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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Friday, March 29, 2024

50 Years of Fun Through Song audio-visual chronicle of Bubs history

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Jumbos are pretty accustomed to seeing the Tufts Beelzebubs belting their hearts out in Goddard Chapel or putting on Bubs in the Pub in Cohen Auditorium, but students can now see the accomplishments of the Bubs in a less likely locale: This semester, the Tufts University Art Gallery is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beelzebubs, Tufts oldest all-male a cappella group, by showcasing an exhibition entitled Tufts University Beelzebubs: 50 Years of Fun Through Song.

The exhibition in the Remis Sculpture Court, which will be on display through May 27, is set up to allow viewers to move back in time. The first segment, at the bottom of the gallerys stairs, presents Bubs history from the years 2001-2012. The focus of this era was the Bubs television fame that started with the groups near-win on NBCs a cappella competition show The Sing-Off in 2009, followed by the Bubs being invited to make recordings for the hit television show, Glee. This segment, as with those for other time periods, contains a listening station equipped with built-in iPods and headphones to allow viewers the opportunity to see what the Bubs are truly all about. The iPods contain all the albums produced by the Bubs during that particular time period, providing exhibition-goers dozens of tracks to choose from. While the Bubs have favored rock ballads like Styxs Come Sail Away or The Whos Who Are You and pop hits like Flo Ridas Right Round during the past decade, the listening stations hold some unexpected tunes such as Timshel by Mumford & Sons and U2s Running to Stand Still. Other pleasant surprises include Bubs covers of fellow Jumbos, as with Guster and its songs Either Way and Ruby Falls. In addition to the listening stations, there are viewing stations with video from each time period post-1971. Here, gallery visitors can check out videos of Bubs performances in Goddard Chapel or on the Sing-Off stage.

The segment showcasing the years 1989 to 1999 quickly proves that the Bubs of yesteryear had a different sound than their present-day counterparts, but their repertoire is no less entertaining. They performed covers of songs like Paul Simons Kodachrome, Simon and Garfunkels Cecilia, Elvis Costellos Alison and other music spanning the earlier years of the decade. An amusing cover of Blackstreets No Diggity from 1999 begs the question of whether or not the Bubs version was the inspiration for the song that made it onto the soundtrack for Pitch Perfect (2012), last years film loosely based on a book of the same name in which the Bubs are a principle focus.

The 1972-1988 segment brings out several Bubs covers of Beatles songs like Ticket to Ride and Blackbird as well as fan-favorite show tunes like The Lady is a Tramp and Memory from the musical Cats. This wide variety in song choice which can be heard over all five decades would allow any visitor to enjoy what the Bubs have produced, if their talent as vocalists somehow werent enough.

The final segment, chronicling 1962-1971, provides its audience with a few recognizable tunes like Moon River, made famous by Breakfast at Tiffanys (1961) and The Wizard of Ozs (1939) Somewhere Over the Rainbow sung in a barbershop style, though the majority of songs from the Bubs first decade together are unfamiliar to a modern audience. This segments attraction lies in the story of Landon Vaill teaming up with Miller Hall dormmates Neal Robison and Barrie Bruce to found the grops original incarnation, Jumbos Disciples: The Beelzebubs.

50 Years of Fun Through Song was curated by Danny Lichtenfeld (LA93), the first five-year member of the Beelzebubs and the Bubs musical director when the group won first place in the National Championship of Collegiate A Capella. Lichtenfelds strong connection with this Tufts institution is apparent throughout the entire exhibition. It translates into a scrapbook of memories complete with dozens of performance and audition flyers going back decades and newspaper clippings displaying the Bubs achievements. For the musically knowledgeable, there is also an entire binder filled with various arrangements by Bubs musical arrangers Andy Cranin (A 79), Gene Blake (A73), Marty Fernandi (LA 85), Deke Sharon (LA 91), Todd Herzog (LA 94), Ed Boyer (LA 04) and Lichtenfeld himself. Finally, a wall of photographs, which span the Bubs beginning to present-day, captures the same sense of brotherly love that the Bubs exude in their live performances. The photographs also surround a list of all the Tufts Bubalums.

50 Years of Fun Through Song is deceiving; while it may not look as though there is much content, gallery-goers could potentially spend hours in the sculpture court with headphones on, toes tapping. The exhibition is a heartfelt chronology of the Bubs journey over the last five decades and what isnt there in visuals is there more importantly in audio. Those who go will leave singing that is a guarantee.