This Is Book’s Music

Suicide Death Force plays Baba O’Riley from Chris Schlarb on Vimeo.

My sister calls the song “Baba Gnoosh”, others have called it “Teenage Wasteland”, but of course it’s called “Baba O’Riley”, as performed by The Who in 1971 on their Who’s Next album (a/k/a “the shishi cover”). This cover version is performed by a school band called Suicide Death Force. These music students are from Hawthorne Academy, a private non-public school, and musician/producer Chris Schlarb is their instructor (the man on guitar on the right). The students, most of whom are 15, learned the song for their graduation ceremony, and as you’ll see and hear, they did a very good job. It may have freaked out the younger children in the crowd who didn’t realize the CSI: NY theme had more to it than the 30 seconds they’re exposed to, but then again, one would hope those kids are watching Kid Nick and not CSI: NY but what do I know.

Outside of music projects he always seems to be producing, Schlarb is currently putting together a documentary film on ice cream trucks called We Scream: Voices From The Ice Cream Underground, which will add the term “director” to his impressive line of work.

We Scream Trailer from Chris Schlarb on Vimeo.

If you watched yesterday’s Super Bowl XLIV, you may have caught a commercial featuring The Who‘s “My Generation” but heard in a different fashion. The co-vocals in that mix was done by none other than will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. What you may not have known was that the song also featured guitarist Slash. While the new version is sure to upset purists, it was not bad at all.

The new mix, created by will.i.am with approval from The Who themselves, has now been released as an MP3. All proceeds will be going to the Oxfam America’s Haiti Earthquake Response Fund, a charity selected by will.i.am himself.