In the latest Strange News blog from Mike Chunn he says we must give the new generation the platforms on which to stand and strut their stuff.

"After all young NZers are not only seen and heard but they want you to listen! Their projection of self and their communicative ‘want’ is profound."

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I was at the Nibble Nook of a primary school disco and the 4-year-old beside me was waiting in line. She had a long, fountain of a ponytail. I pulled it gently into the air and asked her “Where did this come from?”

She looked me in the eye and said:

“Well. My mum put my hair in pigtails but I don’t like them. I like ponytails because my favourite animal is a horse and, you know – my friend over there – she’s my best friend – her name is Rachel – and and she says that I look goodest when my hair is ….” And on she went. A couple of minutes later she finished – her eyes still on me. I said “Well, that’s a cool story”. She smiled and went to buy her bag of crisps.

This generation is going to rule. They rock! We must give them platforms on which to stand and strut their stuff. After all young NZers are not only seen and heard but they want you to listen! Their projection of self and their communicative ‘want’ is profound. What a great time to be four.

I wish I could be four. Then I could kick up some dust, talk all the time and plunge headlong to sixteen.

When I was sixteen I was always being told to keep quiet. In the classroom. In the corridor. In the dormitory. In the bathrooms. Seen and not heard was an active culture of silence, perpetrated by men wearing black dresses with white bibs. All very ironic considering the northern hemisphere was on fire with Jimi Hendrix, Sgt Peppers, Woodstock and Easy Rider.

The concept of my school mates and I forming a business company, seeking out original songs from fellow students, making decisions as to who would sing and play on them, where and who would record them and then when the album was completed putting together more students to

• film footage for Youtube teasers
• design CD and website art
• manage websites
• handle all CD manufacture and internet postings
• market, promote and sell the albums:

was an impossibility because it was impossible.

Not now!

In the last blog I mentioned the Enterprising Music Competition which Play It Strange and the Young Enterprise Scheme are running through New Zealand secondary schools. It is proving to be a wildly exciting programme. Check the link:

But wait – there’s more!

Play It Strange has merged its primary focus of songwriting into the world of sport. We hosted the recent Anthem In Black competition where NZers of all walks of life were invited to sent in recordings of original songs that mirror our support for the Olympic Team as well as providing the athletes with musical ‘charges’ to lift and urge them in their sporting ambitions. The results were so successful that the Olympic Committee has asked us to run the competition all over again to find yet more anthemic songs.

This all points to a new ‘intelligence’ out there in our small country. An intelligence where people are ready to listen to and absorb songs they’ve never heard before written by people they’ve never heard of. There is an emerging belief system and a respect for the original songs of young people. The Anthem In Black and the national response to it reflect that. And that is sport and music. And now we are diving into the world of business.

The Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) has been running now for twenty five years. This is the first year of the Enterprising Music Competition. It will evolve into a flourishing programme.