EMI is particularly aggressive, it seems, in coming up with stratagems like marketing the English boys choir
Libera. Twenty four voices strong, the boys, who reportedly range in age from 7 to 16, "meet together at a church in South London (and) come from a wide range of backgrounds." EMI would be happy for us to believe that the multi-ethnic boys of
Libera gather for promoting the cause of peace alone, with no recourse to adult involvement. "With shimmering, mystical chords and ecstatic harmonies, they are unlike any group you have ever heard," coos the hype. Indeed,
Libera does not sound like
Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, often said to be the best boy choir in the world, as
Libera is not singing that standard kind of material. Yet take away the slick synthesizers, electronic drum machines, and canned mannerisms and you have, um -- a boys choir. Taking another cue from publicity, we are told they think of themselves as "an alternative kind of boy band" rather than choirboys. So we are to think of them in the same breath with, say, Menudo as opposed to
Les Petits Chanteurs. Sigh.