Seven of the wierdest classic rock cameos in kids' media

The Rugrats movie list of musical cameos

As I mentioned, I am leaving off instances where the artist’s mere presence on the kids’ show is weird. If it weren’t for that stricture, we could also add No Doubt, Elvis Costello, Mya, Blackstreet, Busta Rhymes, and Devo to the above names. The Rugrats Movie Soundtrack was ridiculously stacked with A-list talent. But what makes those fifteen names notable is that they’re all on the same song!

The list of musicians included on "The World Is Something New To Me," Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Lou Rawls, B Real from Cypress Hill, Lenny Kravitz, Beck, Jakob Dylan, Gordon Gano from Violent Femmes, Phife Dawg from A Tribe Called Quest, Laurie Anderson, Lisa Loeb, Dawn Robinson from En Vogue, and Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson from the B-52s.

In 2018 when, Urban Legends rereleased the soundtrack on vinyl for its 20th anniversary, the world was reintroduced to the fact that such a ridiculous roster of people had all contributed to one track. But the vinyl buffs who bought the record on the strength of those names must’ve had an I don’t know what I expected moment when they heard the track “The World Is Something New To Me;” it’s a novelty kids’ song. 

Each rocker plays the part of a newborn baby in a maternity ward, talk-singing about how the world is something new to them. Patti Smith and Iggy Pop share the best exchange: “Aw man, they cut my cord…” “Consider yourself lucky!” And it comes back to Pop for the other fun line: “Quiet! I can barely hear myself suck.” But apart from that, it’s a random brainstorm of stuff newborn babies might say, plus three-quarters of the B-52s collectively producing a fart joke. 

If you listened to the track on vinyl, you're still better off than if you heard it while watching the movie; the sequence ends with the babies producing a fountain of pee in a Busby Berkeley human waterfall number.