing a national commercial on German television featuring Barry’s song “Me and You” in the fall of 2012.
The Montgomery County Humane Society begins airing a Public Service Announcement with music from Barry’s song I Need You Like a Donut Needs a Hole.
The Today Show is one of many national TV shows that aired the Honda ad and is also airing the Del Monte commercials that feature Barry’s song, All I Want is You.
Good Morning America also shows the Del Monte ad featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You. The ad runs during daytime broadcasts and also during Prime Time broadcasts on all networks.
All About Following Your Dreams a compilation CD that includes Barry’s song I’d Be Me wins a Parents’ Choice Award in 2012. Barry’s own recordings have won five additional awards from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.
All About Following Your Dreams also wins a NAPPA Gold Award in 2013 from the National Association of Parenting Publications.
Ana Pichel, a film student from Portugal, begins work on a short independent film which features Barry’s 1975 song, Me and You in the closing credits.
Shy Sharity, a Canadian actress and singer, records a new version of Barry’s song “All I Want is You” in January, 2013. It’s perky and fun and you can watch it here!
Sara Visentin and Dario Valle, from Vicenza, Italy, translate and record Barry’s song “Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose” in Italian. You’ve heard Barry’s song in English and you’ve heard it in Yiddish …finally we’re getting to the romance languages, Bello!
Sara Visentin also translates Barry’s song “I Don’t Wanna Go To School” into Italian and she and Dario Valle record it together in Vicenza, Italy in February, 2013.
Kathleen Rushing of San Ramon, California, records Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog” in the Spring of 2013 on her new CD called “I See the Moon.”
Zed Marty from Graz, Austria records and releases a cover version of Barry’s song “Me and You” in the Spring of 2013. He previously did a great cover of Barry’s song “All I Want is You.”
Oda Koshey and Nonoho from Tachikawa City, Japan, will be recording Barry’s song “Tomorrow” and translating it into Japanese on their new CD called “La La La’s Dance.”
Going Up is another independent feature film that uses Barry’s music. His song Me and You plays in the opening credits. The film is about a young married couple who get stuck in an elevator together on the way up to a meeting with a divorce lawyer.
Badd Bunny Breakout a video game, features two of Barry’s songs (“I Eat Kids” and “I Looked Into the Mirror, What Did the Mirror Say?”) performed by The Radioactive Chicken Heads and digitized instrumentally. This video game was released in late summer, 2013.
The Producers of Absolutely Positively Getting Along heard Barry recite his poem “Baited” on Kathy O’Connell’s Kids Corner show on WXPN radio and asked him to recite it on this new compilation album. It’s from the same team that produced an earlier collection of songs that featured one of Barry’s songs–and that album won a Grammy for best children’s recording.
In Defence, might just be the first hardcore punk/thrash metal band to record a Barry Louis Polisar song cover. We think the album “Don’t Know How To Break Dance” was released in October, 2011 but we just stumbled onto it. The CD includes Barry’s song “I Eat Kids.”
A Linha Do Vouga, a short, independent Portuguese film directed by Ana Pichel, is released in 2013. The film features Barry’s 1975 song, Me and You in the closing credits.
Zed Marty and Liz release a video cover of Barry’s song “All I Want is You” with graphics created by the visual artists at ARTeria in Austria. Watch their clever and fun creation in the video section of this website.
Going Up, an indie film using Barry’s song “Me and You” in the opening credits, gets a movie poster!
Coca Cola is featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You in their new ad that begins broadcasting world-wide in September, 2013. Johnny Kelly directed this spot for Coke, called “Happiness is Movement,” creating a re-interpretation of Barry’s song.
A Spanish Version of the Coke ad featuring Barry’s song has also been created and is airing internationally.
Volkswagen is featuring Barry’s song Me and You in their new ad campaign broadcasting in the Fall of 2013 throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It’s got dogs and is a real winner! Watch it here!
Ikea began broadcasting an ad on TV in Sweden featuring Barry’s song All I Want is You in the Spring of 2014.
Volkswagen’s ad featuring Barry’s song Me and You is extended to Slovenia, Finland, The Czech Republic, and other countries in early 2014. Watch it here!
The Tree of Life Film A short film for the Ronald McDonald House Charities began airing on TV in Australia and New Zealand in the fall of 2014. This PSA features a cover version of Barry’s song All I Want is You.
The Volkswagen ad featuring Barry’s song Me and You is extended to Canada and Portugal, while the Del Monte ad with Barry’s song “All I Want is You” continues to run in the US and the Ronald McDonald house ad runs in Australia and New Zealand.
Guest Appearance with The Radioactive Chicken Heads
Barry was a special guest performer at the Radioactive Chicken Heads’ 20th Anniversary concert in the City of Orange, California in 2014, performing two songs on stage with the band.
KindieComm, the first annual conference on Independent Children’s Music, gathers in Philadelphia in June, 2014 and Barry delivers the afternoon keynote talk with WXPN radio host Kathy O’Connell. Writing about it later, music journalist Allen Foster lists the top seven highlights of the conference, highlighting Barry singing “Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose” as number one and Barry’s interview with Kathy as a close second.
Charlotte Bohn, a fan who used to listen to Barry’s music growing up, asks Barry to sing back-up vocals for her new album. In the fall of 2014, Barry joins Charlotte and Producer Benny Goldstein in the studio to sing back-up on Charlotte’s version of his song All I Want is You.
Where The Light Comes in is the new solo album by Charlotte Bohn, released December, 2014, featuring cover versions of two of Barry’s songs: All I Want is You and Me and You. Barry is featured singing back-up vocals on his “Juno” hit that Charlotte recorded on this album.
Volkswagen’s Puppy Ad featuring Barry’s song “Me and You” begins airing in March, 2015 in Taiwan.
Measured Progress, a non-profit testing and assessment company for students in Elementary schools, uses Barry’s poem “Emperor Penguins” in 2015 to help educators prepare their students for the Common Core requirements.
Rise Again Songbook is published in the fall of 2015 and includes two more of Barry’s songs. Barry had two of his original children’s songs published in the original Rise Up Singing songbook in 1988 and this time, the editors chose two of his sweeter songs: With a Giggle and a Hug and a Tickle and a Kiss and his song All I Want is You, which was popularized in the film Juno.
When Summer Comes, a student film by Kori Hoo, uses Barry’s song “Me and You” on the soundtrack. The film begins showing at film festivals in 2015.
Jake T and the Jamboree of Redwood City, California records Barry’s song Don’t Put Your Finger Up Your Nose on his debut album Kitchy Classics in the summer of 2015.
Sean Slattery & the Connections, a band from Galway, Ireland record Barry’s song All I Want is You in the fall of 2015 and then release a rollicking video of the song in December. It’s a great version with fiddle and penny whistle with a Cajun Zydeco vibe.
Barry’s song Giggle Tickle Fiddle Little Wiggle Around was used in Chloe Kemp’s student film called Full Circle which was submitted to the Australian Film Festival Tropfest Jr in 2015.
The Logues, from County Tyrone in Ireland, record Barry’s song All I Want is You in February, 2016.
The Logues, a progressive folk band from Ireland, release a great live video singing Barry’s song All I Want is You in March, 2016.
Space’s Deepest Secrets, an hour long TV show on The Science Channel, explores the stories of the men and women who have uncovered groundbreaking findings in space exploration and features Barry’s song All I Want is You on the soundtrack.
Barry’s song All I Want is You can be heard on the episode The Truth Behind Parallel Universes on Space’s Deepest Secrets which first aired on The Science Channel in August, 2016.
The Wrong Girl, an Australian TV show airing on Network Ten, features Finn De Siecele’s cover of Barry’s song Me and You in the fall of 2016.
ANWB TV ad in The Netherlands begins featuring Barry’s song Me and You in a new television ad that began broadcasting in December, 2016. The Royal Dutch Touring Club (ANWB) is a travelers’ association in the Netherlands, supporting all modes of travel.
Blue Line Station is another independent feature film that uses Barry’s music. His song I’ve Got a Dog and My Dog’s Name is Cat plays in the opening credits.
Film director Jason Reitman flies Barry to Los Angeles in April, 2017 to lend his voice to his Live Read series in downtown Los Angeles. This special program at the renovated United Artists Theater, marked the 10 year anniversary of the Juno film’s release. Barry opened the program with a “live” rendition of his song All I Want is You before Ellen Page, Jennifer Garner, and an all-star female cast read Diablo Cody’s Academy Award winning script for this benefit event.
GMC begins featuring Barry’s song Me and You in their new ad on national TV throughout the US in June, 2017. Barry sings his original song from his first album, released in 1975.
A french version of Barry’s song Me and You is used in the GMC television ad in Canada beginning in the summer of 2017.
And then, a shorter version of the GMC ad with Barry’s song Me and Youbegins airing in the fall of 2017.
Composer D.J. Sparr takes Barry’s book The Trouble With Ben and uses it as the libretto for a musical composition for strings to be performed in the schools through Sound Impact in the fall of 2017.
Health Partners of Australia renews their original ad for a second year, using Barry’s song All I Want is You in their TV commercial airing in 2017-2018.
Cumulonimbus Kandarian, a short film released in Mexico in 2017 by film-maker Nicolás de Jesús, uses Barry’s original song All I Want is You on the soundtrack.
Milli Milk Products renews their commercial ad on TV in Hungary for a second year. This ad, featuring a cover version of Barry’s original song All I Want is You, airs in 2018-2019.
Indigo films of Rome releases a new film called Metti La Gonna Nel Freezer in 2018. This Italian film features Barry’s 1978 song You’re As Sweet As Sugar on a Stick.
Health Partners renews its license for Barry’s song All I Want is You for a third year of commercials on Australian TV for 2018-2019.
Warner Music Italy releases the soundtrack recording from the film Metti La Gonna Nel Freezer in 2018, featuring Barry’s 1978 song You’re As Sweet As Sugar on a Stick.
Health Partners renews their license for Barry’s song “All I Want is You” for a fourth year of TV commercials in Australia throughout 2019 and 2020.
The Voice Kids licenses Barry’s song “All I Want is You” for their TV show in the UK to be broadcast in the summer of 2019.
The Radioactive Chicken Heads strike again! Their creative covers of Barry’s songs continue to get airplay on Dr. Demento’s Radio Show. The good doctor played Barry’s original songs decades ago on his nationally syndicated radio show and its nice to see him play the new cover versions now.
ANZ Bank in New Zealand renews its national TV ad for another year at the end of 2019. This ad features Barry’s song “Me and You.”
Health Partners of Australia also renews its national TV ad for another year at the end of 2019. This ad, airing on Australian TV, features Barry’s song “All I Want is You.”
Bella and Duke, a company in Scotland, creates a series of ads in the fall of 2019, featuring Barry’s song “I Wanna Be a Dog.”
Kohsey Oda and Nonoho Matsumoto of Yamanashi, Japan translate Barry’s song “Me and You” into Japanese and record a Japanese language cover version in November, 2019.
Barry’s song “All I Want is You” is featured in a television ad that begins airing in France in November, 2019—promoting the French Lottery. The ad highlights the true story of a couple who won the lottery by playing the bar code numbers on a milk bottle.
Liam Maloy’s book “Spinning the Child” is released in England in the Fall of 2020. It’s an academic look at children’s music and Barry was interviewed and is quoted in the book. A sample of Barry’s song lyrics are also quoted and Barry contributed the introduction to Liam’s book.
ANZ Bank in New Zealand renews its national TV ad again in 2020 featuring Barry’s song “Me and You.”
Barry’s song “Me and You” is featured in a new national TV ad in 2021 broadcast throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico for Comcast Xfinity.
Barry’s song “I’ve Got a Dog and My
Dog’s Name is Cat” is featured in a
second National TV ad airing in the
United States in 2021 for DoorDash
and PetSmart.
