SHS Choirs' Webpage - Terry Kirkman

Terry Kirkman - Requiem for the Masses – The Association

The composer gives SHS Concert Choir the backstory

by Tim McGlynn, Schaumburg High School Choir Director tmcglynn@d211.org

Link to the Schaumburg High School Choirs site: http://www.shs.d211.org/music/choir.html    Schaumburg, IL

    photo courtesy of VH-1/Viacom

Co-founder and a songwriter for the '60 super group The Association, Terry Kirkman was responsible for their smash hits Cherish, Enter the Young, Everything That Touches You and Six Man Band. A music education major in college Mr. Kirkman played guitar as well as all woodwind and brass instruments heard on the group's Warner Bros. recordings. He continued to perform as a member of The Association until the early '80s. Mr. Kirkman now lives in Los Angeles and works as a counselor specializing in drug and alcohol treatment.

photo courtesy of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum

Terry Kirkman was gracious enough to provide Schaumburg High School Concert Choir students with a detailed history of his song Requiem for the Masses which was performed as part of Schaumburg High School's That '70s Concert in February of 2003. A recording of our version was sent to the writer after the concert along with a copy of the choral arrangement.   Mr. Kirkman inscribed the music and we had it framed along with an original 45 rpm record of Requiem by the Association. Scroll down to see photos of this display and the inscription as well as the program from our concert.

   photo courtesy of Hal Leonard Publishing

Mr. Kirkman recalled that the initial draft of Requiem for the Masses was inspired by the group's horrendous charter flight during a Midwest snowstorm to a concert in Milwaukee, WI. Visions of another Buddy Holly catastrophe were running through the composer's mind as he considered combining pop song elements with a Renaissance style vocal piece. The anti-war sentiment surfaced later with the lament of the bullfighter who lay dying in the ring far away from his homeland.   The obvious reference to the many young American soldiers killed in Viet Nam did not go unnoticed by the U.S. Government.

photo courtesy of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Museum

Requiem for the Masses was the flip side of The Association's number one single Never My Love. In his description of Requiem Kirkman told the students: "Program directors and disc jockeys found it just a little more relevant to the times and turned the record over and started treating the song like an 'A' side. Before long about 12 significant markets had begun doing the same thing. That's when the Nixon White House made a phone call to Warner Bros. Records. They asked the label to ignore the market demand to treat the record like a hit single, meaning do nothing to promote the idea. Warner Bros., already having a success with 'Never My Love', complied with the government's wishes and that was that."

Mr. Kirkman's historical insight and performance notes made the Schaumburg Choir's presentation of this '60s classic a musical highlight of the school year.

Requiem for the Masses was released in 1967 on The Association's Warner Bros. album Insight Out. Terry Kirkman is pictured at bottom center.

The back of the LP jacket.

Album cover photos courtesy of www.amazon.com

Click on the link below for more information on The Association:

http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/association/bio.jhtml