Samstag, 28. Juli 2007

The Heterotrophic Blues

"Heterotroph Shmeterotroph" declares the Crenshaw High School student to his father, "I'm not going to learn this stuff anyway. Might as well kick it and watch MTV". Thus starts this zany little music video in which a kid finds he can learn all about "the heterotroph hypothesis" by watching "Elvis Parsley" sing a rockabilly lesson about how tough it is for those of us who depend on autotrophs for our daily bread. The video, made in 1990, features T.H. and his kids from the 'hood playing horns while Dr. Sherry Kerr's students from Beverly Vista Middle School in Beverly Hills play vegetables. Shot at Beverly Hills Television, this was a pioneering attempt to bring kids from the poor areas of L.A. together on a project with wealthy kids from Beverly Hills, and it occurred during a time of economic depression in L.A. that preceeded the L.A. riots. Because of our Melodic-Mnemonics program we were able to bring the communities together during the time of the worst violence and intolerance that followed.


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