How The Beach Boys & David Bowie Inspired Rock’s Most Unexpected Album

In 2001, the most unlikely rock album took the world by storm. It didn't feature seasoned musicians. It featured 200 elementary school kids in a school gym, performing rock and pop songs of the 1970s, in the 1970s, in a single take. It's backbone: the music of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. A main attraction among many: a song by David Bowie that he felt was the best cover of one of his songs he had ever heard. This is the story of The Langley Schools Music Project, the release of Innocense & Despair, and the teacher behind it, Hans Fenger. It's a story that ultimately inspired the film School of Rock featuring Jack Black.

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Poetic Wax is a weekly music history series hosted by Andy Fenstermaker, where he digs into the record collection he's been building since the 1990s to uncover the sometimes little told stories behind the artists, albums, and songs from within.