DOUBLE THE FUN: Six months after husband-and-wife children's act Judy & David played their first concert in February 1993, the Toronto-based duo had five albums to its credit. Four of those five, packaged as a set in a wooden toy under the title "My Little Yellow Bus," went on collectively to sell more than 5 million copies worldwide. 

Judy & David's latest album, "Livin' In A Shoe," released last month on Tanglewood Audio / Universal Music Canada, is being lauded as one of the freshest, funniest, most inventive kids' albums out there. Add to this the pair's numerous TV appearances ó and the likely prospect of their landing a regu lar Canadian TV gig ó and you have "Canada's hottest up-and-coming chil dren's entertainers," as one TV executive dubbed Judy & David.  

Chicago-bred David and native Torontonian Judy first met at a Toronto Sunday school, where Judy was teaching and David was subbing for the regular music instructor. Judy was an associate of Canada's Royal Conserva tory of Music, with degrees in teaching and piano performance from the University of Toronto; David was a veteran (and quite enthusiastic) summer-camp song leader. "I'd always loved group singing at camp," he says. "Doing kids' music is the closest thing to that."  

Judy, too had worked with kids at day camps and had been inspired by a Sharon, Lois & Bram family concert she'd experienced with a niece. "I thought, 'What a wonderful thing to do.' But I didn't [start doing it] myself until I met David." 

The two began performing informally together; they were married in 1991. "Our best songwriting is done as a team," says David. "I'm the total music clown/hack. I'm good at starting crazy ideas for songs and melodies. Judy's good at taking these rough pieces of clay and sculpting them into something beautiful, filling in the fine brush strokes." 

Early on, David put in time on the business side of the kids' business, serving as director of business development for a small children's entertainment company, the Children's Hour, before quickly realizing that "I really wanted to be in front of the microphone." He quit his job and with Judy launched their production company, All Together Now Entertainment. 

"We didn't want to be preachy," says Judy. "It bothers me that kids' music itself seems to be undervalued, that it's not enough on its own without messages." 

"We wanted nothing heavy-handed about saving the environment," says David, adding that the sentiment itself is, of course, valid. "We do believe in bringing people together through music. If you're at a concert with hundreds of other people having a common experience, it builds bonds . . . We wanted to give kids the feeling that they're part of the music." 

The pair's songs are especially tuned in to what matters to preschoolers and early graders, brought off with a light and whimsical touchónot to mention contagious melodies and appealing arrangements. One of the tracks on "Livin' In A Shoe," for instance, deals with that insidiously maddening situation, "Hole In My Sock"; another, "Big Old Car," is an infectious ditty with fun to-imitate vehicular noises. Particularly wonderful, in our opinion, are the duo's periodic flights of pure, off-the wall goofiness, from "Later That Night At The Hen House" (a chicken-clucked rendition of Khachaturian's frenzied classic "Sabre Danse") to "The David Tabernacle Choir" (an overdubbed, a cappella track on which David tackles everything from bass to soprano). 

"We call it the Jared album," notes Judy, because, she says, halfway through recording it their adored adopted son Jared came into their lives. "Livin' In A Shoe" is dedicated to Jared and, in proud parental tradition, even features the baby on guest vocals. 
  

 

The release of "Livin' In A Shoe" was marked with a three-date, sold-out concert stand in a 500-seat Toronto venue, City Playhouse, according to Tanglewood Audio director of concert development Eileen Melnick. "The album was just named one of the top 10 of 1997 in Child magazine," she adds. "Livin' In A Shoe" is available domestically at selected Borders Books & Music stores. 

Judy & David's first album, "Jumpin' Up And Down," grew out of a 1992 demo tape cut at Metal Works, a studio owned by Triumph drummer Gil Moore. They put it out themselves;  Tanglewood/MCA reissued it in 1996.  Early on, they realized that it would be  impossible to make a living by taking the customary kid-performer route:  birthday parties, libraries, schools  ("Thoughwe do schools nowthatwe can  afford it, and it's a blast," David notes).  Instead, they established themselves at  the music-festival level right away, playing 150- to 600-seat venues. Then, an entrepreneur got hold of "Jumpin' Up And Down," according to David, and commissioned the duo to record four hours' worth of kids' material for a proposed audio toy project. "For a month straight, we were singing every children's song we ever knew," says David, "and ended up with over 80 tracks." 

From these, four cassettesó "Rhymes, Chimes, And Quiet Times," "Magical Musical Journey," "Shake It All About," and "Animal Wonders"ó were compiled and placed in a brightly colored wooden toy, which was packaged with the title "My Little Yellow Bus" (and a later version, "My Little Red Fire Truck"). Though never available at retailó"They were sold door-to door in office buildings around the world," says Davidóthe audio toys racked up 1.5 million units sold, according to David. Judy & David now have the rights to "My Little Yellow Bus" and have been in discussions with high-pro file Canadian label the Children's Group (home of the distinglushed series "Classical Kids") about the possibility of reissuing the collection. 

As mentioned, Judy & David's TV appearances are on the riseóa concert special for Canada's Family Channel, "Judy & David's Music Shop," is now available on video. They're appearing in a CBC Christmas special and are in heavy rotation on recently debuted kids' music video channel Treehouse TV. Their proposed regular series, "The World's Smallest Television Show," is in negotiations with "a major Canadian broadcaster," says David, "and we're now looking for a U.S. broadcaster." The pair also oversees a popular World Wide Web site (www.judyanddavid.com), featuring song Iyrics, activities, sing alongs, coloring sheets, and more.