THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020041
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
MUSIC. IT'S BEEN a part of rearing children ever since parents first held their babies and, in soothing voices, scared the diapers off them by singing about boughs breaking and cradles falling out of trees.
We hum our kids to sleep. We dry their tears with silly sing-song rhymes. We bounce them on our knees while warbling ``knick-knack, paddy-whack, give a dog a bone.'' And then we wonder why we can't understand them when they talk.
It's this market - infants and their parents - being sought by the Benson Music Group of Nashville, Tenn. Benson Music Group is trying to set itself apart from other children's-music offerings on the market with its six Happy Baby recordings, first produced in Germany and available since last year in the United States.
For one thing, it's adult music, given a light, harpsichord-and-triangle instrumental touch.
For another, there's Happy Baby's unusual money-back guarantee - Benson Music Group promises its music will make any baby stop crying or you get a full refund. No one has asked for one yet, said Andrew Katcher, a company spokesman.
Offerings include classical, such as Tchaikovsky's ``Swan Lake''; contemporary pop, such as Phil Collins' ``Another Day in Paradise'' and ``The Greatest Love of All,'' most recently recorded by Whitney Houston; traditional folk songs and lullabies; a New Age-style nature tape combining music, singing birds and crashing waves.
There's even ``Beatles for Babies,'' with instrumental versions of 12 of the rock group's songs, from the obvious - ``Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,'' ``Yellow Submarine,'' ``Ob La Di, Ob La Da'' - to the improbable - ``Yesterday,'' ``Nowhere Man.''
``You know, it's really `Beatles for Parents,' '' said Nancy E. Chappell, owner of Rooms to Grow, a Virginia Beach specialty store.
She sold more of The Beatles' version than any other last fall when she displayed the compact discs and tapes on a trial basis. ``Classics'' was No. 2. Although total sales were light, she has reordered the series.
Benson spokesman Katcher said the recordings are based in part on studies showing that music is an important part of a child's brain development. There have been reports, including one in January on ABC's ``Primetime Live,'' that Mozart helps math and reasoning skills and that melodies aid in learning to read.
However, a local expert suggested that parents should buy the tapes if they like the music but not for any alleged developmental boost. There's no scientific evidence that music creates smarter kids, he said. Or magically stops them from crying.
``Certainly, music is soothing to people in general,'' said the expert, Dr. Thomas R. Montgomery. He's an assistant professor of pediatrics and director of developmental disabilities at Eastern Virginia Medical School and medical director of the Children's Developmental Center at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters.
``I guess they can also have that affect on an infant. I don't know of any scientific evidence that it's more soothing than a mother's voice, or humming.
``But I don't think the kind of tapes you buy make any difference. . . . A relaxed and quiet parent is going to be an aid to quieting a child.''
Six-month-old Marcus Alexander Haynes of Portsmouth has grown up on the mellow sound of Kenny G's saxophone, the favorite of his mother, Shari, so he's a fairly mellow fellow. But when he's fussy or tired or wants attention, said his mother, ``I don't care what's playing. It's not going to make a difference.''
Still, when Marcus got cranky at bedtime recently, his father, Victor, slipped in a Happy Baby tape.
``I was playing the one with the classical music,'' Victor Haynes said. ``He kind of looked at me, went `Eh, eh, eh' and went off to sleep.''
A happy baby? ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Love Songs: Happy Baby
KEYWORDS: MUSIC THERAPY INFANT BABY by CNB