The Homoerratic Radio Show: The Mitchell Boys Choir

Artist: The Mitchell Boys Choir

LP: The Mitchell Boys Choir Sings

Song: "The Pledge of Allegiance"

Song: "The Happy Wanderer"

The Mitchell Boys Choir is a lot like Menudo—in that the boys are cast out of the group once they hit puberty, and young new recruits step in to take their place in the limelight. You can read all about that in the liner notes below. I like the Mitchell Boys Choir's musical version of "The Pledge of Allegiance," since it recalls a time when everything was still black and white; when everyone knew what the USA really stood for; when political corruption, ambiguity, and problems were not yet a part of everyday life in America. I also like the boys' version of "The Happy Wanderer" because if you listen to it more than once, it will drive you completely insane. The back of the album features head shots of five of the singing boys (and I mean head shots—no neck!), and the boys' expressions each bring to mind a variety of urgent exclamations or panicked shouts of distress, as you can see below. As for Bob Mitchell, he was an organist whose career spanned 85 years—from 1924 to his death at age 96 in the summer of 2009. Mr. Mitchell accompanied silent movies on the organ back in the 1920s, before sound was introduced at the cinemas in 1929, and he returned to playing for silent films at California revival houses in 1992. He also played the organ for the Los Angeles Dodgers for four years, starting in 1962. You can read all about the long and fascinating career of Robert Mitchell on Wikipedia here, and find his obituary in the Los Angeles Times here.