Many adults look at these two decades with distaste when the subject of children's music comes up. Quality seemed to give way to commercialism as entities like Barney, Elmo, and The Wiggles dominated the field of kids' music.
Barney, who was created in 1987 and went national in 1992, and Elmo, who began his rise to stardom in 1985, both started as TV characters but spun off a massive amount of merchandise, including music CDs. The Wiggles, whose debut CD came out in 1991, began as a music group but with the help of the distributor of Barney products, hit the small screen to promote their CDs and DVDs. Many parents felt that the choice of music was taken out of their hands as aggressive advertising pushed products onto their children.
One of the most significant releases of the '90s was Laurie Berkner's debut Whaddaya Think of That?. Her independently-released CD paved the way for the new wave of "kindie rock" artists in the new millennium.
