The year was 1985. The brief was clear. Actually it was more the idea than it was a brief. We were going to make the concert of the year. St Francis College in Mariannhill is not one of those rich private schools where elaborate matric dances are held.
In fact you could not even begin to call the last concert a matric dance. It was more of the fun and games. I was in an invidious position where I was expected to come with the idea. But in the end it was not an issue at all coming up with one.
The year saw a number of hits but the best was Michael Jackson's We Are The World. That it was a catchy tune was not the reason that we chose it. The message was what appealed to most of us. You see, most of us came from thoroughly poor families and were there at the mercy of the church or some other sponsor from the various countries of the world.
So the appeal to help was particularly edifiying for us. Its one thing identifying your signature tune. It is a completely different executing the task. Then there were no websites with lyrics. We certainly did not have compact discs.
Instead we had a tape recorder and a tune that was badly copied off radio. Radio deejays really messed the likes of us with the well-timed comment in the middle of the song. From the tape recorder with a dodgy battery we had to make sense of the tune and work out the lyrics. Once that was accomplished, we had to assemble and try to sing the song. Except what passed on as lyrics did not make sense sometimes and a huge argument would erupt on the exact words. For crying out loud we did not know the exact words. And much as we cared, it was near impossible to pull off the concert and still find the exact words. So we went with what we had.
Twenty three years on, most of us believe it was probably one of the best concerts we had. And the most important part was that we did not have the resources. A former schoolmate remembers the craze of red jackets. He also remembers like me that only two of the 500 or so boys could afford to have them. That and the concert are our shared memories of phenomenon Jackson.
In fact you could not even begin to call the last concert a matric dance. It was more of the fun and games. I was in an invidious position where I was expected to come with the idea. But in the end it was not an issue at all coming up with one.
The year saw a number of hits but the best was Michael Jackson's We Are The World. That it was a catchy tune was not the reason that we chose it. The message was what appealed to most of us. You see, most of us came from thoroughly poor families and were there at the mercy of the church or some other sponsor from the various countries of the world.
So the appeal to help was particularly edifiying for us. Its one thing identifying your signature tune. It is a completely different executing the task. Then there were no websites with lyrics. We certainly did not have compact discs.
Instead we had a tape recorder and a tune that was badly copied off radio. Radio deejays really messed the likes of us with the well-timed comment in the middle of the song. From the tape recorder with a dodgy battery we had to make sense of the tune and work out the lyrics. Once that was accomplished, we had to assemble and try to sing the song. Except what passed on as lyrics did not make sense sometimes and a huge argument would erupt on the exact words. For crying out loud we did not know the exact words. And much as we cared, it was near impossible to pull off the concert and still find the exact words. So we went with what we had.
Twenty three years on, most of us believe it was probably one of the best concerts we had. And the most important part was that we did not have the resources. A former schoolmate remembers the craze of red jackets. He also remembers like me that only two of the 500 or so boys could afford to have them. That and the concert are our shared memories of phenomenon Jackson.
you know no matter what I don't think there will be another musician like Michael Jackson, to take ove all age groups like he did. I will never forget him cauze he touche my soul the way no other musician has and I will always love him and rememer him for that.None of us is wothout speck in our eye,so don judge lest you are judged.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite sad to lose such an icon at an early age. May his soulful soul rest in peace.
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