Stanford Band
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Template:Unreferenced Image:1972StanfordRecord.jpg The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) is the student marching band of Stanford University. Billing itself as "The World's Largest Rock and Roll Band," it performs at sporting events, student activities, and other functions. Technically, it is not actually a marching band but rather a scatter band.
A Rolling Stone writer once said of the band that it is hard to believe anything can be so loud without thousands of watts of amplification.
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History
The modern LSJUMB was formed in 1963 when members of the university marching band went on strike to protest the firing of the band director. According to band lore, the new director, Arthur P. Barnes immediately won the loyalty of the band by ceding any meaningful control over it. The band and its new director also clicked with his arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, which featured the striking effect of a single trumpet playing the first half of the song, joined later by soft woodwinds and tuba, and finally bringing the full power of the brass only in the final verse. Played at the "Big Game" against Cal, just eight days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Barnes said "I've never heard such a loud silence."
Empowered, the student-led band threw away the traditional marching music and costumes, eventually settling for a mostly rock and roll repertoire and a simplified uniform consisting of a white fishing hat with red trim (and as many buttons as will fit), red blazer, black pants, and "the ugliest tie you can find." In the springtime and at non-athletic events, band members appear at performances (and sometimes even at rehearsals) wearing 'rally' attire which can range from swim suits to Halloween costumes to furniture and pets, always displaying their freedom from the ever-encumbering rules of fashion.
Songs and shows
The band's repertoire is heavy on classic rock of the 1970s, particularly songs by Tower of Power, Santana, and The Who. In the '90s, more modern music was introduced, including songs by Green Day and The Offspring. The de facto fight song is All Right Now, originally performed by Free. The band prides itself on its vast song selection, never playing the same song twice in one day, and has a library of over one thousand songs at its disposal, nearly one hundred of which are in active rotation. One of the first collegiate marching bands to record and release their music, the band has produced twelve albums since 1967. Arrangements focus on the loudest brass instruments - trumpets, mellophones, and trombones - and percussion - one bass drum (called the Axis of Rhythm), snare drums, and single tenor drums. Many traditional band instruments like bells and glockenspiels are altogether absent.
Traditional "marching" is also missing, as the band "scatters" from one formation to the next. The halftime field shows feature formations that are silly or suggestive shapes, as well as words (sometimes of the obscene four-letter variety). A team of Stanford students, generally not band members, write a script for the halftime show explaining to some degree what the band is doing in any given formation. The announcer reads this script over the public address system.
Controversial actions by the band
Irreverence has been a mainstay of the band throughout its over 40-year history. In the 1970s, one halftime show lampooned Cal student Patty Hearst's kidnapping with a formation called the "Hearst Burger": two buns and no patty. The band gave a tribute for the anniversary of Jane Mansfield's death, by announcing over the PA the urban legend of how she had been decapitated in an automobile accident. Then band then played the song "Another Saturday Night and I Ain't Got No Body." The band is also reputed to have performed a "Tribute to abortion" halftime show featuring a coat hanger formation.
During any given show, members can be seen with trousers dropped. Obscene gestures and rude remarks towards opposing fans and teams are common themes within their shows. Network television sports producers are instructed not to televise the band.
The LSJUMB has been disciplined for controversial performances on several occasions:
- In 1986, the University suspended the band from traveling to the UCLA football game scheduled on November 8th, 1986 after incidents in previous games that season. On October 11th, 1986, there occurred the infamous incident of public urination following the home football game against the University of Washington. (Although many swear that this incident occurred during the halftime show, it actually occurred after the game in a nearly-empty Stanford Stadium.) During the halftime of the home USC game on October 19th, 1986, the band spelled out "NO BALLZ". For the next game they performed an anagram show and spelled out an anagrammed four-letter word ("NCUT"). This final infraction is what cost them the Los Angeles trip. After the suspension was served, the band appeared at the Cal game wearing angel halos in an attempt to apologize and get invited to travel with the football team to a bowl game. The band attended the Gator Bowl that year, amid very close scrutiny.
- In 1990, the University suspended the band for a single game after a halftime show at the University of Oregon lampooning the spotted owl controversy. Governor Neil Goldschmidt (D-OR) issued a decree that the band not return to Oregon for several years.
After the spotted owl incident, all halftime shows were reviewed and approved by Stanford's Athletic Department. Nevertheless, the controversies continued:
- In 1991, the University of Notre Dame banned the LSJUMB from visiting its campus after a show at Stanford where the drum major dressed as a nun (and had been attacked by a fan of Notre Dame).
- In 1992, the Athletic Department pressured the LSJUMB to fire its announcers after one used the phrase "No chuppah, no schtuppa" at a San Jose State University game halftime show.
- In 1994, the Band was disciplined after nineteen members of the band skipped a field rehearsal in Los Angeles to play outside the L.A. County Courthouse during jury selection for the O. J. Simpson trial. The band's song selection included an arrangement of The Zombies' "She's Not There." Defense lawyer Robert Shapiro described the incident to the media as "a new low in tasteless behavior."
- In 1997, the Band was again disciplined for shows lampooning Catholicism and the Irish at a game against Notre Dame. The Band put on a show entitled "These Irish, Why Must they Fight?" Besides the stereotypical Irish-Catholic humor, there was a Riverdance formation, and a Potato Famine joke.
- In 2002 and 2006, the Band was sanctioned for off-the-field behavior, including violations of the University alcohol policy.
- In 2004, the Band drew national attention and Mormon ire for joking about church support of polygamy while opposing same-sex marriage. This occurred during a game against Brigham Young University. The Dollies appeared in wedding veils and the announcer referred to marriage as "the sacred bond that exists between a man and a woman... and a woman... and a woman... and a woman... and a woman."
"The Play"
The Band's most famous and controversial moment, however, had nothing to do with its irreverence. In the final seconds of the 1982 Big Game against the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), band members (as well as players from both teams) ran out onto the field, thinking the game was over. Cal players lateralled the kickoff back and forth, with Cal's Kevin Moen dodging through the band for a winning touchdown, which he ended by running over LSJUMB trombone player Gary Tyrrell in the end zone. Stanford and Cal fans have long argued the legitimacy of what is now simply called "The Play." To this day, it remains one of the most famous plays in American football history.
The Dollies
Image:StanfordTree.jpg The Dollies, a five-member dance group, and the Tree, the University's de facto mascot (the de jure mascot is the color cardinal), operate under the band's aegis.
The Dollies, who are all female, are a dance group, rather than cheerleaders, per se. They tend to get the attention usually accorded cheerleaders though--more attention even than the official cheerleaders, which are part of the Stanford Athletic Department.
Dollie try-outs are held on "Dollie Day," when potential Dollies demonstrate their ability in front of the entire assembled band. Each year's new Dollie cadre is revealed at the annual "Dollie Splash," where the Dollies give their debut dance for the public followed by a dunking in the Stanford Claw.
Dollies serve one-year terms, are managed by their Dollie Daddy/Mama (the Band's assistant manager or "ass-man"), and choreograph all their own routines and design their own costumes. Traditional costume colors are red for the fall, cardinal for the winter, and white for the spring.
Traditions
- When traveling on airplanes en masse, it is traditional for LSJUMB members to mimic the safety instructions of flight attendants in unison, including hand motions pointing to exits and demonstrating the oxygen masks by putting airsickness bags over the face and inhaling and exhaling.
- When reciting the full name of the Band, it is traditional to leave a pause between "Junior" and "University", particularly when announcing at stadia