USD Football 1994

Bands Across America continued morning) session on game day. All band members arc required to be in the Corps of Cadets, which involves two years of ROTC training. The music includes tradi-

The All-American Marching Band Spotts Emrick, an electrical engineering student and Pur- due band director in 1921, wanted to add to the band's list of firsts and records. They were already the first band to form letters (1907), the first to carry Big 10 colors {19191, and the first to play the opposing school's fight song during their pregame show I 1920), a tradition which car- ries on today. Emrick's answer also con- tinues today. Purdue features the world's largest bass drum. It is eight feet tall, and requires six people to operate. Four push it, two beat either side. The original drum was signed by mayors and gover-

drum 1 11 Tovey says. "The jobs are filled mainly by expressed interest. 11 Emrick continued to add to the firsts. In 1930, the band was first to use fanfare trum- pets. Five years later, the elec- trical engineer put lights on members' helmets, allowing for the first lighted night for- mation. It was then that the band was dubbed the"All-American Marching Band. 11 The band performs with flag girls and baton twirlers. When Len Dawson was Pur- due's quarterback in 1954, he was called the Golden Boy. One of the solo twirlers was dubbed Golden Girl, which remains an honor of distinc- tion. Other soloists now

Tomorrow, the Stanford band couldn't say for sure what it will play next week. "We don't march," says Arthur Barnes, band director. "We're the world's largest rock n' roll band. We're not really a marching band. 11 Everything about Stanford is different. The band is stu- dent-run. Barnes is more of a faculty liaison, though he helps prepare some of the music. Marshall Ungar, a senior saxophonist from Bellevue, Wash., will finish his two-year term as manager in November. As manager, the econom ics major takes care of day-to-day band business. After Monday night rehearsal, band members vol- untarily stay to plan the fol- lowing weekend's show. The programs run the gauntlet from witty to tasteless, depending on the audience. "Our goal is usually to be funny," Ungar says. "Some- times our humor is funnier to us than to other people. On the road, the band tries to make jokes at the expense of the home team. This is done by unusual formations and a narrator on the public address system. In 1990, the spotted owl/logging job controversy was hot in the Pacific North- west. ln a show at the Univer- sity of Oregon, the Stanford band's formations included owls and chainsaws. Ungar says they got into hot water with their own school for that one. All pro- grams now must be approved in advance by the Stanford ath- letic department. The shows arc not so diffi- cult to put together. The band works in a "scramble style," where everybody runs to the spot where they arc to be. The formation is explained, then they play a song, usually one which has a title vaguely relat- ed to that week's theme. The music is secondary to the for- mations; when detailing one of last year's programs, Ungar couldn't recall a single song. The show was called continued

tional marches, by composers like John Philip Sousa and Carl King. "We don't do movie music or things like that," Toler says, "but we do play the theme from 'Patton,' which is a march." The Aggie Band performs a different drill each week, home or away. Like Ohio State and many others, the players mem- orize the music during the week-no sheet music is car- ried onto the field. The reaction to the band is tremendous.

nors wherever Purdue played. Nowadays, the drum-beat- ers aren't even drummers. "In the last couple years, we've had a sax player, a bas- soon player, and a tuba player," says Julie Tovey, the band's public relations director. Both the beaters and the pushers request the jobs. There are auditions if neces- sary, but the only requirement for beaters is playing any instrument. "It takes quite a bit of phys- ical stamina to push the

Purdue's "All-American March- ing Band" subscribes to the "Big Boom Theory," featuring the world's largest bass drum. "Sometimes on the road we hear a few boos when we take the field," Toler says. "When we get through, though, I can't think of a time we didn't get a standing ovation. Even in Austin, at A & M's main rival, Texas? "Even in Austin," Toler says.

include The Girl in Black, and the Silver Twins la tandem twirling act). One more first for the All- American Marching Band: in 1969, alumnus Neil Arm- strong made Purdue the first band to land a man on the moon. The Wacky Bands In May, Jon Woods of Ohio State could tell you about every show {pregame, half- time, postgame) that his band would perform this season.