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Book: Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate a Cappella Glory by Mickey Rapkin
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Authors: Mickey Rapkin
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that wasn’t to be.
Secretly, quietly, in the days leading up to the Homecoming Show on September 29, the officers talked about who might replace Ben as music director. They called Lucas Walker. They called Alexander Koutzoukis. They called Chris Van Lenten (who wasn’t interested). They wanted someone to take the job for the entire year. Lucas balked. He knew the work it would take, and he was honest about his shortcomings. For one thing, arranging music didn’t come easily to him. Second, he was majoring in physics and philosophy. Plus, Lucas had a girlfriend. She barely saw him as it was. Lucas remembers the night he got into the Beelzebubs, how he sat outside a party talking to a Bub alum’s girlfriend. “She was trying to reassure me that joining the Bubs was totally worth it and that I could absolutely handle the time commitment, ” Lucas says. “She was completely right about the former and completely lying through her teeth about the latter. This is the great paradox of being in the Bubs: My life is simultaneously perfectly fulfilling and completely ruined, both due to the same group of fourteen other dudes.”
Alexander Koutzoukis, a skinny sophomore, might have been the strongest musician, but the officers questioned his ability to command the group—he was soft-spoken, shy even. And more than anything the Bubs needed a leader, and so a decision was made: If Lucas would only commit to one semester, then so be it. “I still didn’t really want to be music director,” Lucas says. But he took the job. Now they just had to tell the rest of the Bubs.
After the homecoming concert, Ben Appel sat the group down in the Bub room and came clean about what what had been going on. He would be leaving school, he said. It was quiet in the room, the proceedings very matter-of-fact. Lucas Walker gave a short speech about what he’d like to do that semester, the music he’d arrange, the alumni he’d call for help. He talked about the album, which would, of course, still come out in the spring—answering the call of Code Red and the legacy of the Bubs. The Beelzebubs have released a studio album (more or less) every other year since the beginning. This year would be no different. This class would not be the ones to ruin tradition.
CHAPTER THREE
THE HULLABAHOOS
Wherein we meet the upstart bad boys of collegiate a cappella
The University of Virginia, home of the Wahoos, was founded in 1865, and not much has changed since—the only color on campus comes courtesy of Ralph Lauren. Just ask Dane Blackburn. "People stop me on campus and they’re like, hey, aren’t you the...” Pause. “What?” Dane says. “The black guy in the Hullabahoos? ” It’s eased up a bit since they took a second black guy, Brendon Mason. He’s loud and hard to miss. Plus, he was a former child star, having appeared on Nickelodeon’s Bug Juice . “There are clips on YouTube,” Brendon says apologetically.
The Hullabahoos were born in 1988 as an alternative to the Virginia Gentlemen, the staid offshoot of the campus glee club. Unlike most men of collegiate a cappella, the B’hoos (for short) don’t often wear khakis or blue blazers. The first thing one notices about the Hullabahoos is the Technicolored robes draped over their street clothes. The robes are their trademark look, and it’s inspired a series of cheeky fan T-shirts, like this one: ROBED FOR YOUR PLEASURE. Believe it or not, the robes are bespoke, handmade by a seamstress at Mr. Hanks discount fabrics in downtown Charlottesville. “I’ve still got the original pattern in the back,” says Mr. Hanks—which, incidentally, isn’t his name. (It’s Tom.)
While the Hullabahoos may be UVA’s most popular all-male a cappella group, they are not beloved everywhere. The a cappella community simmers with rivalries—sort of an East Coast/West Coast rap shakedown in sequined vests. The University of North Carolina Clef Hangers have had beef with the Hullabahoos dating back
Secretly, quietly, in the days leading up to the Homecoming Show on September 29, the officers talked about who might replace Ben as music director. They called Lucas Walker. They called Alexander Koutzoukis. They called Chris Van Lenten (who wasn’t interested). They wanted someone to take the job for the entire year. Lucas balked. He knew the work it would take, and he was honest about his shortcomings. For one thing, arranging music didn’t come easily to him. Second, he was majoring in physics and philosophy. Plus, Lucas had a girlfriend. She barely saw him as it was. Lucas remembers the night he got into the Beelzebubs, how he sat outside a party talking to a Bub alum’s girlfriend. “She was trying to reassure me that joining the Bubs was totally worth it and that I could absolutely handle the time commitment, ” Lucas says. “She was completely right about the former and completely lying through her teeth about the latter. This is the great paradox of being in the Bubs: My life is simultaneously perfectly fulfilling and completely ruined, both due to the same group of fourteen other dudes.”
Alexander Koutzoukis, a skinny sophomore, might have been the strongest musician, but the officers questioned his ability to command the group—he was soft-spoken, shy even. And more than anything the Bubs needed a leader, and so a decision was made: If Lucas would only commit to one semester, then so be it. “I still didn’t really want to be music director,” Lucas says. But he took the job. Now they just had to tell the rest of the Bubs.
After the homecoming concert, Ben Appel sat the group down in the Bub room and came clean about what what had been going on. He would be leaving school, he said. It was quiet in the room, the proceedings very matter-of-fact. Lucas Walker gave a short speech about what he’d like to do that semester, the music he’d arrange, the alumni he’d call for help. He talked about the album, which would, of course, still come out in the spring—answering the call of Code Red and the legacy of the Bubs. The Beelzebubs have released a studio album (more or less) every other year since the beginning. This year would be no different. This class would not be the ones to ruin tradition.
CHAPTER THREE
THE HULLABAHOOS
Wherein we meet the upstart bad boys of collegiate a cappella
The University of Virginia, home of the Wahoos, was founded in 1865, and not much has changed since—the only color on campus comes courtesy of Ralph Lauren. Just ask Dane Blackburn. "People stop me on campus and they’re like, hey, aren’t you the...” Pause. “What?” Dane says. “The black guy in the Hullabahoos? ” It’s eased up a bit since they took a second black guy, Brendon Mason. He’s loud and hard to miss. Plus, he was a former child star, having appeared on Nickelodeon’s Bug Juice . “There are clips on YouTube,” Brendon says apologetically.
The Hullabahoos were born in 1988 as an alternative to the Virginia Gentlemen, the staid offshoot of the campus glee club. Unlike most men of collegiate a cappella, the B’hoos (for short) don’t often wear khakis or blue blazers. The first thing one notices about the Hullabahoos is the Technicolored robes draped over their street clothes. The robes are their trademark look, and it’s inspired a series of cheeky fan T-shirts, like this one: ROBED FOR YOUR PLEASURE. Believe it or not, the robes are bespoke, handmade by a seamstress at Mr. Hanks discount fabrics in downtown Charlottesville. “I’ve still got the original pattern in the back,” says Mr. Hanks—which, incidentally, isn’t his name. (It’s Tom.)
While the Hullabahoos may be UVA’s most popular all-male a cappella group, they are not beloved everywhere. The a cappella community simmers with rivalries—sort of an East Coast/West Coast rap shakedown in sequined vests. The University of North Carolina Clef Hangers have had beef with the Hullabahoos dating back
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