Chances are you have never heard of “The Langley Schools Music Project,” (7:30 p.m., VH1). But if you watch this half-hour documentary, you will never forget it. Back in 1976, Hans Fenger, a music teacher at a remote school in British Columbia, decided to try a little something different with his 60-voice sixth-grade choir. Rather than teach them old standards, he had them sing the popular music of the time, including hits by the Eagles, Wings, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac and the Beach Boys. Fenger created original arrangements to accompany his young chorus and recorded all of the songs on a special vinyl disc for members of his class and their parents.

Almost a quarter-century later, Fenger’s record was discovered in a thrift store by Jersey City, N.J., disk jockey Irwin Chusid, who turned it into a minor cult sensation at radio station WFMU. Last year Bar/None records re-released a CD of the Langley Schools Music Project recordings with the apt subtitle, “Innocence and Despair.”

It’s one of the most haunting, strange and unforgettable albums I’ve heard in a very long time. I never really experienced the true sadness of the Eagles’ “Desperado” until I heard it sung by Zenger’s then 9-year-old student Sheila Behman. Zenger still considers her ‘Desperado’ to be better than versions by the Eagles or Linda Ronstadt. “She sang it without a trace of sentimentality,” Zenger recalls in the CD’s liner notes. “She had no idea about the romantic cowboy stuff; she just heard it as sad, the way a child does the way composer Gustav Mahler, another genius with innocence and despair, might have.”

Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” and the Beach Boy’s “In My Room,” are recorded with an arresting, primitive simplicity that made me experience the songs as if for the very first time. Don’t get me wrong, some of these recordings are jarring, weird and not a little disturbing. The record gives my wife the creeps. But I highly recommend this half-hour documentary as well as the CD, “The Langley Schools Music Project: Innocence & Despair.”

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Michael Apted (“7 Up”) chronicles the pre-wedding jitters of nine couples in the film “Married in America,” (8 p.m., A&E, concludes Thursday). Apted set out to find nine pairs who best reflect changing attitudes about relations and marriage in 21st Century America. He will follow up on all nine couples in future documentaries, made every one or two years. Interesting, but boy can these couples talk, talk, talk.

“Watergate: Legacy of Secrets,” (9 p.m., Discovery) looks at the legacy of the political scandal that erupted on June 17, 1972. Interviews include G. Gordon Liddy, John Dean, Richard Reeves, Robert Woodward, Carl Bernstein and Ben Bradlee.

Tonight’s other highlights

A villain schemes to rob Fort Knox in the 1964 James Bond thriller “Goldfinger,” (7 p.m., ABC) starring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman.

Jason Biggs stars in the 1999 teen comedy “American Pie,” (7 p.m., Fox).

Ray sabotages Debra’s race for the school board on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” (8 p.m., CBS).

NBC debuts the new game show “Dog Eat Dog,” (8 p.m.). Woof!

“Road Rules,” (9 p.m., MTV) enters its sixth season. This year the six contestants will take their RV to college campuses across the country.

Series notes

All are repeats … Doug gets a taste of the bachelor life on “King of Queens,” (7 p.m., CBS) … Joe Rogan hosts “Fear Factor,” (7 p.m., NBC) … A romantic secret is hard to keep on “The Hughleys,” (7 p.m., UPN) … Annie and Lucy are surprised by a charity case on “7th Heaven,” (7 p.m., WB).