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Few if any musical genres remain that haven't met with attempts at kiddification, but it's a safe bet that reggae was among the first to be frittered down, and it must have been the first to spill from the speakers of Playskool boomboxes with anything resembling listener satisfaction. It's by far the most readily translatable, as 1993's bright and bouncy
Reggae for Kids proved best, and its sequel, "More Reggae," turns up a fresh, if more dogma-heavy, batch of easily converted songs. The same gang of straight-outta-Kingston players steps up to perform them, too. Gregory Isaacs dips into "Day-O," Freddie McGregor stoops to send the message of "One Love," J.C. Lodge reminds us "What the World Needs Now," and Don Carlos gives the hey mon salute to the Beatles with "Hello Goodbye." Bunny Wailer and Brigadier Jerry also return, and a few originals--"Big Ship," "What About the Children," "School Done Rule"--get kids right with issues like tolerance, the environment, and the value of education.
--Tammy La Gorce