Stanford Band

The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) is the student marching band representing Stanford University and its athletic teams. Billing itself as "The World's Largest Rock and Roll Band," the Stanford Band performs at sporting events, student activities, and other functions. The Stanford Tree is the band's mascot.

History

The LSJUMB was formed in 1893. However, its modern era began in 1963 with the hiring of Arthur P. Barnes as interim director (he got the full-time post two years later). Previous director Julius Shuchat had been very popular, and his ouster caused several members to go on strike. However, according to band lore, Barnes immediately won the band's loyalty by ceding any meaningful control over it. As a result, the band is almost entirely student-run.

In 1972, the Band went from an all-male band to co-ed.

The band and its new director also clicked over his arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which featured the striking effect of a single trumpet playing the first half of the song, joined later by soft woodwinds and tuba, and finally bringing the full power of the brass only in the final verse. When it was played at the " Big Game" against California, just eight days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Barnes said, "I've never heard such a loud silence."

Empowered, the student-led band threw away the traditional marching music and military-style uniforms, eventually settling for a mostly rock and roll repertoire and a simplified uniform consisting of a white fishing hat with red trim (and as many buttons as will fit), red blazer, black pants, and "the ugliest tie you can get your hands on." In the springtime and at non-athletic events, band members appear at performances (and sometimes even at rehearsals) wearing "rally" attire, which can range from swim suits to Halloween costumes to furniture and pets, always displaying their freedom from the usual rules of fashion. Its Badonkadonk Land Cruiser, resembling a vehicle from the 1983 Star Wars movie '' Return of the Jedi'', is used as a band-support vehicle.

Songs and shows

The band's repertoire is heavy on classic rock of the 1970s, particularly songs by Tower of Power, Santana, and The Who. In the 1990s, more modern music was introduced, including songs by Green Day and The Offspring. For many years, it has billed itself as "The World's Largest Rock 'n Roll Band."

The ''de facto'' fight song is " All Right Now," originally performed by Free. Another frequently played song in their repertoire is " White Punks on Dope", originally by The Tubes. The band prides itself on its vast song selection, never playing the same song twice in one day (except for "All Right Now"). It has a library of over 1,000 songs at its disposal, 69 of which are in active rotation.

One of the first collegiate marching bands to record and release their music, the band has produced thirteen albums since 1967. Arrangements focus on the loudest brass instruments—trumpets, mellophones, and trombones—and percussion—one bass drum (called the Axis o' Rhythm), snare drums, and single tenor drums. This led a ''Rolling Stone'' writer to note in 1987, "It's hard for anyone raised on rock to imagine that a band could sound this loud without thousands of watts of amplification."

Many traditional band instruments like bells and glockenspiels are altogether absent. Traditional "marching" is also missing, as the band "scatters" from one formation to the next. The halftime field shows feature formations that are silly or suggestive shapes, as well as words. A team of Stanford students write a script for the halftime show, delivered over the public address system, which provides a basic explanation for the band's formations.

Stunts and incidents

The LSJUMB's behavior has made them notorious. They have been criticized and disciplined for their actions on several occasions, and according to Peter Sagal of NPR in 2006, the LSJUMB is "the only university marching band...repeatedly fined and banned by the NCAA".
* In 1970 on September 12 at the Stanford-Arkansas football game, the band dropped their pants during the nationally televised halftime show.
*In the 1970s, one halftime show lampooned California student Patty Hearst's kidnapping with a formation called the Hearst Burger — two buns and no patty.
*The LSJUMB has been banned from Disneyland due to their antics, such as taking over the microphone on the Storybook Land Canal boats, while visiting in Anaheim for the 1972 Rose Bowl. Disneyland officials were upset with the "true story" behind the ride. Additionally the Rose Bowl committee still requires advance review if the band marches in the parade due to their plan to ride golf carts instead of marching in 1971 and their having kegs of beer on a red wagon and passing out drinks to the crowd. The band also spelled out the initials SMUT (Stanford Marching Unit Thinkers – an official acronym for the group of band members who conceive the show) on the field before the 1972 Rose Bowl.
*In 1986, the university suspended the band from traveling to the UCLA football game scheduled on November 8, 1986, after incidents in previous games that season. First, on October 11, 1986, an infamous incident of public urination happened following the home football game against the Washington Huskies. Second, during the halftime show of the home USC game on October 25, 1986, the band spelled out "NO BALLZ" and formed male genitalia. Finally, they performed an anagram show and spelled out an anagram of a four-letter word ("NCUT"). After the UCLA game suspension was served, the band appeared at the Cal game wearing angel halos in an attempt to apologize and get invited to travel with the football team to a bowl game. The band attended the Gator Bowl that year, amid very close scrutiny.
*In 1989, before an away game against USC, the USC Trojan Marching Band toilet-papered the Stanford Tree mascot in the Coliseum tunnel before the pre-game show, resulting in a free-for-all between members of both bands and the mascot that had to be broken up by the referees.
*In 1990, Stanford suspended the band for a single game after their halftime show at the University of Oregon criticized the logging

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