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Cowboy II

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I can't believe they are trying to fuok up about the only thing that's been consistently excellent in the area of the BB program, both men's and women's.

Oh wait, it's SLU. Of course I can.

People are whining because school alumni want to continue to play at games? JFC!

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11 minutes ago, White Pelican said:

I can't believe they are trying to fuok up about the only thing that's been consistently excellent in the area of the BB program, both men's and women's.

Oh wait, it's SLU. Of course I can.

People are whining because school alumni want to continue to play at games? JFC!

Agreed. it is silly to say "students only" when the current model has obviously worked for quite awhile. Why would it matter if it was students, alums, well wishers, community members, etc? 

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2 hours ago, brianstl said:

It has always been that way because SLU doesn't have a band program.  SLU used to not have a band play at the games until alumni on their own started bringing instruments to the games and created the "Trumpetiers".  SLU decided they wanted a band at games after finishing second in the NIT tournament in 1989 and student interest in the basketball program was  as high as it has ever been.  Well student interest in playing in the band was so low they not only needed alumni members to fill out the band, but they needed high schoolers from the band director's high school band.

So if you only want a band consisting of students, the sad fact is you are probably going to end up having no band at all.  Maybe, no band at all is the actual goal.  If it is, the right thing to do would be to just admit it.

I appreciate the history lesson on this topic. I’ve always wondered about the composition of the band.

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On 5/18/2023 at 1:58 PM, brianstl said:

The only reason it exists at SLU is because of the alumni and the pep band has always been that way.  Well at least since the Grawer era when the current band started near the end of the Grawer era.  That band started out, if I remember correctly, mostly consisting of alumni and Waterloo (I think) high school band members because SLU didn't have enough students interested in the band.  

I may get a few things wrong in this part because most of this was before I was alive, but ......

Before that there was only the alumni trumpeters in two different versions. The first version was before Ekker and the second was when Grawer brought them back.  The first version ended when Ekker decided SLU needed new traditions (does that sound familiar?).  Well Ekker got rid of the trumpeters, replaced the Billiken with Billie Lou and I think hired a lounge act to play music at the games.  I think I remember hearing that the lounge act had a singer who would sing to Billie Lou.  That ended up with SLU almost dropping to D3 after getting rid of Ekker. 

I have some time (sitting around for an hour before a high school graduation starts) so I might as well give a little band history lesson.  The band in it's present incarnation started around 1983 or 84, when the jazz band started playing at games.  I don't know whether Mike Beczcala suggested it or not- Perry could probably answer that question.  Perry is the single person who has been in the band the entire time.  We weren't affiliated with the trumpeteers - they were an earlier group.  The jazz band was a class for credit- 1 hour per semester, that gave scholarships to at least some of its members.   We were like a 15 piece band that played some of our jazz charts before and after the games and at halftime and pep band stuff during the games.  We were miked up and small, and it was really a blast.  When we were in NYC for the first NIT finals we went to (which was my swan song with the band) we played Children of Sanchez at halftime and several New Yorkers came up to us afterwards and told us we were the best band they'd ever heard at a basketball game.   Anyway soon after that the band was swallowed up by the athletic department and became strictly a pep band.  I think Mike could pretty much get away with whatever he wanted to do because he really became an institution at SLU basketball games, and no offense to anyone but it's been all downhill since he left.  If they want to kick Perry and Whitey and the like out of the band they're bigger morons than I thought they were.

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On 5/18/2023 at 1:58 PM, brianstl said:

The only reason it exists at SLU is because of the alumni and the pep band has always been that way.  Well at least since the Grawer era when the current band started near the end of the Grawer era.  That band started out, if I remember correctly, mostly consisting of alumni and Waterloo (I think) high school band members because SLU didn't have enough students interested in the band.  

I may get a few things wrong in this part because most of this was before I was alive, but ......

Before that there was only the alumni trumpeters in two different versions. The first version was before Ekker and the second was when Grawer brought them back.  The first version ended when Ekker decided SLU needed new traditions (does that sound familiar?).  Well Ekker got rid of the trumpeters, replaced the Billiken with Billie Lou and I think hired a lounge act to play music at the games.  I think I remember hearing that the lounge act had a singer who would sing to Billie Lou.  That ended up with SLU almost dropping to D3 after getting rid of Ekker. 

I have some time (sitting around for an hour before a high school graduation starts) so I might as well give a little band history lesson.  The band in it's present incarnation started around 1983 or 84, when the jazz band started playing at games.  I don't know whether Mike Beczcala suggested it or not- Perry could probably answer that question.  Perry is the single person who has been in the band the entire time.  We weren't affiliated with the trumpeteers - they were an earlier group.  The jazz band was a class for credit- 1 hour per semester, that gave scholarships to at least some of its members.   We were like a 15 piece band that played some of our jazz charts before and after the games and at halftime and pep band stuff during the games.  We were mixed up and small, and it was really a blast.  When we were in NYC for the first NIT finals we went to (which was my swan song with the band) we played Children of Sanchez at halftime and several New Yorkers came up to us afterwards and told us we were the best band they'd ever heard at a basketball game.   Anyway soon after that the band was swallowed up by the athletic department and became strictly a pep band.  I think Mike could pretty much get away with whatever he wanted to do because he really became an institution at SLU basketball games, and no offense to anyone but it's been all downhill since he left.  If they want to kick Perry and Whitey and the like out of the band they're bigger morons than I thought they were.

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6 minutes ago, Band Legend said:

If they want to kick Perry and Whitey and the like out of the band they're bigger morons than I thought they were.

Hear, here. The band would be nothing without the old timers. 

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2 hours ago, Band Legend said:

Sorry for the double post

It was such a great post it deserved to be posted twice!

 

btw for those of you that dont know who "perry" is in the band.   he is the incredible trumpet player in the top row with the doc serverson like skills.   i'll never forget my first recollection of Perry, the billikens were playing in memphis and after the game my wife and I headed to beale street.  we walked into one of the bars and perry was on stage with the blues band playing there like he was in their group regularly.   amazing.  

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The band is an institution at SLU.

Why Pestello and May are ruining it is beyond me.

@Band Legend do you have any insight into the group of band members who performed and competed against Ekkers scab band during games in the late 70s early 80s?

 

 

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34 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

It was such a great post it deserved to be posted twice!

 

btw for those of you that dont know who "perry" is in the band.   he is the incredible trumpet player in the top row with the doc serverson like skills.   i'll never forget my first recollection of Perry, the billikens were playing in memphis and after the game my wife and I headed to beale street.  we walked into one of the bars and perry was on stage with the blues band playing there like he was in their group regularly.   amazing.  

Back in DC last year, the alums were able to go on the trip and some of us found a bar with a latin-funk house band and Perry sat in with them for probably close to an hour. This was around midnight and they gave him a t-shirt that he wears every once in a while now. That was such a fun night. 

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10 hours ago, thetorch said:

The band is an institution at SLU.

Why Pestello and May are ruining it is beyond me.

@Band Legend do you have any insight into the group of band members who performed and competed against Ekkers scab band during games in the late 70s early 80s?

 

 

Too early for me- I graduated in 1986, and played at games from 1984 to 1990 approximately.  I can't stress enough that we started out with what was really a pretty top notch jazz band with a bunch of people who either became professional musicians or could have if they wanted to live that lifestyle.  We also had a great time; there was a trap case we rolled in that was filled with cold beer- something tells me you couldn't get away with that these days.  The Kiel auditorium was an awesome place to play and watch basketball as I'm sure all of the Olds on this board will agree.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/19/2023 at 11:10 AM, Lord Elrond said:

I have to agree that if you want only students in the band, the current incentives they have will not interest enough students to have a band at all. Probably it would take offering a way to get some form of course credit for participating in the band and maybe a bigger stipend, I would say ask the students what would motivate then.  As an alternative, SLU could go to SLUH or another high school and see if they are interested in having their jazz band or equivalent performing at all the SLU games, or bringing in different bands for different games like the Cardinals do with choirs for singing the national anthem.

The Cardinals just do that to sell tickets.  It’s a $35 ticket to sit with the school group to go watch your 10yr old in the field.  I could buy $5 stub hub tickets for the same Tuesday night game.  Having high school jazz bands might actually sell a few more tickets.  But I don’t like that option.  Leave it the way it was.

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On 5/19/2023 at 11:10 AM, Lord Elrond said:

I have to agree that if you want only students in the band, the current incentives they have will not interest enough students to have a band at all. Probably it would take offering a way to get some form of course credit for participating in the band and maybe a bigger stipend, I would say ask the students what would motivate then.  As an alternative, SLU could go to SLUH or another high school and see if they are interested in having their jazz band or equivalent performing at all the SLU games, or bringing in different bands for different games like the Cardinals do with choirs for singing the national anthem.

The Cardinals just do that to sell tickets.  It’s a $35 ticket to sit with the school group to go watch your 10yr old in the field.  I could buy $5 stub hub tickets for the same Tuesday night game.  Having high school jazz bands might actually sell a few more tickets.  But I don’t like that option.  Leave it the way it was.

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  • 1 month later...

-taken from the hiring announcement, CMay "The pep band is a critical element to the gameday experience at our athletic events. Our department will work closely with Grant and other leaders to ensure a positive and fulfilling experience for its members."

-a couple of eye openers

-I get it has only been a week, but wondering if alumni members have been contacted about continuing to be part of the band? 

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15 hours ago, Cowboy II said:

-I get it has only been a week, but wondering if alumni members have been contacted about continuing to be part of the band? 

We have. They emailed us about 3 days prior to the official announcement mentioning they considered alumni an integral part of the band and they wanted to "work" with us.

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1 hour ago, BrettJollyComedyHour said:

We have. They emailed us about 3 days prior to the official announcement mentioning they considered alumni an integral part of the band and they wanted to "work" with us.

-thanks, is "they" the new director? 

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3 minutes ago, Cowboy II said:

-thanks, is "they" the new director? 

"They" being the athletic department liason. We've yet to hear from the new director, but a number of us have reached out to local friends in the music world to find out more about him. I don't imagine we'll hear anything from the new director until his August 1st hire date.

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