My music teacher in elementary school made us sing "Saturday Night" repeatedly in class. He also had us sing "Brick House" "Serpentine Fire". He was a bizarre little man.
Did you go to the Langley School by chance?
These 1976-77 recordings, captured on a 2-track tape deck in a school gymnasium, weren't staged to achieve money or fame, to sell albums or land a record contract. These kids played music because they loved it. Innocent, flawed and bittersweet, guided by Fenger's unsuspecting genius, these recordings deserve to be heard and preserved. They brim with charm and youthful élan, sparked by flashes of lo-fi Spectorian majesty and Pet Sounds subtlety. Call it folk art, outsider, or campfire rock -- the labels don't matter. These are gorgeous, heavenly artifacts. Period.
These recordings were originally contained on two 12" LPs, pressed exclusively for the students, their classmates, teachers, and parents. They were never intended for exposure outside the provincial Langley region. But after they came to the attention of Irwin Chusid, the Songs in the Key of Z author and record producer vowed to make these recordings commercially available. He forged a licensing/trustee agreement with the Langley School administrators, and with the blessings of Hans Fenger and several former student soloists who were located, these priceless recordings have now been introduced to the rest of the planet.
The recordings were newly remastered and CEDAR-cleaned, and reverberate with an astonishing range of.fidelity.
The package includes a 16-page full-color booklet chronicling the development of the recordings; personal reminiscences from Hans Fenger; photos from the original LP covers; and colorful.sidelights.
01) Venus and Mars/Rock Show (Paul McCartney &.Wings)
02) Good Vibrations (The Beach Boys)
03) God Only Knows (The Beach Boys)
04) Space Oddity (David Bowie)
05) The Long and Winding Road (The Beatles)
06) Band On The Run (Paul McCartney & Wings)
07) I'm Into Something Good (Earl-Jean/Herman's Hermits)
08) In My Room (The Beach Boys)
09) Saturday Night (Bay City Rollers)
10) I Get Around (The Beach Boys)
11) Mandy (Barry Manilow)
12) Help Me, Rhonda (Beach Boys)
13) Desperado (The Eagles)
14) You're So Good To Me (The Beach Boys)
15) Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond)
16) To Know Him Is To Love Him (Teddy Bears)
17) Rhiannon (Fleetwood Mac)
18) You're Sixteen (Johnny Burnette/Ringo Starr)
19) Little Deuce Coupe (The Beach Boys)
20) Wildfire (Michael Martin Murphy)
21) Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact.Day)(Klaatu/The Carpenters)
Don't complain. I distinctly remember my music teacher handing out the lyrics to "One Tin Soldier." It was some kind of hippy anti-war thing, but I think it was a real, i.e., someone recorded it, song.