OK, this MP3 a day series is going to be wicked cool. The first three days were pleasant oddities (an old 78rpm record of a couple of women, a woman named The Space Lady, and a toe-tappin’ organ grinder record), but today’s offering is The Dondero High School Symphony Band and A Capella Choir doing Sweet’s Fox On The Run and Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love.
Oh. My. God. This is so cool. It’s exactly what it says–a high school symphony band and accompanying choir (not a capella, of course) from Royal Oak, Michigan, on a casette someone found in a thrift store, entitled “Pop Concert 1996.” I love the way they do the “echo” at the beginning of the verses on Fox On The Run.
Even cooler, it lead me to The Langley Schools Music Project. I realize that some of you already knew about this gem, but it’s the first time I had heard of it. It’s a 60-voice chorus of kids from western Canada in 1976-77, singing the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, The Bay City Rollers and others. It’s just a 2-track tape deck in a school gymnasium and wasn’t “…staged to achieve money or fame, to sell albums or land a record contract.”
Amazing stuff. Simple. Free-spirited. Unpretentious.
Now, I need to find Mr. Bangs and see why we only ever sang stuff like Kenny Rogers’ You Decorated My Life. *shudder*
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There’s no way our high school choir could’ve been convinced our director to do pop tunes. What Miss H? The Hippopotamus Song? Oh, alright. “Mud, mud, glorious mud, there’s nothing quite like it for cooling the blood…” Why I took up guitar, reason no. 2112.
Bangs is back at Hermon. Been back a couple of years now. He’s back in Buffalo creek, as well. We ran into him after our 20th high school reunion. After we shut the reunion down, about 16 of us went our for breakfast afterwards (Dysarts, of course) and we were busting James (Jim, Jamie, whoever the hell he is these days!)chops about his playing in the ‘Creek, when someone turned around (“and shouted…” nah, thats another song) and saw Messrs Bangs and Dondero sitting there, having just ‘Creeked the Eagles club. Major deja vu….
Carnival of the Vantities #16 – The New year’s Resolution Edition, Redux
Before we say anything else, we will bow to tradition and give thanks to the Glorious Leader who gave figurative