The Battle of the Bands

Do you remember when the House played almost every weekend after the football game? Well, I probably made that up in a fit of nostalgia, but I do remember there were dances at least once a month, maybe twice, and live music was, well...as much as I loved listening to Lynn Hoffman, Richard Jones, and Greg Raw, it was really all we had to choose from in the pre-DJ days. After they graduated, Ken Beard and Mark Hine took over, followed by Barry Love close behind.

I liked the band thing. It gave us some real people we knew to rally behind. It forged some bonds among the classes that don't exist in the same way today, well except for one small near riot between the Senior Class of 1969 and the then sophomore Class of 1971.

We still did Junior-Senior Proms that way at Muskogee High School, with a live band, until about the 1980's. Then gradually radio DJ's took over. It made more sense, as the DJ had a wide assortment of music to assuage the inner teenager in preppies, cowboys, funkadelics, and punks alike. Hello digital music, hello future.

But, goodbye creativity, musical intelligence for the masses, and the Battle of the Bands. In coming into the digital age we have lost something human in us - we have surrendered it to the machine.

All studies have shown that students who study music and play an honest-to-goodness musical instrument (not a fruity loops program on the computer) do better at critical reasoning. They have been shown to perform better on the SAT, too.

Also, a band is about WE and not ME, like a DJ is. It develops cooperation and an understanding of human relations and, sometimes, how to make up after a fight. In other words, it promotes team work and cooperative learning.

Aside from the Swon Brothers, I never hear about teen bands in Muskogee anymore, but maybe I am just out of that loop. The garage band, it seems, has given way to the production of CD's, and that's okay - it is a fun, non-destructive way for teens to pass time, even if it doesn't involve the ability to read music. It could also lead to a recording contract, if the teen is talented enough or latches onto that one loop that hits the bigtime.

But, while I can see having dueling rappers or DJ's, I just can't see having a Battle of the CD's. It just doesn't sound very exciting.

If your child has a band, the Oklahoma Heritage Association is sponsoring a Battle of the Bands in OKC. The entry date is quick - Feb. 6th, this Wednesday.
The Teen Board of the Okla. Heritage Assoc. is looking for a variety of genres and age groups to showcase in the Battle. Applications are due to the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum by February 6. Go to the Oklahoma Heritage website to download the application.

www.oklahomaheritage.com/TeenBoard