SCHOOL BAND FRENZY!!

There's no shortage of school music recordings floating around thrift-store land. Most are fairly tame and ordinary, but there's some real lulus out there, too. And "Newhall School District Spring Concert" is one of them.

This absolutely crazed recording features five-count 'em-FIVE elementary school bands, 157 kids in all, coming together to blow the roof off the sucka. The somewhat apologetic liner notes, presumably by music director Suzette Wenke, explain that they only had one three-hour rehearsal with all the groups together before the show. Almost every second of these performances feature dissonance, suggesting an extremely loud version of the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

Newhall is a suburb just past Los Angeles, and I'm guessing this was recorded late-'70s/early '80s judging by the inclusion of some music from the show "Annie." So big ups to the kids of The Meadows, Newhall, Old Orchard, Peachland Ave., and Wylie Canyon elementary schools. Play this LOUD!

Newhall School District Spring Concert: "The Bugler"
Newhall School District Spring Concert: "Dixie Showboat"
Newhall School District Spring Concert: "Two Minuets (Royal Fireworks Suite)"