Beelzebubs

The Beelzebubs are an all-male a cappella group at Tufts University that perform a mix of rock, R&B, pop, and other types of music all over the world while spreading their motto "Fun through Song". They have traveled to Mexico, Turkey, Greece, and Hawaii, and most recently spent their 2008 Winter Tour in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

History

The Beelzebubs were originally named “Jumbo's Disciples” after the Tufts University mascot, but quickly shed this name and adopted the name “The Beelzebubs,” a reference they took from John Miltons’ epic poem Paradise Lost. They were first seen at the Tufts annual Winter Sing in December 1962, and by May 1964 they had already recorded their first album and performed with the Boston Pops [ [http://www.bubs.com/history.asp Tufts Beelzebubs History - www.bubs.com ] ] .

As the Bubs’ reputation grew, so did their repertoire. During the 1970’s, they began adding popular music to their repertoire of barbershop, doo-wop, gospel, and jazz standards that were so commonly associated with a cappella. The group also flourished from the active Beelzebubs Alumni Association, which helped them stay strong in a time when many other student organizations at Tufts suffered. Each year, the Bubs performance schedule grew more and more; at this point, the group has over 80 gigs each year. With the increased number of performances, the traveling also improved. The Bubs have now toured to places such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Florida, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, England, France, Greece, Turkey, and The Netherlands. They’ve also performed for many political figures like Pres. Bill Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson as well as on Late Night with David Letterman.

In the past 20 years, the Bubs made several musical developments that have now influenced contemporary a cappella as a whole. The 1991 album Foster St. almost completely abandoned the traditional arranging style and introduced a new brand of arranging which aimed to capture the driving nature of contemporary popular music, especially with the addition of vocal percussion (which was all but unheard of in collegiate a cappella up to that point). Over a decade later, their 2003 album Code Red wowed listeners with its sophisticated level of production and left many people wondering if the CD was solely voices. Two years later the Bubs's CD Shedding swept the CARA awards for collegiate male album winning best album, best soloist, best arrangement and best song. Currently, the Bubs have recorded 25 studio and 3 live albums, and have won several awards for performing and recording. They’re also quite proud of their ability to give back to the community though the Bubs Foundation [ [http://www.bubsfoundation.org/ The Bubs Foundation ] ] , an organization of alumni and friends that raise money for the music programs of Boston’s public schools.

Recent and Upcoming Events

The Beelzebubs, now with over 250 members scattered around the world, recently celebrated their 45 year anniversary in May, 2008 with a weekend celebration.

The group recently released their twenty fifth studio album, titled "Pandaemonium", on April 27 2007. They are excited that tracks from this album have already been selected for BOCA (Best of College A Cappella), Sing 4 [ [http://www.allforacappella.org/sing.html Sing! ] ] , and Voices Only 2008. The album also received a perfect score from the Recorded A cappella Review Board. [ [http://rarb.org/reviews/765.html# RARB Review of The Beelzebubs - Pandæmonium ] ] The Bubs were recently featured on the MTV show My Super Sweet 16. [ [http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2007/09/06/Features/Beelzebubs.Perform.For.Mtvs.my.Super.Sweet.16-2953155.shtml Beelzebubs perform for MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" - Features ] ]

Notable members

*Peter Gallagher, [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001251/bio Peter Gallagher (I) - Biography ] ] [ [http://media.www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2007/04/06/News/Gallagher.Receives.Light.On.The.Hill-2828018.shtml Gallagher receives Light on the Hill - News ] ] actor.
*Adam Gardner [ [http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/123105Arts.htm Tufts E-News - In The Arts ] ] , musician (Guster).
*Jean Mayer, honorary member, hunger activist and former President of Tufts University.
*Deke Sharon [ [http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/altoday/bal-al.acappella11nov11,0,7894604.story?page=2 Topic Galleries - baltimoresun.com ] ] , a cappella enthusiast and founder of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America

Awards

Albums

*"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)
*"Pandaemonium" (2007)

References

External links

* [http://www.bubs.com Beelzebubs Official Website]
* [http://www.varsityvocals.com/boca BOCA]