Me and my buddy are trying to put a set-list together with the theme mentioned in the title.
"Unassuming places" is intentionally a little vague, but the idea is that feeling of "damn, I did not expect a song from this [insert piece of media] to be that good," or when you sit down and really listen to something you are surprised at well-composed it is, or songs that sound simple and reach a wide audience, but are actually a lot more complicated under the hood.
Some examples of the sounds we're going for are:
You might also be able to call this list "songs geared towards children but are actually good" but I feel like that has more of a nursery rhyme-ish connotation and I'm hoping to branch out of that.
We're a guitar duo with a jazz background, so songs that could potentially fit that mold are preferred, but I don't want that to hinder anyone from giving suggestions! I'd love to see what anyone can come up with.
Bubble Guppies. The songs are legit bops. I Sent You a Letter, Bunch of Bones, Go Down to a Restaurant, Long Time Ago, Super Super Supermarkets, Ocean Animals, the list goes on. I love the hooks, harmonies, production, etc. I challenge anyone to name songs catchier than these.
Also, Preschool Popstars. Juice Box, Wait Until I Cook It, Daycare Dance Party. Super fun, funny, and great production.
Lots of great classic Sesame Street songs. In particular, they had two disco albums that my kids and I have dance parties to. One of the Bee Gees produced one of them. Neither album has any skips. I also love the song I've Got Two---Susan could sing!
We love Disney soundtracks, and one of our favorites is The Princess and the Frog, very jazzy New Orleans tunes.
Have fun!