Mike's Minute - The Origins Of Play It Strange

I have lived several decades with the writing of songs as the underlying force field. Those songs, which number more than a hundred and twenty-five, blossomed in the recording studios and live shows of Split Enz and Citizen Band. And in hindsight, they proved the worth of such creative journeys of the imagination as being the mirror image of the voice of the younger generation. Songs carry the principal message as forged in life. And they provide imaginative templates through which a voice or voices can carry the message and spirit of the song and the individual musicians then drive, collectively, the colour and life of them. It is the magical process of a unique craft. One where thousands of our fellow citizens absorb and imbue their musical adventures first-hand.

And so we have songwriting competitions. The magnetic lure of recording studios and stage performances hover close at hand within the four walls of secondary school life and songs are entered in one or more of the three Play It Strange songwriting competitions. And from there? The merging of words and music are the constructive entities we listen to and share in our responses. Surely?

Yes. I’ve said it before – I’ll say it again…..If the rights of man pervade all the nations of this earth, then a songwriter may set foot anywhere on its surface and say – this is my world. This is my audience!

Thousands of secondary school students have written songs and entered them into the Play It Strange songwriting competitions.  And more than a thousand have been selected as ‘finalists’ and booked into the professional recording studios. This is the empowering moment. It is real. How did Play It Strange come to be?

In my time at school, we were ruled by the Beatles. We wanted to BE Beatles. And so thought about it!  Grow your hair.? Schools prohibited that. Get cool clothes? Where from? Learn to play instruments like the bass guitar. How? Write songs that emulated the Beatles’ ethos. Really?

There it was and there it is. The sense of adventure that drives the world of songwriting in schools and the thought that those original songs could be recorded. And so Play It Strange came to be.

I teamed up with a chap, Bill Moran, who had contacts in the world of finance and more. His suggestion that we call our competition Play It Strange and that we apply to a gaming society (pokies) proved to be a sturdy concept and in 2004 Bill and I put out the word to Secondary Schools.  “Have your students write songs and enter them in our songwriting competition!’ And they did. Twenty songs were selected from a total of 94 entries and recorded to comprise our first student’s album.

There was a celebration. And on it goes. Play It Strange is currently running three songwriting competitions in a calendar year….  With a total number of entries each year close to 700. It is clear to us. Songwriting competitions are a vibrant target for the creative, musical students at school. You may know some. You may be one….