MERRY M-GO-BLUE CHRISTMAS

Here is the famous Michigan GO BLUE Christmas Tree. I think for next year I will add some MMB stuff and make it it into a Michigan Marching Band Tree. (Somewhere I have a photo of the giant tree we used to put up in Revelli Band Hall. It wasn't blue but it had MMB stuff all over it. Need to find that for next year.)

Merry Christmas everyone!
Jane Namenye

Michigan Marching Band 2012 Crisler Concert is Happening Next Sunday!!

Michigan Marching Band in concert
with special performances by the
Michigan Dance Team
MMB Drumline
and Flag Line

December 9, 2012
2:00 pm

This year the MMB performs in the University Of Michigan's "new" Crisler Center (that big round building formerly known as Crisler Arena.)



To see more, take a look at the Crisler Center Photo Gallery.

You should go to see the Michigan Band at Crisler Arena because:

1. No football traffic!

2. You can sit right in front the the band and get the full impact of over 200 brass, woodwind and percussion instruments, LIVE!

3. You can take kids of ANY age to see this show. Really! No child has been born who can make noise louder than the Michigan Marching Band plays. And, kids love the band. Bring a carload of kids (your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, neighbors!) and they will remember this forever.

4. It's fun!

5. The Drum Line!

6. The Flags!

7. The Twirlers!

8. Sing the Victors as loud as you want!

9. Hear all the music you missed because you weren't at the game

10. Last chance this year!

OK?! Be there Sunday at 2 am at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor.

If you need to ask questions I suggest calling the band office at Revelli Hall (734) 764-0582


NOW here is the concert poster.

It would be awesome for Band Alumni to pass this around to family and people they know -- especially families with little kids. This year the concert is in the afternoon and it will end early enough that it's possible for families to drive a bit across the state and make it home before the kids' bedtime. I get the impression that the normal promotion for the concert concentrates on Ann Arbor, so getting it known in areas a bit farther away could help bring in new people -- more friends for the Band and more little guys thinking "I'm going to do that some day!"

SO, pass it on!

Fire Drill at Revelli Hall

"Fortunately Professor Boerma saved the Wolverine!"

(Michigan Marching Band posted this on their Facebook Page today)

MMB provides horn section for JDK and Rey's "Hundred Level"

Michigan quarterback Jack Kennedy and receiver Joe Reynolds are also hip-hop duo JDKand Rey.

Here is their new video.



Why is this here? The brass you hear is the MMB of course!

Detroit News explains it in "Michigan football music duo JDKandRey release new video"

THE #MMBtoDallas #GoBlue SAGA

I don't have a lot to say about this, but my favorite moment was the (semi-humerous) suggestion that the MMB take buses from Ann Arbor to Dallas. That would have been one epic road trip and I thought of passing this idea around to see what fun bus activities the Band Alumni imaginations would come up with to fill in the 20 hours of bus time. However, this event seemed to be less than a joke to everyone so I didn't.

AnnArbor.com tells the end of the story: Saga over: Michigan drums up fund to send marching band to Texas.
 (It has this photo)

Mvictors.com pulled out some amazing MMB historical clippings and photos in Bailing out the Band (1910).

Did you ever wonder about "Hawaiian War Chant"? (Is it REALLY a Hawaiian war chant, in other words.)

This story about comic musician, Spike Jones, the truth unfolds.

"Hawaiian War Chant was written in the 1860s by the Hawaiian prince Leleiohoku and was originally entitled “We Two in the Spray,” with lyrics telling of two lovers, not a battle. In 1936 Ralph Freed changed it to English lyrics and Johnny Noble altered the melody, and the tune was performed by the Tommy Dorsey Band in the 1942 film Ship Ahoy. It was this version that Jones would lampoon in 1946, kicking up the tempo and changing the lyrics with Grayson doing the (uncredited) lead vocals. Jones’ version reached #8 on the U.S. charts that year, yet another example of a Spike Jones satirical take on a pop song actually selling better than the original song itself. Freed and Noble’s version proved more enduring, however, as Les Paul and Mary Ford, Sandi Griffiths, Sally Flynn, the Muppets, Nathan Lane (as Timon in The Lion King), Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, and Weird Al Yankovic all recorded covers or adaptations of it. The song is in the regular repertoire of both the University of Hawaii Marching Band and the Michigan Marching Band. Finally, Disney has used it in two of their theme park attractions (the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and the Adventurers Club’s Pleasure Island)."

This from the blog "Zayde's Turntable" and the post is titled "Musical Depreciation, Fun for the Eyes and Ears. ("Zayde" is Yiddish for "Grandfather" - I looked it up!)