The Kids of Widney High
musical artist
The Kids of Widney High is an American music group composed of students with mental disabilities from the special education J. P. Widney High School in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
The band consists of students with physical and cognitive disabilities on vocals, with the instruments played by non-disabled teachers and friends. The group originally began as a song-writing class in 1988 taught by Michael Monagan, and has evolved since into two groups, one made up of graduates that performs in local clubs and the other a group of current Widney students in the songwriting class.
The group gained a cult following, primarily thanks to their frequent live performances at larger Los Angeles venues like The Knitting Factory and Amoeba Music, as well as smaller venues such as Chain Reaction in Anaheim and The Smell in downtown LA. As a result, the group often plays at a number of ska and pop punk shows, including a stint on the Vans Warped Tour. The group has also opened for The Melvins, Fantômas, and Mr. Bungle, and have been included on several editions of the Kevin and Bean's KROQ Christmas Albums. The group's first CD, Special Music from Special Kids, was on Rounder Records in 1989. Their second CD, Let's Get Busy, was on Mike Patton's Ipecac Records label in 1999. The group's third CD, Act Your Age, was released on Moonman Records in 2003. Moonman also released a live CD, Live at the Key Club, in 2007.
The public source identifies “The Kids of Widney High” as musical artist. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kids, Widney and High.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7744297. VIAF identifies the subject as 313275618. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988, 1989, 1999 and 2003.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Kids of Widney High” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.