Author: H. Kay Merriman
"The phenomenon of the a cappella group is, surprisingly enough, not one that developed on New England's liberal arts college campuses. From royal court entertainment to a few guys on the corner, vocal ensembles have sung about the important things in life for several centuries," Music professor Jeff Buettner writes in his course description of "Everything A cappella!" Whether in a classroom, in front of the fireplace, or in Battell Basement, Middlebury students love a cappella. The College is home to eight popular and yet unique groups, each with its own distinctive image and style. Which group sings the best songs? Draws the craziest crowd? and has the most sex appeal? The Middlebury Campus spoke with representatives from each group in order to get the facts and allow you to decide for yourself.
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Warning: In an attempt to one-up the other groups, some of their responses may not be entirely truthful.
The Bobolinks
Answers reflecting the group's general consensus given by Scotty Leighton '08.5
Musical Director: Tim Shepherd '07.5
Years in existence: 15
Membership: Co-ed, 15 singers
Signature songs and soloists: "Smells Like Teen Spirit"- Leah Day '07.5, "Long Train Running" - Tim Shepherd '07.5
Image: "Goofy, fun, familial - 15 great people who share a love for music."
Heartthrobs: Cassidy D'Aloia '09.5, Leighton (Do we sense a bias?)
Best a cappella "bob": Grace Taylor '10 - "It involves a lot of flips, some yelps and a lot of spinning dishes."
Most expressive facials: Dan Murphy '11 - "Sometimes, we even call him 'Good Ol' Expressive.'"
Fan Base: "Bobolink friends and family, general a cappella enthusiasts and some surprise guests."
Notable Alumni: "Both members of Outkast were founding members of our group and have since gone on to illustrious music careers."
Fun Fact: "On our most recent Fall Break tour we were singing at Faneuil Hall and a homeless man named Otis sang every single song with us - perfectly."
Stuck In the Middle
Josh Sackler '09
Musical Director: Sackler
Years in existence: Five
Membership: All-male, nine singers
Signature songs and soloists: "Joy to the World"- Ian Sanders-Fleming '09.5, " "Cry Me a River" - the solo is "currently up for grabs" because the previous soloist graduated.
Image: "A mix of fun/entertainment and musicianship. If we don't miss a note but the audience is bored, then we haven't done our job."
Heartthrobs: Sanders-Fleming - "He's got those classic good looks, those big blue eyes and that wonderful smile."
Best a cappella "bob": Rohan Maitra '09 - "It's not so much of a 'bob' as a movement forward and backward while shaking a fist."
Most expressive facials: Chris Lam '10 - "He sticks his head out and overemphasizes his syllables, especially when singing low."
Fan Base: "Our audience is typically raucous, fun-loving and loud. They love to see us make fools of ourselves onstage, and they love to laugh. The best celebrity moments are right after singing at a high school, especially an all-girls school. They become like a mob."
Notable Alumni: "One at law school studying to become a music lawyer."
Fun Fact: "The group's founder, Jason Lockhart '05, desperately wanted to find a girlfriend. After several unsuccessful attempts, he decided that the best way to do it was to be in an a cappella group. He didn't make any of the existing ones, so he started Stuck in the Middle and he got a girlfriend. Sorta."
The Mamajamas
Patch Culbertson '08.5
Musical Director: Culbertson
Years in existence: 13
Membership: Co-ed, 16 singers with one abroad
Signature songs and soloists: "99 Red Balloons"- Emily Kron '09.5, "Down Under" - Alec Strum '08
Image: "Our group is based on steeze, performance, family and sex appeal. The etymology of 'steeze' is a combination of style and ease. We coined the term 'Funky Formal,' which we use to describe our dress code for most shows."
Heartthrobs: Will Mallett '07.5, Kron - "It's a Feb thing."
Best a cappella "bob": Matt Boucher '08 - "It reminds me of a premature chicken dance: elbows at the hips, hands in fists somewhat close to each other in front of the sternum and he shakes them like maracas while rocking side to side at a bouncy meter."
Most expressive facials: Strum - "While singing 'Down Under'".
Fan Base: Culbertson described a crowd of regulars that habitually sit in the same formation, no matter the venue. "Alex Braunstein's '09 friends are always front row on the left side, and Boucher's friends are always next to them on the right. Drew Walker '08, Andy Mittelman '08 and Chrissy Fulton '08 capture every second on their cameras. Catherine McCarthy's '09 crowd usually sits intermingled with Boucher's fan base. The Gremlin's Kremlin, Jimmy Wong's '09.5 band, is always there, middle right."
Notable Alumni: Cassidy Freeman '04.5 - "She is a rising actress in LA. who has starred in many pilots and recently co-starred in a short film with Donna from 'That 70s Show.' She's got her own IMDB page!"
Fun Fact: "Each semester we have a concert in which fans enter a raffle to determine our next arrangement. Winners in the past include 'Fresh Prince of Bel Air' by Will Smith and 'Shoop' by Salt-n-Pepa."
The Mischords
Brianna Cullen '08 speaking for the group
Musical Director: Cullen
Years in existence: 45
Membership: All-female, 13 singers
Signature songs and soloists: "Don't Stop Believing", "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" - The Mischords pride themselves on an "attitude of team spirit" and desire that their soloists not be singled out from the rest of the group.
Image: "The whole package - the alluring spectacle of 13 beautiful girls singing in glorious harmony."
Heartthrobs: "I'd say that our sex appeal doesn't stem from any single member of the group, but rather from the whole package."
Best a cappella "bob": Rachel Butera '10 - "Each girl moves in her own special way, but she probably comes closest to the 'bob.' She does it marvelously."
Most expressive facials: N/A
Fan Base: "We have collected some die hard fans over the years - for instance, one year while singing in Central Park we picked up some groupies who showed up again at our show later that night in an NYC bar called Shutters."
Notable Alumni: Laura Thomas - Singer/songwriter in New York known for her political lyrics.
Fun Fact: "We've gone on tour accompanied by a one-eyed cat, and at one point, 30 percent of the group was named Megan, although our last Megan graduated last spring."
The Dissapated Eight
Sam Dakota Miller '08
Musical Director: Miller
Years in existence: 55
Membership: All-male, 12 members and three abroad
Signature songs and soloists: "Africa" - Dan Harburg '08, "Anything sung by Andrew Peters '08.5 is a crowd-pleaser as well, because he sounds like a girl sometimes."
Image: Miller quoted an anonymous source as describing the group as "overflowing with sophistication, wit and too-coolness that is somehow restrained under the full suits that they wear."
Heartthrobs: "There are a couple of rural towns and all-girls high schools on the east coast that know all the names of the people in the group and what songs each person solos on. Along the same lines, one time there was a secret Facebook group devoted to Dan Harburg, but that was when he was young and unavailable."
Best a cappella "bob": Matthew Joseph '09 - "Due to the
large amount of energy needed for sounding so good in performance, the D8 doesn't necessarily promote excessive choreography or wild hip gyrations on stage. That said, he pulls off a very natural bob and shimmy. Of course off the stage, all of the individual members of the D8 are known for being stars on the dance floor."
Most expressive facials: Miller did not comment, but The Campus suggests looking at Drew Waxman's '10.5 Facebook picture.
Fan Base: "High school girls, football players and soccer moms."
Notable Alumni: "International opera performer William Burden, television and film actor Jake Weber, author/editor Peter Knobler, author/actor Scott Janes, former college jeopardy champion Keith Williams '07 and nationally acclaimed kung fu masters Sean Nelson and Graham Fisk"
Fun Fact: "The Dissipated Eight won best-looking male group in the Middlebury a cappella festival three times in a row. We like sunsets, cooking and the occasional party."
The Paradiddles
Sarah Wilson '08
Musical Director: Wilson
Years in existence: three
Membership: All-female, 13 singers
Signature songs and soloists: "Drift Away" - Christine Chung '10
Image: "Fun, dorky, loving, spunky, quirky and eclectic."
Heartthrobs: "The Paradiddles are one unit. All very sexy. Although Emily Eliot '07.5 singing 'I Touch Myself' was a highlight, as was Chung putting her tiger-striped cowboy hat on a scared old man in the audience of the parents weekend concert."
Best a cappella "bob": Caitlin Brome '06 - "We fondly remember her characteristic 'bob' with the hands in the pockets, one knee popped, a rhythmic hip sway and a head bob to go with it."
Most expressive facials: Gillian Durkee '11 - "She got lots of comments from our last performance at Dartmouth."
Fan Base: "We definitely get the highest percentage of Asian audience members thanks to Christine Chung, Yookyung Kim '10 and JeeYeon Park's '08 recruiting."
Notable Alumni: Meira Lifson - "She has been using her Diddle background to teach her third and fourth graders a cappella warm-ups and songs."
Fun Fact: "We've been known for our rendition of 'Chop Suey' by System of a Down, a very off the beaten path choice for a cappella. It was both loved and hated by our crowds."
The Mountain Ayres
Heidi Holt-Gosselin '08
Musical Director: Holt-Gosselin
Years in existence: 35
Membership: Co-ed, 11 singers
Signature songs and soloists: "Fair Phyllis", "Psallite", "Weep O Mine Eyes"
Image: The Mountain Ayres are a madrigal singing group. They sing renaissance vocal music. "The Mt. Ayres have always portrayed themselves as a different "flavor" of Midd a cappella. We take pride in our lack of beat boxing and bouncy moves. Plus, in the spirit of Middlebury's quest for worldliness, we sing a lot of songs in different languages."
Heartthrobs: "If you want a good taste of our sex appeal, then it's necessary that you attend our second annual 'Bringing Sexy Back to the Renaissance' concert in the spring during which we explain the hidden meanings behind all of our music."
Best a cappella "bob": "Absolutely no member of Mountain Ayres is allowed to do the stereotypical a cappella bob. Or else! Vibrating on stage isn't really our thing, but the good ol' 'madrigal interaction' between singers and/or the audience is highly encouraged."
Most expressive facials: Ryan Kellett '09.5 -"His facial expressions also contribute to our sex appeal."
Fan Base: "I think our biggest celebrity moment so far has been walking around campus and seeing random people wearing our t-shirts. Because our music is so different than the other campus groups, people tend to remember exactly who we are."
Notable Alumni: N/A
Fun Fact: "The Mountain Ayres cover Christmas music like nobody's business! And of course, you never know when we might come a-caroling..."
The Butch Divas
Thompson Davis '08
Musical Director: Francois Clemmons
Years in existence: Two
Membership: All-male, five students and Clemmons
Signature songs and soloists: The Divas have yet to perform this year.
Image: "We don't try to portray anything. We don't do gimmicks, we don't pose, we just sing. That being said, I believe people know that that we are the premier singing group on campus. They know that we perform music that has spiritual resonance. They know that we communicate God's love and brotherhood. I also think that people are fascinated by the dichotomy that we embody. On one hand we are divas but on the other we are incredibly butch."
Heartthrobs: "After Francois Clemmons, our most famous and visible member, would have to be Thompson Davis." (another bias?)
Best a cappella "bob": "Butch Divas are not allowed to do the 'bob' dance. You have to remember that we're men - butch ones. We emote through our tight harmonies and mastery of vocal counterpoint."
Most expressive facials: N/A
Fan Base: "Our shows are attended by serious music lovers of every creed and color. Some teeny boppers don't get it though."
Notable Alumni: Zach Maxwell '07- "He just released his debut album and is currently in the planning stages of a cross-country tour."
Fun Fact: "Our members from last year were Nicholas Cloutier '07, Zachary Maxwell '07 and Charles Evans '08.5. I understand that they toured together this summer with a rock band and indeed, are following professional careers in music." - Francois Clemmons
A compelling guide to Midd's a capella scene
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