When David Bowie heard the Langley Schools Music Project version of his hit 鈥淪pace Oddity,鈥� the rock star was an instant fan.

鈥淭he backing arrangement is astounding,鈥� Bowie said.

鈥淐oupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance, you have a piece of art that I couldn鈥檛 have conceived of,鈥� he added.

The 60-voice chorus of Langley students also covered tunes by the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, Klaatu, The Bay City Rollers, and others.

Music teacher Hans Fenger arranged and conducted the 1976-77 recordings, which were captured on a two-track tape deck, then pressed on two 12鈥� LPs, exclusively for the students, their classmates, teachers, and parents.

The albums would have remained in obscurity if it wasn鈥檛 for Brian Linds, a Victoria record collector, who found the first record in a thrift store in 2000.

That brought the albums to the attention of record producer Irwin Chusid, who set up a licensing agreement with the Langley school district administrators and oversaw creation of a CD compilation of the two LPs.

鈥淚nnocence and Despair鈥� as it was called, made many end-of-the-year best album lists in 2001.

鈥淭he echoing, yelping renditions of this feel-good music gives off a powerfully aching melancholy, said music critic Steven Hyden.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the sound of youth, frozen on tape, as it fades inexorably away.鈥�

This year, the two albums have been re-released for a second time on vinyl LPs by a U.S. record company that specializes in 鈥渙utsider music.鈥� The audio has been cleaned up and two bonus tracks with liner notes added.

鈥淚t was all kind of an amateurish project,鈥� said Fenger, who estimates the initial album pressing cost about $40.

鈥淥nly 200 were pressed. Everything was one take in the gymnasium.鈥�

He said he was hired as a music teacher even though he knew virtually nothing about conventional music education, because the Langley School district was desperate for teachers.

鈥淚 was in a rock and roll band,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 was kind of a hippy.鈥�

The Langley story has been cited as the inspiration behind the comedy film School of Rock, starring Jack Black.

Fenger said he hasn鈥檛 made any money off the film, which he noted has only a loose connection with his story.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e both fish-out-of-water-tales.鈥�

After his time teaching, Fenger said he went back to music, joined another rock and roll band, then retired.

He was happy to hear that the songs have been re-issued.

鈥淚t never stops.鈥�

The songs from the project have been used in various film and TV projects:

鈥淕ood Vibrations鈥� was licensed for the soundtrack of the film 鈥淐atfish.鈥�

鈥淐alling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft鈥� was used to close the film 鈥淎rabian Nights鈥欌��, Volume 3.[6]

鈥淪pace Oddity鈥� was used in the closing of the film 鈥樷�橶onderstruck鈥欌��.

Their version of 鈥淩hiannon鈥� was used in the closing credits of the HBO series 鈥樷�橦ere and Now鈥欌��.

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dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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