Kids / School Bands
For the young and young at heart.
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The Holker Family - Feelin’ GoodI instantly fell in love with The Holker Family - endlessly coming at me in their gym shorts and tube socks. It only got better when I opened the gatefold to find The Holkers engaged in all manner of recreational activities. (Is this a private home gym? Why is there wainscoting in […]
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God Is For Real, ManIt’s taken me a good couple years to fully digest this lp, but I think I can now say with some degree of certainty that this is hands down one of the heaviest “non-music” lp’s I’ve heard. I mean, how could a 60’s record of ghetto kids interpreting the bible in jive talk be anything […]
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Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior University Marching BandThat one dude has a pot leaf on his tuba. How sweet is that? Anyhow, yeah, turned-on marching band plays the Dead, Stones, Santana, Chicago, etc, etc. Betcha each and every one of them made a bong in ceramics class.
TRUCKIN’
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Rasberry Jam 2/People - If We Only Have LoveDollar bin find! Blank back cover & a stock front, the only other info besides band & title:”Produced by Sid Kleiner’s House Of Guitars, R.513, Califon NJ”. The People side consists entirely of covers: the Bee Gees (Words, To Love Somebody), Beatles (Birthday), Jefferson Airplane (White Rabbit), Monkees (Shades Of Grey), and The First Edition […]
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The Chandra Dimension (unreleased) EPI refused to believe it was true until Chandra sent me a copy of the master tapes. An unreleased Chandra EP? This time with full teenage backing band and production from Steve Alexander and Eugenie Diserio of The Dance? I told myself it had to be bad. Such a thing would be too good to […]
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Ecology Sea in Song and Ballad“Hey, I know, let’s get ripped and record some songs about the ocean for kids.” I suppose one of the beauties of making your own record is that there’s no one to tell you no… as is evident on this custom job devoted to stoner octopus ballads and the like. Not that I’m knocking […]
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Vanguard Singers: Hymns Hot & Carols CoolI will absolutely buy any record with a priest playing bongo drums on the cover… and while admittedly this is not always a strategy that pays off, this did turn out to be an above average church kids album with a fairly “turned on” sound. Not thoroughly amazing throughout, but there is one track in […]
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Ronald et RonaldLeave it to the French to produce quite possibly the single most annoying children’s 7″. EVER. I dare you to listen to these two songs. In their entirety. Is it a voice? Are they robotic chickens? How are they singing about a Pussycat? WHAT THE FUCK?
Couac Couac
Pussycat
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AMERICA - The Golden Eagle BandMaybe I should have saved this post for the fourth of July. But as I write this, I feel as patriotic as ever (in a retrospective, founding fathers kind of way) listening to this Middle School band (orchestra) pile drive through the great works of American composers and marching band standards. I originally […]
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Kids of Widney HighApparently this was a private cassette only release before Rounder re-issued this late 80’s effort made by L.A. area disabled high schoolers. All original material by the kids which is cool, but unfortunately it sounds like they got some shredding at the local guitar center dude to back them musically. I suppose some would find […]
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Baquen! - Sensational Sound of Screen MusicIt took me a while before I noticed the pink female torso holding a gun underneith Sean Connery’s posterized face. The lack of priorities and absence of focus on this cover is somehow exemplary for the record itself. Some cool and some uncool tunes have been treated by the strange combo of drums, flute, oboe, […]
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Old Adobe Union School District: 1983Local school that put out several records that I find every so often around town. The cool thing about them is that, unlike a lot of school records, they included selections from various levels of their music program… EI: Advanced band, intermediate, and yes… beginning! Check out the beginner’s take on the Theme to Rocky.
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Ella Jenkins - Counting Games & Rhythms For The Little OnesElla Jenkins is probably the most legendary name as far as childrens instructional records are concerned. This record is on Scholastic/Folkways and focusses on teaching kids to count. There are heaps of cool little counting songs that everyone should recognise, with Ella accompanied by acoustic guitar and children from Lake Meadows Nursery School. Ella Jenkins […]
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Beaumont High School: A Sometime RainYet another record I bought on a trip back home visiting family. My mom lived in Beaumont for a few years… I can absolutely say without a doubt that if you’re ever faced with moving there, DON’T. It is the very definition of a hellhole. Anyhow, even hellholes like Beaumont, California have records… such as […]
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Slinger Community High School - Slinger, WisconsinA decidely uninspiring high school showcase record from the late sixties/early seventies. This record was pressed by the Universal Audio Corporation, 2541 Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis, Minn. 55404. It features the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Mixed Chorus, Owl Singers & Combined Chorus & band. The two best cuts are the Jazz Ensemble’s out of tune & […]
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Holidays To Sing AboutOK, I was just telling a friend that I was going to stop reviewing crappy records on the site… and I genuinely mean it… so help me god I do. Then I log in tonight and see all the dumb shit I have cued up. They’ve been sitting here for months - a small voice […]
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Capitol Singers: Over The RainbowThe mind that conceived of kids doing a cover of “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” should be cryogenically frozen for posterity.
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Various - Seventh Annual Bands Of Tomorrow ContestThis is a record documenting the performances of the High School Division Finalists in the Seventh Annual “Bands Of Tomorrow” Contest held at Falls Church, Virginia on January 25, 1969. It’s on Century Records and was recorded live at Langley High School, who also won the Senior High School Division. Western Junior High School won […]
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Trier West High School Jazz Ensemble: Merci! Merci!File under: High School Band Monsters. Totally random pull out of a grip of school band records at a thrift shop a while back. Never turn your back on kids playing Don Ellis. This will most likely be on the upcoming Waxidermy school bands/kids CD. Stay tuned…
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Soundpiper Music: Say HiPretty unique education themed jazz lp from the bay area. It appears that Soundpiper was a private label run my a husband and wife team named Piper, and based on the back notes there were a small handful of releases. While this one in particular is not completely earth-shattering, it does contain one of the […]