Monday, June 15, 2009
Albums and singles as school prizes?
Do schools still do that anymore - give albums or singles as awards or rewards? I'd be decked if they did. Perhaps a voucher at a stretch. It's a much safer bet.
Intermittently at our school assemblies, some senior teacher would call to the podium, a star pupil who'd excelled at sport, come first in a competition or reached an outstanding level of somethingorother (it's telling that I've forgotten the categories, yet have total recall of the prizes). The student would bound to the stage like a spring lamb ready to be rewarded, but slump away like a crushed gump after receiving in recognition of their glowing over- achievements and reflected credit to the school - and these were actual prizes - Tubular Bells (for someone aged 12 in 1977?!?) and a few months later Matchstalk Men & Matchstalk Cats & Dogs (and not even the picture sleeve)..
Whoever came up with this stunt shot themselves in both feet with a double no-incentive whammy - lacking any appeal for either the heavy-hitting swots and sportsmen, or the fair-to-middling 'must try harders' like myself..
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11 comments:
I was an old proggy... still am... even my son was listening to Tublar Bells on Spotify the other day... ah I've trained him well!!!
I don't mind Bells F-Ron, and possibly even prefer the follow up Hergest Ridge, but not quite the ticket when you're twelve and it's either Saturday Night Fever or Sex Pistols..
Mike O's a great bass player - have you heard his early work with Kevin Ayers?
Bloody hell, you went to a hip school didn't you?
Tubular Bells would have completely out of the question at my old place, given the 'Exorcist section' in the middle, but even without that I don't think any of our teachers went further left-field, musically, than 'The Best of the New Seekers'.
I'm not sure I ever remember them doing that at schools here.
The school had only been open five years when I joined ISB, and there were a few 'trendy teacher' types, but Brian and Michael though (which is dangerously close to Bryant and May for a group singing about Matchsticks)..
Typically it was book tokens Keith.
I like TB a lot; but wouldn’t have appreciated it at age 12 tho.
At my school; for a special achievement prize, we were given the opportunity to choose a book from a selection in the school library...
There you go Lil - textbook prize (scuse pun)
I think you may be being presumptious here Mondo. That gift of Tubular Bells might well have changed the award-winners life forever, giving them a passion for ambient music which they would cherish for the rest of their lives.
Or maybe not...
We mostly got book tokens.
Reckon the albums were chosen by the beardy science teacher me thinks ;-)
Either that, or they were unwanted gifts that the teachers had got and was a good opportunity to 'off' them...
You doing a mash up of Mike O and Brian n Michael as we speak PM??!
P
Could be Cocktails Tubular Bells would have been 'swats' music back then so could have led some maths whizz-kid into the mysteries of musical theory - or perhaps they just gave it to their dad or older brother and dug out their Blondie albums instead..
Science Teacher could be right P, if it was a Geography teacher they'd have chosen something folky by Fairport Convention
deffo science. all a bit electronic, new n weird... they liked that.
Drama teacher woulda been a bit of prog rog, sports teacher glam rock\bowie, maths teacher - heavy rock. It's easy really!! ;-)
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