The Langley Schools Music Project


The Langley Schools Music Project is a collection of recordings of children's choruses singing pop hits by the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, and others. Originally recorded in 1976–77, they were found and rereleased 25 years later and became a cult hit and a successful example of outsider music. It was rereleased on vinyl March 9, 2018, by Bar/None Records.

History

The project was undertaken in 1976–77 by Canadian music teacher Hans Fenger with students from four different elementary schools of the Langley School District in British Columbia. Recordings were made in a school gym in Langley, in Metro Vancouver. Two LPs were released, 1976's Lochiel, Glenwood, and South Carvolth Schools and 1977's Hans Fenger/Wix-Brown Elementary School.
Fenger later said:
The recordings were little known until Brian Linds, a Victoria record collector, found the first record in a thrift store in 2000. He sent it to Irwin Chusid, a proponent of outsider music. He arranged to have the combined two LPs released on CD by the Netherlands-based label Basta Audio-Visuals. However, according to Chusid:
When it became apparent that Basta's US distributor would not fully understand the nature of this release, I decided to search for a US label to cover the North American market. The Langley project was rejected by ten labels.... The consensus reaction from these companies indicated they didn't take these recordings seriously; several referred to them as "novelties," and observed that "no one would want to listen to this stuff a second time."

Chusid eventually arranged to have the album issued in North America on Bar/None Records. It was scheduled for release in early September, but was delayed after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. It was finally issued on 23 October 2001.

Response

Innocence & Despair quickly created an international buzz, making many end-of-the-year best album lists in 2001.
Fred Schneider called the project "a haunting, evocative wall-of-sound experience that is affecting in an incredibly visceral way". Neil Gaiman commented, "I wish every school taught music like this. I wish every piece of music recorded in a school gymnasium were this haunting... and then I suspect that, if I listened to them right, maybe they would be."
Richard Carpenter described the vocals on "Calling Occupants" as "charming". David Bowie said the version of "Space Oddity" was "a piece of art that I couldn't have conceived of", describing the vocals as "earnest if lugubrious" and the backing arrangement as "astounding".
Salon music critic Steven Hyden wrote: "he gloomy title is no lie: The echoing, yelping renditions of this feel-good music gives off a powerfully aching melancholy. It’s the sound of youth, frozen on tape, as it fades inexorably away."
In a 2025 retrospective review in Dangerous Minds, Richard Metzger wrote, "he albums were released by Bar/None Records in 2001.... With people looking for feel-good stories after 9-11, the extraordinary bittersweet chorus of innocent young voices, along with the unlikely saga of the rediscovery of the Langley Schools Music Project, saw the CD go on to worldwide acclaim."

Influence

VH-1 coordinated a reunion of Fenger and dozens of his former students in 2002, and produced a documentary about the project. Screenwriter Mike White's concept for the 2003 hit film School of Rock was inspired by the Langley CD. When Spike Jonze approached Karen O to write the soundtrack to Where The Wild Things Are, he gave Innocence and Despair as an example of the desired "simple melodies that were emotionally complex—something that both kids and adults would appreciate".

Use in film and television

In 2010, the Langley School recording of "Good Vibrations" was licensed for the soundtrack of the film Catfish. It can also be heard in the film's trailer.
The song "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" was used to close the film Arabian Nights, Volume 3.
The song "Space Oddity" was used in the closing of the film Wonderstruck.
The song "Rhiannon" was used in the closing credits of the HBO series Here and Now.
The song "In My Room" was used in the episode "Au Jus" of the third season of NBC's Good Girls.
The song "Desperado" was used in the episode "bestest place on the earth" of the fourth season of HBO's Barry.

Track listing

;Lochiel, Glenwood, and South Carvolth Schools:
Recorded and released 1976
  1. You're So Good to Me
  2. To Know Him Is To Love Him
  3. Help Me, Rhonda
  4. Space Oddity
  5. I'm Into Something Good
  6. Band on the Run
  7. Rhiannon
  8. Little Deuce Coupe
  9. Saturday Night
;Hans Fenger/Wix-Brown Elementary School:
Recorded and released 1977
  1. Venus and Mars/Rock Show
  2. You're Sixteen
  3. Wildfire
  4. In My Room
  5. I Get Around
  6. The Long and Winding Road
  7. Desperado
  8. Good Vibrations
  9. God Only Knows
  10. Sweet Caroline
  11. Mandy
  12. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft
;Innocence & Despair:
Compilation of the two previous albums, released 2001 in North America by Bar/None Records and in Europe by Basta Records.
  1. Venus and Mars/Rock Show
  2. Good Vibrations
  3. God Only Knows
  4. Space Oddity
  5. The Long and Winding Road
  6. Band on the Run
  7. I'm Into Something Good
  8. In My Room
  9. Saturday Night
  10. I Get Around
  11. Mandy
  12. Help Me, Rhonda
  13. Desperado
  14. You're So Good To Me
  15. Sweet Caroline
  16. To Know Him Is To Love Him
  17. Rhiannon
  18. You're Sixteen '
  19. Little Deuce Coupe '
  20. Wildfire
  21. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft