Mrs. B vs. The Mugger

This is a little song we put together in honor of my mom, Mrs. B, who had a run-in with a mugger yesterday in Puerto Rico. He got her bracelet and pushed her down, but she put up an admirable fight, and was able to do some damage of her own. So the PS22 Chorus of 2010 pays homage to Mrs. Muhammad Al-B. :)

22

This song, just by the title alone, demanded the PS22 Chorus treatment. So we completely changed around the words to the Lily Allen hit, "22", and turned it into an anthem for PS22. And of course, we're all quite proud of the outcome. These kids are just bangin' 'em out one after another, and each cover is coming out golden!

The Guardian

An awesome write-up of the PS22 Chorus appeared in today's edition of the British newspaper The Guardian, one of the world's most respected news carriers. Check it out here or below. You can also see a previous PS22 write-up in the Guardian here.

Under The Milky Way

Another winner from today's practice. This is "Under The Milky Way" by The Church and was actually a request I was more than happy to oblige. This happens to be one of my favorite songs from years back. And the kids do it much justice! Thanks to Mr. Eberle for joining in on the drums!

Walking On A Dream

Here is another AMAZING rendition from today's rehearsal! This is the super-catchy song by Australian band Empire of the Sun called "Walking on a Dream." The PS22 Chorus of 2010 is getting better and better with each performance, and this may be the kids' best yet!

Holy Today Show!

Big thanks to NBC and the Today Show for giving us permission to upload this video of the PS22 Chorus singing "O Holy Night" amidst holiday greetings from random New Yorkers. This footage aired nationally on Christmas Day 2009, but some stations went to local news and did not show it. (This includes, bewilderingly, New York itself where all this was filmed!) So although it's a bit late for holiday stuff, I thought this certainly would not go unappreciated.

106.7 KISS FM Interview

Had the awesome pleasure of talking with Paul Guglielmo from 106.7 KISS FM yesterday. You can check out the interview here.

Alicia Keys Luvs PS22!!

Awesome to discover that Alicia Keys herself tweeted about and linked to the PS22 Chorus version of "Empire State of Mind!" Humbled and honored!!

Empire State of Mind Pt. XXII

The PS22 Chorus of 2010 delivers big time on the New York anthem by Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind!" Props to Dominique & Messale for amazing jobs on the lead vocals & rap (respectively). And of course to Ethan for a well-deserved happy dance at the song's conclusion. We based our version more on the Alicia Keys Part II version, but as a tribute to Jay-Z, the kids and I created our own little rap in general music. 2010 is proving to be an extremely prolific year for the PS22 Chorus!

UPDATE (1-16-10): The "Empire State" video has already earned four Top 40 YouTube Honors (including the the #39 Top Viewed Music Video), in less than 24 hours of being posted! We'll update as usual until it peaks.

UPDATE 2 (1-16-10): New York Magazine has posted the video on their website with a nice short review! And the kids are featured prominently on their home page!

UPDATE 3 (1-17-10): Just got word that Aussie pop superstar, Kylie Minogue, put a link to the vid on her Twitter page, saying she loves the kids!

Update 4 (1-18-09): Awesome to discover that Alicia Keys herself tweeted about and linked to the PS22 Chorus version of her song with great enthusiasm! Humbled and honored!!

UPDATE 5 (1-19-10): MSN featured the PS22 Chorus version of "Empire State Of Mind" on their homepage on Tuesday!

UPDATE 6 (1-21-10): The "Empire State" vid has made its way to the "Best of Bing" list, which you can find by just clicking on the "Videos" link on the popular search engine!

UPDATE 7 (1-22-10): Thanks to Ashton Kutcher for adding to the now 100,000 views this video has earned by linking to it on his Twitter page!

UPDATE 8 (1-23-10): The video is still scoring impressive honors on YouTube, including #38 Top Favorited Music Video this week!

Sweet Sweet Wikipedia!

This song lyrically and otherwise was a perfect fit for the PS22 Chorus. Our interpretation is to feel your way through life rather than think it. That pretty much sums up our approach to music, so here's another short and sweet accomplishment from Tuesday's practice. It's a pretty obscure song called "Sweet Sweet Intuition" from the one and only Bjork. Love Erica's little solo at the end. The kids and I were listening to the song and trying to figure out what Bjork was saying there. So of course we decided it had to be, "Try. Set Your Wii." No corrections necessary. ;)

This song is a thank you to PS22 Chorus mega-fan Zendrig, who not only designed our amazing blog header, but put together the PS22 Chorus Wikipedia page. Yep, PS22 Chorus is on Wikipedia!! Check it out!

Voices

The extraordinary voices of the PS22 Chorus of 2010 come together on this beautiful song by one of my all-time favorite songwriters, Nick Drake, called "Voices." Mike shows he's got a lot of soul with his solo, even if he doesn't care about Johnny....

Nick Drake is a relatively obscure singer/songwriter from the 1970's, and was one of the most innovative guitar players of his time. His lyrics are poetry (check out Fruit Tree, Three Hours, Day Is Done, Black Eyed Dog, etc.), and this song is particularly moving, especially sung by children. Nick unfortunately passed away at only 26 years of age, but this is PS22's tribute to this incredible musician and human being.

Open Education Interview

Recently I was interviewed by Tom Hanson, editor of OpenEducation.net. As a former superintendent, Tom is a veteran in the field of education. We were able to cover a lot of ground in a very thorough interview about the history and background of the PS22 Chorus. Today the interview surfaced on the site. So make sure to head on over to check it out.