RPG Rocks! A Musical Tribute to IBM i Developers

Today I found myself singing the “old-timey” tune Side by Side with the lyrics “on my i.”

I had to laugh—a LinkedIn post for the Summit Deep Dive Workshops had tapped into my musical memories from the RPG & DB2 Summit events. As one of the Summit organizers, I had a front-row seat to each and every performance.

If you’re up for a laugh today, too, check out RPG Rock — A Retrospective for IBM i Developers. In it, Paul Tuohy spins a tale of how Ted Holt and Alan Seiden roped in Steve Will, Barbara Morris, “roadie” Liam Allan, and many other IBM i-loving musicians to memorialize the life of an IBM i developer through music. You’ll find a few key segments linked below.

1:31 — Guru Ted Holt plants the seeds of RPG Rock

4:16 — Alan finds Ted busking in hotels, and they begin a seminal collaboration that grew into RPG Rock

9:19 — Ted and Alan form the RPG Five, with special guest Steve Will featured in their hit single, Fix This Program

11:39 —Meet the original RPG Five

15:52 — A medley of RPG Five top hits: Now My App’s Refaced, Bless the Brains in Rochester, PASE is the Word, On our i

18:38 — RPG Five roadie, Liam Allan, gets inspired

20:09 — RPG Five’s chart-topping pièce de résistance, Power Chip Song

Enjoy!