The halls of RFK junior high often echoed with the sounds of music.
The Kennedy Chorale.
The Kennedy Madrigals.
And because Kennedy Now-Tunes
They are all part of long standing family of songs.
But, as with every family, there was a skeleton in the closet.
The boys' eigth-grade glee club.
The singing group from hell.
Twice a week, we transformed Mr. Frace's choir-room into kind of a chamber of musical horrors.
Oh, my gosh.
Randy Mitchell - baritone.
Doug Porter - monotone.
Paul Pfeiffer - no tone at all.
And of course...me.
Not that we didn't have heart.
It's just that the thirteen-year-old-male voice isn't exactly...Designed for...well...
For singing.
Hold that note.
We weren't the stuff tabernacle choirs are made of.
So, out of a mutual respect for the arts...
And humanity...
We'd reached an agreement.
We wouldn't push Mr. Frace... if he wouldn't push us.
Awright, awright - that's enough!
Just, uh...get out your books and study.
All in all... A pretty equitable arrangement.
It isn't fair. Every other group gets to sing some songs and stuff - why can't we?
Well, maybe because we...stink!
Then why are we here?
Because we have to be here.
Right, Warren?
Warren Gander.
No one had ever heard him sing a note, much less say a word.
So, what you're saying is that we're losers. Is that it?
But if Paul was looking to... Unite us in chorus...
He had just heard our best effort.
Face it...
We knew where we stood. At the bottom of the heap.
And we were smart enough not to seek the limelight.
Until, that is...
Who's she?
My name is Miss Haycock...
And if there's anything I want to impress upon you...It's...
Use your diaphragms..always use.. Your diaphragms...
What she say?
Do you hear how that sounds...full and supported...
If you're doing it right...
You'll feel it down here...
I'm thrilled to be taking over... The eigth-grade boys' glee club...
And when we sing, we'll always sing like this...
Because we're always going to remember...To use our -
Diaphragms.
She was fresh out of teaching-school.
She was full of ideas.
And, oh yes...the woman was a total lunatic.
Well, I think she's great.
Paul? Get a grip.
Why? Just because she sang...a little?
A little?
I just hope she doesn't think we're gonna sing like that.
Well, maybe not at first.
But once we master this diaphragm thing...
Diaphragms or no diaphragms...
Miss Haycock's arrival had sent a shudder of fear through all of us.
I don't want to sing.
That's why I took glee club in the first place.
Yeah, why do we have to have a student-teacher, anyway.
Relax, guys. There's nothin' to worry about. This won't last long.
What do you mean?
I mean...This is her first job - she has to look like she's trying...
Mitchell did have a point. In theory.
Maybe he's right. Maybe she'll...get over it.
Trust me - in a couple of days... She'll be acting just like Frace.
Put away your songbooks, we won't need them after all.
And that who's that?
We'll need the entire hour for voice auditions.
Who wants to be first?
First?
Was she joking?
Anyone?
Only a complete doofus would want to be f-
OK, then.
It was time to show Miss Haycock exactly who she was up against. In other words...
It was time to sing.
My country 'tis of thee...
Sweet land of liberty...
Of thee I sing...
Land where our fathers died...
From every mountainside...let freedom ring.
There. We'd laid it out for her. Clear as a bell. The folly of it all.
The hopelessness. The complete -
Yes! Yes!
That's the kind of passion we all need.
Huh?
I found that very moving.
Thank you, Kevin!
Sure, any time...
Atta way, Caruso.
Any time at all.
She made you sing? All of you?
That I'd like to see.
She said Kevin had passion.
Really?
She made a total fool out of me - so can we just forget it?
Well, I think she sounds very sweet.
So do I.
Right gesture...wrong shoulder.
Winnie, the woman's a fruitcake, OK?
In fact...
Somebody oughta...lock her up! In fact, somebody oughta -
Kevin...That's not very nice.
Uh-oh.
What if it were me up there...standing there, scared out of my wits, teaching my first class?
Uh, well...
Is that how you'd treat me?
OK - this was tricky.
Very tricky.
Maybe you should think more about things like that, Kevin.
It was pretty clear I was gonna have to find...
The moral highground, here.
And fast.
Fwa...fwa...
Fwa...to sustain the note we simply let the air flow out gently...
Now, you try.
Fwa...fwa...
Trouble is, our glee club wasn't exactly built for high ground.
We'd been weened on low expectations.
Why's she doing this to us?
Even Warren Gander was showing signs of strain.
Now, men...I have a surprise for you.
Great. What was it gonna be now?
Today, we're going to begin our first song! "Stout-hearted Men".
I have copies for all of you.
Alright - that ripped it.
No one, but no one...
Had ever threatened us with an actual musical arrangement.
And, that's not all...
We're going to be singing it next month at the Spring Sing concert!
What?!
I know, I know...we don't have much time.
But as I told Mr. Frace...my boys are up to it. And he agreed!
And suddenly it was clear.
Our reputation was on the line, here.
Our tradition. Our bad name.
Miss Haycock?
Yes, Kevin.
Do you really think this is a good idea?
Why not?
Well...I...we...just think that...
Kevin...
What if it were me standing up here?
Kevin?
You think what?
That...it would be...
Fine.
I knew you'd all feel that way!
Think of it. We're starting on...
A new adventure. Together.
And so in a flash, our fate was sealed.
The glee club's...
Miss Haycock's...
And, of course...
Mine.
Men, men, men...alright basses...
Over the next few weeks, Miss Haycock struggled to bring out our best.
Now, tenors...ahhhhhhh!
Ahhhhhhhhhh!
Which, coincidentally, happened to be our worst.
Splendid! Now remember...diaphragms. Diaphragms!
Meanwhile, I found myself trapped between raw enthusiasm...
And outright malice.
Ow! Hey!
Nice goin', Arnold.
What's that for?
That'd be great Miss Haycock. We'd love to sing in the Spring Sing.
Come on, I didn't say that.
Well...not exactly.
We're gonna look like idiots in front of the whole school...
Not to mention our parents. What are we gonna do?
Well, for one thing, we're not gonna mention it to our parents. Deal?
There's something else we could do.
We could practice...
Look, you got us into this, Arnold. So you gotta get us out.
How?
Talk to her.
She's never gonna listen to me.
Why not? You're Mr. Passion. You're the only one she will listen to.
Talk to her.
Our lives are depending on it.
Easy for them to say.
But how do you talk to someone...
Who can't even hear?
Excellent. Excellent!
The fact was, even though we sang harmonies...
That would make Quasimodo wince...
chords not found in nature...
Good! Better!
Nothing detered Miss Haycock.
With a wisdom born of weeks of experience...
She pushed on, blindly - no! deafly...
Toward a goal that was... Obviously beyond our grasp.
I know...
Let's march in place. Let's try that - come on!
We wanted to believe in her...
But it was pretty clear, sooner or later, someone was gonna have to burst this bubble.
Someone like...
Pssst! Arnold...Huh-hmmm!
Me.
It's now or never, Arnold.
Aw, what the heck...was I a stout-hearted man?
Or a craven coward.
Miss Haycock?
Yes, Kevin?
We've been...Thinking this whole thing over. And...
See...
We don't really wanna be in the Spring Sing.
It's just that...we're not any good.
So...
Maybe we shouldn't do it.
There. Difficult, of course, but... Best for everyone concerned.
You...really feel this way? All of you?
Yeah...
I see. Well...
I had no idea...
And there ya had it.
We'd finally gotten through to her.
Miss Haycock was coming to her senses.
She was going to see reason. She was going...
To cry...
Needless to say...We handled it... With a certain maturity.
Well, what you do that for, Arnold?
Me? You told me to!
Way to go, Kev.
I can't believe you did that.
You were supposed to talk to her. Not make her cry.
We had no idea what to do next.
The only thing that could help us now...was a miracle.
And then...it happened.
Ahhhhhhh...
It took the tears of a student-teacher to bring a song to...The lips of Warren Gander.
Men, men, men, men, men, men...
Men, men, men...Men, men...
And the rest is history.
Men, men, men...Men, men, men...
Men who will fight for the right they adore...
Start me with men who are stout-hearted men...And we'll soon give you ten thousand more...
And so began the great glee club comeback of nineteen-seventy.
"Give me some men who are stout hearted men"
There were only two weeks left before the big Spring Sing,but during those two weeks... "Who will fight for the right they adore"
We breathed...slept... "And we'll soon give you ten thousand more..."
And ate..."Stout-hearted Men".
It became our anthem...our battle-cry...
As we rallied round our secret weapon...
It was kind of...infectious.
"When stout-hearted men..."
And when the day had finally arrived...we had gone from horrible...
To...
Men.....!
Magnificent!
Well, anyway...we were ready.
¢Ý Follow every rainbow... ¢Ý
¢Ý Till you find your dreams.¢Ý
I'm not ready for this.
Sure ya are.
No, I'm not.
Oh, come on, Paul - it's just one song.
Or so I kept telling myself.
Look around. These guys are practically professionals.
People are paying a buck-fifty to see them.
And us.
Uh-oh.
That sneeze was a bad sign.
A very bad sign.
Take a deep breath. You know how you get once it starts.
It's my nerves.
Come on, Paul - what's there to be nervous about? Remember?
We've got Warren.
Here they are!
My boys.
Come on, everybody. Gather 'round.
I brought something for you.
Here. Pass these out.
Everyone gets one.
Yep...Miss Haycock was in her element.
Whatever element that was.
I'm so proud of you all. Ever since I was a little girl...
No, jeez, don't tell us this. We don't wanna...
I've dreamed of standing up in front of a choir and molding them in song.
Tonight will be my very first time.
And I have you to thank.
My men. I'll never forget any of you.
The funny thing is, in a way, that turned out to be true.
Alright.
Let's line up...
We're next!
And so, from the murky depths of Mr. Frace's choir room...
the eigth-grade boys glee club finally stepped into the light.
Sure, we had misgivings.
But gazing down on Miss Haycock's...
Confident face...I knew we had nothing to fear.
She believed in us.
And, of course, we believed...
In Warren.
But as I look back on that night...
It isn't the anticipation I remember best.
And it isn't the faces in the audience...
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
What I remember best...
Is that...Warren Gander's voice chose exactly that moment...
Awwwkk.
To change.
AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhAwwwkk.
It was...cruel.
Before our very eyes...
Warren had transformed from lyric tenor...
To...
Awwwkk.
Well...a bullfrog.
So the rest of us did the only thing we could.
We panicked.
Keep going!
Men, men, men, men...
But the die was cast.
Paul sneezed.
Which was too much for Doug.
Somebody laughed.
And I dropped my music.
Keep going!
It was kind of a chain reaction.
I'd like to say we rallied...
But...we didn't.
It was no one's fault, really. I guess we'd just been pushed... Beyond our limits.
We we're a bunch of eigth-grade boys.
Not an ensemble of... Stout-hearted men.
As for Miss Haycock...
She'd dreamed of molding us into something we weren't.
But that night...
She got her wake-up call.
The only problem was...she wasn't there to answer it.
We never found out where Miss Haycock disappeared to,
although some said she'd gone back to college.
Still, I like to think that - where ever she is...
there's a warm spot in her heart for the eight-grade boys' glee club.
After all, we'd learned from her, and in a way...
she'd learned from us. We'd learned together.
Men.....!
Or so I like to tell myself.
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