"What's a Billiken" article

[bonwich]

This appears to have gone up on the main SLU web site today:

http://www.slu.edu/readstory/homepage/699

[TheBand]

I always liked to tell people who asked that the Billiken was the "Norse God of Death and Destruction"

Usually got a funny look for that!

[Major Majerus]

Is the "Billiken Rag" going to be in the repetoire this year? How about a peppy Greek tune for our Hellenic newcomer?

[Quality Is Job 1]

[Major Majerus]

I don't think so; he asked for the Billiken Rag music a few months ago after I tracked it down...thanks to an article written by a Bearcat prof. which was linked on this board.

[kwyjibo]

I think this is a good article because it goes back to the source, Florence Pretz, and then how it became SLU's mascot (and does not focus on how the Billiken became popular in other places-like Alaska and Japan--which is interesting but secondary in the question "What is a Billiken?")

I had never heard the Bliss Carman angle and would be interested in knowing what poem "Billiken" appeared in. I had heard that Dickens had a minor character named "Mr. Billiken" in one of his books but I have forgotten which one.

[TheBand]

Nah, I'm still hangin' on with the band. Many of us have set up deadlines for when we would quit...all of which seemed to have passed (make NCAA, win conference title, beat #1 team, etc) so i guess the new deadline is whenever the team moves on campus.

I wasnt able to do much with the Billiken rag..it would have taken quite a bit of work to get it arranged for band. plus, our band doesnt have an in-house arranger like almost every other school has. Budgetary reasons, you know. We have added about 10 new charts this year (some of which you may like) and eliminated some older ones that have seen better days. speaking of better days, those striped rugbys have seen better days havent they? everywhere you look, some other band has the same look. oh well.

[billiken_roy]

go with sort of a jimmy buffet/hawaiianlike billiken blue as the base color shirt.

[Major Majerus]

There's a piano performance of the "Billiken Rag" on one of the ragtime sites - maybe we could have it played while they're doing the pregame visuals on the scoreboard before introducing the Bills - kind of like the Globetrotters used to play "Sweet Georgia Brown." The tune is pretty catchy, and simplistic - meaning it will stay in the memory after a few hearings...