Hullabahoos
Encyclopedia
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
in Charlottesville. The group was founded in 1987 by Halsted Sullivan and continues to be one of the premier men's groups in the country, having recorded 15 studio albums as of early 2007 and performed for thousands of people at such venues as the 2004 Republican National Convention
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention is the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States. Convened by the Republican National Committee, the stated purpose of the convocation is to nominate an official candidate in an upcoming U.S...
, Washington Nationals
Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
baseball games, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, weddings, and private parties. Other performance requests have included invitations from the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, the Kennedy Center, and NBC's The Today Show.
History
The group was founded December 8, 1987 when a couple of friends at the University of Virginia got together and said, "Hey, let's sing other people's songs without instruments, and wear robes while we do it". So they did. And they still do. The group's history has taken them all around the globe and allowed them to record multiple studio albums in what they refer to as Hullabasound (as stated on their album inserts).The Hullabahoos are typically 13 to 17 members (although this figure varies from year to year), and auditions for newcomers are held every fall and occasionally in the spring.
The current Hullabahoos logo was first drawn in Fall 2003 by Morgan Anderson, a student at Williams College, in promotion of the Hullabahoos' visit to her school. The poster was later scanned into a computer and emailed from a girlfriend in Massachusetts to her boyfriend in Virginia, and it slowly crept its way onto more and more Hullabahoos paraphernalia, gradually overtaking the traditional but less distinctive Uppercase H logo.
Concert weekends
Each semester, the group hosts a weekend of concert performances, which are currently held at the University of Virginia's Mcleod Hall. These concert weekends typically take place on a Friday and Saturday in the evening; their official website posts relevant information as concert time approaches. The fall concert series has been labeled everything from "The Hullabahoos Fall Concert" to "Fall: A Show" to "The Phall Monty." However, the Spring concert, which is typically regarded as the bigger event of the two, has kept the same title for almost the whole of its lifespan: "Big Spring Sing Thing," followed by a Roman Numeral indicating how many of these concerts have been performed throughout the group's history. For example, in 2003 the Hullabahoos' 16th spring concert was called Big Spring Sing Thing XVI. Only the first Hullabahoos' Spring event in 1988 was known by another moniker. Also, after every five years the Hullabahoos alumni return in a sort of special guest appearance, performing a few songs from the group's past repertoire. Usually, the concerts take place in some variation of the following format: 1) 4-5 opening songs; 2) guest group performance; 3) intermission; 4) 3-4 songs; 5) live/video skit; 6) 3-4 songs; 7) live/video skit; 8) 3-4 songs.These concert performances are typically followed by Hullabahoo hosted after-parties, which are advertised to the concert audiences during the course of the show.
Fall Roll
In addition to concert performances and other similar gigGig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
s, the Hullabahoos typically reserve their Fall Break weekend at the University of Virginia for a road trip up the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, stopping and performing at various colleges (e.g. Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
, etc.) along the way. They currently refer to this annual excursion as either Phall Roll or Fall Roll.
CD Production
The Hullabahoos have been producing studio albums since 1991's Full Glottal Stop, and spent the majority of their early album-making career recording with accomplished sound engineer Paul Brier, formerly of Virginia Arts Recording Studios in Charlottesville, VA. However, with 2004's release of Jacked, the Hullabahoos began to transition over to a new sound engineer/producer—Dave Sperandio of Diovoce, hiring him to handle the album's final mixes and mastering. Dave, with his proficiency in Hip-Hop and Pop-type production, quickly built himself a solid reputation in the a cappella world, and his work has been commended by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board (RARB). With the Hullabahoos' 13th CD release, a cappella producer and UVAUniversity of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
alum, James Gammon, of his self-titled James Gammon Productions was added into the production mix, doing almost all of the Hullabahoos' recording as well as mixing "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" and recording and mixing the album Varsity Sing Team in full.
Robes
The Hullabahoos, although around since 1987, were not the first all-male a cappella group at the University of Virginia. That title instead goes to the school's Virginia GentlemenVirginia Gentlemen
The Virginia Gentlemen, a men's singing group, is the oldest a cappella group at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1953 as an offshoot of the Virginia Glee Club, the group continues to perform a mix of contemporary and classic vocal music. The group performs around the University of Virginia...
, founded in 1953. Historically, the Virginia Gentlemen, or VG's as they are sometimes called, wear tuxedos or coats and bowties whenever they perform. So when the Hullabahoos came on the scene, they decided to differentiate themselves with a more laid-back style by adopting the use of uniquely patterned robes
Robes
Robes is an electronic indie new wave synth band from Carrboro, North Carolina. Members include Patrick Cudahy and Chris Williams. They've been in various bands over the last decade or so with lots of funny names: Joby's Opinon, Jacuzzi Brothers, Smooth Hedges, The Soft Drink. Sound reference...
that have been noted to somewhat resemble the official garb of the Eli Banana
Eli Banana
The Eli Banana Ribbon Society is the oldest secret society at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1878 as a way to encourage the fraternities to engage more directly in the life of the University, the aim of the society was to bring its members to leadership in the University community and to...
, one of the many Secret Societies at the University of Virginia
Secret Societies at the University of Virginia
Secret societies have been a part of University of Virginia student life since the first class of students in 1825. While the number of societies peaked during the 75 year period between 1875 and 1950, there are still five societies active that are over 100 years old, and several newer societies...
.
Each member goes to Mr. Hank's Fabric Store in Charlottesville, VA to pick out his own desired robe pattern. This gives the group a sense of relaxed individuality, making the Hullabahoos stand out amongst the more typical glee club
Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...
-style college groups.
Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory
Mickey Rapkin, a New York-based writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, Details, and Time Out New York, took time in 2006 and 2007 to follow the Hullabahoos on several trips, high profile gigs, and around their own college campus in Charlottesville to get an inside look at the group for his book, Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory. This "behind-the-scenes look at the bizarre, inspiring, and hilarious world of competitive collegiate a cappella" was released on May 29, 2008 by Gotham Books.Discography
- Evicted (2009)
- XX-Dos Equis (2008)
- Better Than Coal: A Hullabahoos Christmas (2007)
- Varsity Sing Team (2007)
- Off The Dock (2006)
- Jacked (2004)
- XV - The Essential Other People's Songs Without Instruments (2003)
- You Don't Know Me (2002)
- Xerox Nation (2001)
- 8ch (2000)
- Hurricane (1999)
- Unit, Corps, God, Country, Hullabahoos (1998)
- You'd be Surprised How Well it Fits (1997)
- Get on the Glide (1996)
- Free Doughnuts (1994)
- Baby Fishmouth (1993)
- Full Glottal Stop (1991)
CARA wins and nominations
- 2008: Best Holiday Album Nomination for "Better than Coal: A Hullabahoos Christmas"; Best Holiday Song Nomination for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"; Best Male Collegiate Album Nomination for "Varsity Sing Team"
- 2005: Best Male Collegiate Album Nomination for Jacked; Best Male Collegiate Solo Nomination for Russell Bloodworth (Class of '05) on "Cry Me a River"; Best Male Collegiate Song Award for "Cry Me a River"
- 2003: Best Male Collegiate Song Award for "Melt With You"
- 2002: Best Male Collegiate Album Award for Xerox Nation; Best Male Collegiate Solo Runner-Up for Jeff Hall (Class of '01) on "All Out of Love"; Best Male Collegiate Song Nomination for "Everything You Want"
Albums selected as "Top Picks" / "Honorable Mentions" by the RARB
- 2004: Jacked given "Honorable Mention"
- 2002: You Don't Know Me given "Honorable Mention"
- 2001: Xerox Nation selected as "Top Pick"
Album tracks selected for BOCA
- 2006: "Save a Horse" selected for BOCA 2006
- 2005: "Hey Ya" selected for BOCA 2005
- 1999: "You Make Me Wanna" selected for BOCA 1999
- 1998: "Hands to Heaven" selected for BOCA 1998
- 1996: "What You Won't Do For Love" selected for BOCA Vol. 2
Album tracks selected for Voices Only
- 2010: "You Found Me" selected for Voices Only 2010
- 2005: "Cry Me a River" selected for Voices Only 2005