Thursday, April 20, 2006

ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK ROCK'N'ROLL HIGH SCHOOOOLLL...

...sang the Ramones, and few schools rocked like the Dondero High School A Capella Choir, of Royal Oak, Michigan. For 35 years Rick Hartsoe has been the Choir Director, aided and abetted by energetic instrumentalists, also culled from the student ranks.

Sadly, not only is Dondero High closing, but so is Otis Fodder's 'net-label Comfort Stand - a generous heaping of Dondero High's annual performances are Comfort Stand's last offerings.
There are many gems here, but check out this cover of Boston's

"More Than A Feeling" - the arena-rock bombast of the original is transformed through the choir's singing, handclaps, and more low-key (but still energetic) arrangement into an innocent campfire singalong. Just charming.

Don't know what Otis will be up to now, but I hope it means completing another Bran Flakes album of thrift store record-inspired mashups. And as for the beloved Mr. Hartsoe, he, like the school, is retiring.

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