This is the story of Canada’s most unlikely hit record.
GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT
In 1974, former rock musician Hans Fenger was hired to work at a school in Langley, British Columbia. Fenger had never taught music before, but he and his students didn’t let their inexperience stop them from making music. Instead of teaching the children traditional choir songs, the iconoclastic Fenger taught them songs by David Bowie, Klaatu, The Beach Boys, and Paul McCartney. Fenger created new arrangements for the songs, and, using an experimental technique popularized by Brian Wilson and Carl Orff, the students accompanied themselves using Indonesian gamelan chimes and percussion instruments. Fenger later said, “I knew nothing of what children’s music was supposed to be. But the kids had a grasp of what they liked: emotion, drama, and making music as a group. Whether the results were good, bad, in tune or out, it was no big deal.”
FROM BARGAIN BIN TO BESTSELLER
Fenger eventually recorded his charges, some 60 at a time, on a 2-track tape deck during sessions in school gyms in Langley and Metro Vancouver. The recordings were made into 12" LPs and were intended for the students, parents, and teachers. The records might have faded into obscurity, but in 2000, record collector Brian Linds stumbled on them in a thrift store. Enraptured by what he heard, he sent the music to “outsider music” specialist Irvin Chusid. Chusid created an agreement with the Langley School administration and, with the support of Hans Fenger and several former students, marketed them. Ten record labels rejected the recordings until Bar/None Records released them in 2001 as a single CD titled Innocence and Despair. The CD met critical acclaim and was hailed as a work of genius. Fred Schneider of the B-52s remarked, “ the Langley Project blew me away—a haunting, evocative wall-of-sound experience that is affecting in an incredibly visceral way.” David Bowie called the Langley students’ rendition of his song “Space Oddity,” “a piece of art that I couldn’t have conceived of, even with half of Colombia’s finest export products in me.” The album not only inspired some of the students to continue with careers in music, but also American filmmaker Richard Linklater’s 2003 hit School of Rock.
Canada was invited to join the United States in 1777.