Tufts Beelzebubs | |
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![]() The 2011-2012 Beelzebubs performing at the Hong Kong International A Cappella Festival 2012. | |
Background information | |
Also known as | The Bubs |
Origin | Medford, Massachusetts, United States |
Genres | Collegiate a cappella |
Years active | 1962–present |
Labels | Collegiate |
Website | Official website |
The Tufts Beelzebubs, frequently referred to as "The Bubs", is a male a cappella group of students from Tufts University that performs a mix of pop, rock, R&B, and other types of music while spreading their motto of "Fun through Song". Founded in 1962, [1] they have toured in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America, and they competed on NBC's The Sing-Off in December 2009, finishing in second place.
The group is best known for providing song arrangements and background vocals for the fictional all-male a cappella glee club "The Dalton Academy Warblers" on the American TV series Glee , although the Bubs do not play club members on screen. Singles by the Warblers, with series stars Darren Criss and Chris Colfer performing lead vocals, have collectively sold over 2 million copies. [2] Due to their popularity, a full soundtrack album of the Warblers songs was released April 19, 2011 as Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers .
The Beelzebubs were the inspiration for the Barden University Treblemakers in the movie franchise Pitch Perfect , being one of the groups covered by Mickey Rapkin in Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory, the book the movies are loosely based on. [3]
![]() | This section may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(February 2012) |
The Beelzebubs were originally named "Jumbo's Disciples" after the Tufts University mascot, but quickly shed this name and adopted the name "Beelzebubs", a reference from the epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton. They were first seen at the Tufts annual Winter Sing in December 1962, and by May 1964 they had already performed with the Boston Pops and recorded their first album. [4]
During the 1970s, they began adding popular music to the barbershop, doo-wop, gospel, and jazz standards so commonly associated with a cappella. The group flourishes due to a successful and active alumni association.
The 1991 album Foster St. abandoned a more traditional methodology and introduced a new style of arranging – especially with the addition of vocal percussion [5] [6] In 2006, the Bubs' CD Shedding swept the CARA awards for collegiate male a cappella winning best collegiate album, best solo, best arrangement, and best song. [7]
The Bubs' performance schedule has grown to over 80 gigs per year. The Bubs have toured in Europe (England, France, the Netherlands, Greece, and Turkey), Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore), South America (Argentina and Brazil), and North America (Mexico, Canada, and the United States including Hawaii and Alaska). They have performed for many high-profile personalities such as Presidents Clinton and Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Jay Leno, and Gov. Bill Richardson.[ citation needed ] In 1999, the group made an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman and performed at Fenway Park for the crowd at the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.[ citation needed ]
The Beelzebubs were one of eight vocal groups featured on the NBC television program The Sing-Off , which aired in December 2009. The Bubs were selected amongst hundreds of groups to compete. Having survived cuts by the judges in each of the first three shows, the Beelzebubs appeared in the finals on December 21, 2009, finishing second to Nota from Puerto Rico. The competition's prize was $100,000 and a recording contract with Epic Records/Sony Music, and was determined by viewer voting.
According to The New York Times [8]
Episode/Theme | Song choice | Original artist | Result |
---|---|---|---|
Premiere | "Magical Mystery Tour" | The Beatles | Advanced |
Big Hits | "Right Round" | Flo Rida | Advanced |
Guilty Pleasures | "Come Sail Away" | Styx | Advanced |
Superstar Medley | Various | The Who | Advanced |
Judges' choice | "Sweet Caroline" | Neil Diamond | Runner-up |
The Beelzebubs are also proud of their continuing commitment to give back to the community through the Bubs Foundation. The Bubs Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization founded in 1991 by Beelzebubs alumni to "awaken in young people a passion for expression and learning through music". [9] The organization consists of alumni and friends of the Beelzebubs dedicated to the Bubs Foundation mission to raise money for the music programs of Boston-area public schools. So far the Foundation has donated over $50,000 in grants to 60 area music programs. [10]
The Bubs provided arrangement and background vocals for ten a cappella covers in the second season of the TV series Glee , all of which were released as singles, starting with Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", with lead vocals by Darren Criss, which aired in the episode "Never Been Kissed" on November 9, 2010. The single had sales of 214,000 copies in its first week, the most of any Glee single in the show's history, and reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100; [11] it has since been certified a gold record in the US. [12] Additional covers include Train's "Hey, Soul Sister", Destiny's Child's "Bills, Bills, Bills", Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone", "Animal", P!nk's "Raise Your Glass", and Maroon 5's "Misery". The ten covers, plus two others recorded with the Bubs that did not appear on the show, were included on an album, Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers , which was released on April 19, 2011, and debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 86,000 copies in its first week. [13] A thirteenth song on the album by the Warblers did not involve the Bubs: "Blackbird" by The Beatles was covered by Chris Colfer with other background vocalists. [14] The last cover to air during the season was Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know", which was broadcast during the episode "Born This Way", which first aired on April 26, 2011, and is included on the Warblers album.
The Bubs were featured on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16 . [15]
One of the Bubs' previous releases (April 27, 2007) was their highly acclaimed and award-winning twenty-fifth studio album, titled Pandaemonium. Tracks from this album have been selected for Best of Collegiate A Cappella, Sing 4: Good Medicine, [16] and Voices Only 2008. The album also received a perfect score from the Recorded A cappella Review Board. [17] Like Shedding before it, Pandaemonium also swept the four all-male categories of the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award, including Best Album, Best Song, Best Solo and Best Arrangement. [18] The Beelzebubs have received perfect scores from the Recorded A cappella Review Board on every release since.
They perform at many schools across the world and have even coached students at the schools, teaching them various singing methods.
With over 300 members around the world, The Beelzebubs celebrated their 55-year anniversary in 2018.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(November 2019) |
Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Album | Full Rally | Runner-up | [23] |
Best Rock Song | "Danger Zone" on Full Rally | Nominated | [24] | ||
Best Male Collegiate Arrangement | Joel Reske, "Danger Zone" | Nominated | |||
Best Male Collegiate Song | "T-Shirt" on Full Rally | Nominated | |||
2018 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Song | "Who Do You Love" on Reboot - EP | Won | [25] |
Best Male Collegiate Arrangement | "24k Magic" on Reboot - EP | Nominated | [26] | ||
Best Pop Song | "24k Magic" on Reboot - EP | Nominated | |||
2016 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best Male Collegiate Album | In the Book | Nominated | [27] |
2014 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | Helix | Won | [28] |
Best Soul/R&B/Hip-Hop Song | "Alright" on Helix | Nominated | [29] | ||
Best Male Collegiate Song | "Alright" on Helix | Nominated | |||
Best Male Collegiate Solo | Adam Gotbaum, "Madness" | Nominated | |||
Best Male Collegiate Arrangement | Michael Grant, "Alright" | Nominated | |||
2012 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Battle" | Won | [30] |
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Kings and Queens" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Alexander Koutzoukis, "Kings and Queens" | Runner-up (tie) | |||
2010 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Play the Game" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Alexander Koutzoukis, "All the Love in the World" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Who Are You" | Won | |||
A Cappella Community Awards | Favorite Male Collegiate Group | Themselves | Won | [ citation needed ] | |
Favorite Collegiate Album | "Play the Game" | Won | |||
Favorite Vocal Percussionist | Alexander Koutzoukis | Runner-up | |||
Favorite Medley | "The Who Medley" | Runner-up | |||
2008 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Pandaemonium" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Ed Boyer, "Digging in the Dirt" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Magical Mystery Tour" | Won (tie) | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Andrew Savini, "When I Get You Alone" | Won | |||
2006 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Shedding" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Travis Marshall, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Let's Get It Started" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Andrew Savini, "Epiphany" | Won | |||
A Cappella Community Awards | Favorite Male Group in the Nation | Themselves | Won | [31] | |
2005 | A Cappella Community Awards | Favorite Male Group in the Nation | Themselves | Won | [ citation needed ] |
2004 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Code Red" | Runner-up | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Ed Boyer, "Hot in Here" | Runner-up | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Take Me Home" | Nominated | [ citation needed ] | ||
2002 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Next" | Runner-up | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Ed Boyer, "Bills, Bills, Bills" | Won | [ citation needed ] | ||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Isaac Brody, "Disco Inferno" | Nominated | [ citation needed ] | ||
2000 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Infinity" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "That's the Way" | Won | |||
1998 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Danny Lichtenfield, "I am the Walrus" | Nominated | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Sledgehammer" from Id | Won | [ citation needed ] | ||
1997 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Todd Herzog, "Shape of my Heart" from Drift | Runner-up | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "With or Without You" | Runner-up | |||
1996 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Gilding" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Danny Lichtenfield "Blood of Eden" | Won | |||
1995 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Todd Herzog, "Hey You" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Hey You" | Runner-up | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Matt Trowbridge, "The Water is Wide" | Runner-up | |||
1994 | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Vince" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Gardner & Herzog, "Sympathy for the Devil" | Runner-up | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Mercy Street" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Todd Herzog | Won | |||
1992 [lower-alpha 1] | Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards | Best All-Male Collegiate Album | "Foster Street" | Won | [ citation needed ] |
Best All-Male Collegiate arrangement | Deke Sharon, "Comfortably Numb/Brain Damage" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate song | "Rio" | Won | |||
Best All-Male Collegiate Soloist | Todd Herzog | Won |
Album | Year |
---|---|
Brothers in Song | 1964 |
Sing On | 1965 |
Signin' In | 1966 |
Something Old, Something New | 1968 |
The White Album | 1972 |
The Blue Album | 1974 |
Ballou Hall | 1977 |
Pub | 1979 |
Therapy | 1981 |
Score | 1983 |
Clue | 1985 |
Lost | 1987 |
Fourteen | 1989 |
BWI I | 1990 |
Foster Street | 1991 |
BWI II | 1992 |
Vince | 1993 |
House | 1994 |
Gilding | 1995 |
Drift | 1996 |
Id | 1997 |
Jade | 1998 |
Infinity | 1999 |
Next | 2001 |
Punch | 2002 |
Code Red | 2003 |
Shedding | 2005 |
Pandæmonium | 2007 |
Play The Game | 2009 |
Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers | 2011 |
BATTLE | 2011 |
Helix | 2013 |
Four Seconds - EP | 2014 |
In The Book | 2015 |
Reboot - EP | 2017 |
Full Rally | 2018 |
Prospect Street | 2021 |
Music performed a cappella, less commonly spelled a capella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
Collegiate a cappella ensembles are college-affiliated singing groups, primarily in the United States, and, increasingly, the United Kingdom and Ireland, that perform entirely without musical instruments. The groups are typically composed of, operated by, and directed by students. In the context of collegiate a cappella, the term a cappella typically also refers to the music genre performed by pop-centric student singing groups. Consequently, an ensemble that sings unaccompanied classical music may not be considered an a cappella group, even though technically it is performing a cappella.
Deke Sharon is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer, author, coach, pioneer, and teacher of a cappella music, and is one of the leaders and promoters of the contemporary a cappella community. He has been referred to as "the father of contemporary a cappella" and "the godfather of a cappella".
The Contemporary A Cappella Society, or CASA, is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that fosters and promotes a cappella music of all styles around the world. CASA was founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon in San Francisco just after graduation. In his Tufts University dorm room during his senior year, Sharon published a newsletter, The "C.A.N.", mailed to all known collegiate a cappella groups by merging "The List", founded in 1988 and distributed by Rex Solomon, with the database maintained by his college a cappella group the Beelzebubs. The organization boasts over 6,000 current members, and serves as a resource for media and scholarly work in the area of contemporary a cappella.
BYU Vocal Point, or simply Vocal Point, is a seven to nine-member, male a cappella group at Brigham Young University (BYU). Founded by two students, Bob Ahlander & Dave Boyce, in 1991, Vocal Point is under the direction of former member Carson Trautman.
Shir Appeal is Tufts University’s only mixed-gender Jewish a cappella group. Founded in 1995 with assistance from the Jewish Agency, Shir Appeal is one of the nation’s oldest collegiate Jewish a cappella groups. The group sings music from a wide range of genres, including Israeli rock and pop, traditional and liturgical Jewish songs, Jewish world music, and English music with strong Jewish themes. Though based at Tufts University outside Boston, Shir Appeal has gone on tour to numerous areas in the United States, including New York City, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and Chicago, as well as the New England and Boston areas. Shir Appeal has been on Best of College a Cappella (BOCA) four times. It was the first non-secular a cappella group to be recognized on BOCA, and the only Jewish group to have ever been featured on it.
Voices in Your Head is a student-run a cappella group from the University of Chicago who aim to "push the bounds of contemporary a cappella." Founded in 1998, the group has consisted of both undergraduate and graduate students whose studies range from Economics to Music to MD/PhD programs. Its unique repertoire includes original pieces, as well as an eclectic mix of pop, R&B, rock, and alternative music. Voices competes regularly in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) and releases studio recordings of their arrangements.
The Brown Derbies is an a cappella group at Brown University. They were founded by Darryl Shrock in 1982 and have released fourteen albums. They sing a variety of different genres, ranging from Rock, to Pop, to R&B and are known in the a cappella community for their unique use of syllables in the background vocals. They have toured throughout the United States and internationally, with recent performances in Beijing, China, Shanghai, China, and New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1997, the group performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House. In November 2007, they were featured on the CBS Early Show in a segment about the rising popularity of a cappella groups on college campuses, and in July 2011 they were featured on the Gospel Music Channel reality show America Sings. In January 2012, they performed in the London A Cappella Festival.
The Bubs Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization created by alumni of the Beelzebubs to "awaken in young people a passion for expression and learning through music". The foundation funds music programs in schools that previously have not had either sufficient funding or the opportunity to create strong music programs.
"Special Education" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirty-first episode overall. It was written by series creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Paris Barclay, and aired on Fox in the United States on November 30, 2010. In "Special Education", the McKinley High School glee club New Directions competes in the Sectionals round of show choir competition against the Hipsters and the Dalton Academy Warblers, while dealing with internal feuding that threatens to rip the club apart.
BYU Noteworthy is a seven to nine-member, female Brigham Young University (BYU) a cappella group, based in Provo, Utah, United States. They won 1st place at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) in 2007 and appeared on the first season of NBC's a cappella competition reality show The Sing-Off in 2009. Esther Yoder formed the group in 2003, aided by members of BYU's Vocal Point. Noteworthy began operating under the direction of the Performing Arts Management (PAM) at BYU in 2014. One of their most popular music videos is a cover of Amazing Grace, which won the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CARA) award for Best Religious Video and has garnered millions of views on YouTube since its release. Noteworthy has released six albums since its formation in 2003. In 2018, Noteworthy performed "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" for a Mormon Message for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers is the seventh soundtrack album by the cast of Glee, a musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox in the United States. Released through Columbia Records on April 19, 2011, it contains thirteen covers: eleven accompanying performances from the series' second season and two exclusive to the album. Performers are portrayed on Glee as the fictional Dalton Academy Warblers, an all-male high school glee club from Westerville, Ohio. Darren Criss serves as lead vocalist, with Chris Colfer singing lead on one track and co-lead on a couple of others, while the Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University, provide background vocals. Dante Di Loreto and Brad Falchuk serve as the album's executive producers, and its tracks have collectively sold over 1.3 million copies.
The House Jacks is a professional a cappella quintet from San Francisco, founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon.
Arora, stylized in allcaps with the first R backwards, and formerly called Sonos, is a vocal band based in Los Angeles. Sonos originally grew out of a 2006 recording project and began performing and touring in 2008. The group's repertoire centers on vocal covers sung a cappella with the use of effects pedals. Sonos competed in the third season of The Sing-Off on NBC and was eliminated on the fourth episode. The group changed their name to Arora in 2013 in preparation for the release of their third album, "Bioluminescence."
Peter James Hollens is an American singer-songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with a cappella music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's a cappella group, On The Rocks, known as the first official collegiate a cappella group in Oregon. He regularly releases new music videos to his YouTube channel. With over 9+ million followers and over 3 million subscribers, his content has received over a billion total views since 2011.
Pentatonix are an American a cappella group from Arlington, Texas, consisting of vocalists Scott Hoying, Mitch Grassi, Kirstin Maldonado, Matt Sallee, and Kevin Olusola. Characterized by their pop-style arrangements with vocal harmonies, scat singing, riffing, vocal percussion, and beatboxing, they produce cover versions of modern pop works or Christmas songs, sometimes in the form of medleys, along with original material. Pentatonix was formed in 2011 and subsequently won the third season of NBC's The Sing-Off, receiving $200,000 and a recording contract with Sony Music. When Sony's Epic Records dropped the group after The Sing-Off, the group formed its YouTube channel, distributing its music through Madison Gate Records, a label owned by Sony Pictures.
The Dalton Academy Warblers are a fictional a cappella glee club from the private school Dalton Academy, located in Westerville, Ohio. They were first introduced in the Glee television episode "Never Been Kissed". The episode also introduced recurring guest star Darren Criss as Blaine Anderson, lead singer and junior member of the group. Performing a cover version of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" with Criss on lead vocals, the actors who portrayed the Warblers lip synced to background vocals provided by the Beelzebubs, an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, who did not appear onscreen.
The Pitchforks of Duke University, commonly referred to as "The Duke Pitchforks" or just "The Pitchforks", is Duke University's oldest continuing a cappella group. (In the late 1960s, there was a previous Duke men's group called "Chanticleer". The Pitchforks constitute one of Duke's two current all-male ensembles. Founded in 1979 with four members of a Duke Medical School quartet, the Pitchforks have performed across the world; they have sung for the Chicago Bulls and Durham Bulls, performed for Duke Men's Basketball, showcased for the Queen of Jordan, and opened for artists such as Ben Folds and The Band Perry.
Bill Hare is an American Grammy Award-winning audio engineer known for pioneering contemporary recording techniques in a cappella. He was the first to record voices individually, and the first to mic singers exactly as one would mic instruments. Over the course of his career, Hare has become well known for his outsize role in shaping the sound of recorded a cappella. Industry observers have called him the "patriarch" and "the Dr. Dre" of a cappella recording. Deke Sharon, founder and longtime president of the Contemporary A Cappella Society, wrote of Hare's influence in 2018: "The sound of contemporary recorded a cappella owes more to his technique, style, and pioneering than any other person."
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