Homecoming as it was

letsgiveacheer · November 6, 2017

Plumm started a thread a few weeks ago asking for some old timers to share some stories about UNT aka NTSU aka NTSC aka NTSTC etc etc,

As a coincidence, a classmate sent to me a link to a video of homecoming circa 1971 which also happened to be my freshman year. In those days, the parade started things off at about 10am. Then, there were the various department get-togethers. Kickoff was about 2pm. In the evening, there was always a grand concert by the NTSU Symphony which featured some sort of b-list entertainer.

There is unfortunately no sound but I am happy to provide a running commentary:

.01 We begin by showing off the effectiveness of a NTSU education. EX'S is spelt as a singular possessive rather than the correct plural EXES. This is followed by shots of random looking 70's people.

.17 President C.C. "Jitter" Nolen working the crowd. He had the best sideburns in school history. Trivia: Nolen was the only North Texas president in modern times not to have an earned doctorate. He was brought in from UT to improve our funding situation. More Trivia: In those days, there was a president's mansion on Ave E which was rather grand.

.30 Jitter working the girls. We have Miss America, Phyllis George, Miss Texas, and Miss Denton, all North Texas graduates. Trivia: Every student knew Phyllis George's father. He was the security officer at the library whose job it was to make sure you were not stealing any books!

.41 The parade begins. Here we have the 120 member strong (Maurice McAdow) Eagle Band so beloved by Silver Eagle. Unlike the corps marching style practiced today, we are actually showing some signs of life. We learned a new show for each game, even on those rare back-to-back home games.

I get a chuckle about the excuses of not wearing uniforms. To have not worn a uniform would have been unheard of. We had heavy wool pants and coats and then a wool "overlay" which went over the coat. As if that was not enough, the overlay was also two layers. One side had the NTS logo you see here and the other side had an outline of Texas with a star in the location of Denton. Trivia: In those days, the head man directed both the marching band and the concert band which was not convened until the spring semester. You could see future musicians of the orchestras of San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, North Carolina, department chairs and faculty of TCU, MTSU, Arkansas St., NLU, CUNY, etc etc. Plus I will immodestly add, the director of an opera company in NYC.

.59 We have here Phyllis George telling Jitter Nolan to get in his car so we can get the parade moving. This is followed by her court. Big hair everywhere.

1:37 My favorite, a rather sad float depicting Texas Stadium, our new "home" field. Even in those days, we just knew next year was going to be the year! #NTSUANewDawn #NewDenton Trivia: Contrary to popular belief, we did not play the first game in history at Texas Stadium as it was not ready for our opening game with BYU. We ended up playing that in the Cotton Bowl.

1:44 I have no idea who this woman is (Maybe Mrs. Jitter?) but obviously, the photographer had the hots for her. One thing for certain, she definitely inspired Hyden Fry's choice of our new green.

2:00 Another favorite, two students riding in a bathtub. Streaking was at its apex at that time, what fun for all!

2:13 Mean Green and Clean . "Hey guys, I have an idea for our float, let's put some garbage cans in a U Haul trailer!

All in favor, vote eye. all opposed, vote nay. The motion carries."

What fond memories. It was a great time to be a student at NTSU.

Edited November 6, 2017 by letsgiveacheer

golfingomez · November 6, 2017

that was cool, thanks for the trip to the past!

southsideguy · November 6, 2017

what no TG queen? people are dressed up, I think times were better in the 1970's

southsideguy · November 6, 2017

some how your down vote does not bother me.

FirefightnRick · November 6, 2017

Awesome LGAC. Thanks for the video.

Rick

DeepGreen · November 6, 2017

Although I graduated two years prior to that video, I still enjoyed it. Come to think, I was smack in the middle of Viet Nam.

Is it just me, but watching that parade I couldn't help but think that Bluto Blutoarsky would somehow appear and disrupt the whole thing!

SilverEagle · November 6, 2017

2 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

Plumm started a thread a few weeks ago asking for some old timers to share some stories about UNT aka NTSU aka NTSC aka NTSTC etc etc,

As a coincidence, a classmate sent to me a link to a video of homecoming circa 1971 which also happened to be my freshman year. In those days, the parade started things off at about 10am. Then, there were the various department get-togethers. Kickoff was about 2pm. In the evening, there was always a grand concert by the NTSU Symphony which featured some sort of b-list entertainer.

There is unfortunately no sound but I am happy to provide a running commentary:

.01 We begin by showing off the effectiveness of a NTSU education. EX'S is spelt as a singular possessive rather than the correct plural EXES. This is followed by shots of random looking 70's people.

.17 President C.C. "Jitter" Nolen working the crowd. He had the best sideburns in school history. Trivia: Nolen was the only North Texas president in modern times not to have an earned doctorate. He was brought in from UT to improve our funding situation. More Trivia: In those days, there was a president's mansion on Ave E which was rather grand.

.30 Jitter working the girls. We have Miss America, Phyllis George, Miss Texas, and Miss Denton, all North Texas graduates. Trivia: Every student knew Phyllis George's father. He was the security officer at the library whose job it was to make sure you were not stealing any books!

.41 The parade begins. Here we have the 120 member strong (Maurice McAdow) Eagle Band so beloved by Silver Eagle. Unlike the corps marching style practiced today, we are actually showing some signs of life. We learned a new show for each game, even on those rare back-to-back home games.

I get a chuckle about the excuses of not wearing uniforms. To have not worn a uniform would have been unheard of. We had heavy wool pants and coats and then a wool "overlay" which went over the coat. As if that was not enough, the overlay was also two layers. One side had the NTS logo you see here and the other side had an outline of Texas with a star in the location of Denton. Trivia: In those days, the head man directed both the marching band and the concert band which was not convened until the spring semester. You could see future musicians of the orchestras of San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth, North Carolina, department chairs and faculty of TCU, MTSU, Arkansas St., NLU, CUNY, etc etc. Plus I will immodestly add, the director of an opera company in NYC.

.59 We have here Phyllis George telling Jitter Nolan to get in his car so we can get the parade moving. This is followed by her court. Big hair everywhere.

1:37 My favorite, a rather sad float depicting Texas Stadium, our new "home" field. Even in those days, we just knew next year was going to be the year! #NTSUANewDawn #NewDenton Trivia: Contrary to popular belief, we did not play the first game in history at Texas Stadium as it was not ready for our opening game with BYU. We ended up playing that in the Cotton Bowl.

1:44 I have no idea who this woman is (Maybe Mrs. Jitter?) but obviously, the photographer had the hots for her. One thing for certain, she definitely inspired Hyden Fry's choice of our new green.

2:00 Another favorite, two students riding in a bathtub. Streaking was at its apex at that time, what fun for all!

2:13 Mean Green and Clean . "Hey guys, I have an idea for our float, let's put some garbage cans in a U Haul trailer!

All in favor, vote eye. all opposed, vote nay. The motion carries."

What fond memories. It was a great time to be a student at NTSU.

I'm guessing this Homecoming game was on 10-30 against Drake since it was the only home game not played at the Cotton Bowl or Texas stadium.

I forgot about those furry pill hats that the majorettes wore. Of course, when I was attending those homecoming events when I was in HS, I rarely looked at the majorette's hats.

So Jitter Nolan came to us from UT? I always thought he came to us from TCU. In either case, he was hired for his fund raising skills.....and I assume any perceived connections that he had. I was working for the school in 73 on one of their furniture moving trucks. One time our crew set up a fund raising event at the Presidents house. We went out to the garage to get some extra tables and chairs, when we noticed how well Mr. Nolan kept his place "stocked" for entertaining......cases and cases of booze.

greenjoe · November 6, 2017

Majorettes/twirlers. What an excellent idea.

SilverEagle · November 6, 2017

1 hour ago, greenjoe said:

Majorettes/twirlers. What an excellent idea.

.....and a real drum major. Another reason (besides dumbing down the fight song) to give a big thank you to Dr. Winslow.

And thank you #letsgiveacheer for this trip down memory lane.

Edited November 6, 2017 by SilverEagle

PlummMeanGreen · November 6, 2017

Brings tears to my eyes, LGAC! Thanks for sharing that &, yes, that was the reason for that other thread. Maybe if Phyliss George had only posted it instead of, uh, me?🤔🤕

Gentlemen, we were so blessed to have had some of the prettiest darn women in Texas & the USA right there in Denton, Texas, America! We still do! 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

GMG!

Edited November 6, 2017 by PlummMeanGreen

greensleeves · November 7, 2017

18 hours ago, DeepGreen said:

Although I graduated two years prior to that video, I still enjoyed it. Come to think, I was smack in the middle of Viet Nam.

Is it just me, but watching that parade I couldn't help but think that Bluto Blutoarsky would somehow appear and disrupt the whole thing!

I know, then I kinda expected to see a man opening an umbrella, or Keith Hernandez on the gravelly road.....

Great video and even better commentary. Thank you! Go Mean Green!

trud1966 · November 8, 2017

And this happened, I was there!!

oldguystudent · November 8, 2017

I think I've seen the homecoming parade twice. The first was in 2008, and we were mainly there so my daughter could collect candy thrown from various and sundry floats (I was THAT poor. Hustling candy off parade floats).

But I digress. 2008 was right before smart phones started to really take off, so what I saw in that particular parade was float after float of disinterested sorority girls walking alongside their creations with both thumbs glued to their Blackberries. I thought to myself, "This texting thing. It's a fad. It can't last like this. Look at them! Ridiculous."

Boy was I incorrect on that one!

SilverEagle · November 9, 2017

I looked to see if someone else had digitized an old filming of the North Texas Band during the Maurice McAdow era, but I couldn't find one. What I did find was a performance by the 1991 North Texas Band doing a demonstration at a HS band contest in DeSoto Tx. They were pretty close.

Folks, this band is less than half the size of our current (bloated) unit. It has twice the energy (or more), and a bigger and BETTER sound. Also notice that the dancers danced to the music that was part of the overall theme of the show.....not some cheesy tune that they picked out.

Christopher Walker · November 9, 2017

1 hour ago, SilverEagle said:

I looked to see if someone else had digitized an old filming of the North Texas Band during the Maurice McAdow era, but I couldn't find one. What I did find was a performance by the 1991 North Texas Band doing a demonstration at a HS band contest in DeSoto Tx. They were pretty close.

Folks, this band is less than half the size of our current (bloated) unit. It has twice the energy (or more), and a bigger and BETTER sound. Also notice that the dancers danced to the music that was part of the overall theme of the show.....not some cheesy tune that they picked out.

This is actually seen as one of the definitive Malaguena performances out there.

SilverEagle · November 9, 2017

36 minutes ago, Christopher Walker said:

This is actually seen as one of the definitive Malaguena performances out there.

So, you didn't actually say so, but I am assuming by your comment that our current director has viewed this video (maybe more than once) and it didn't inspire him to emulate with his own band the energy and sound that the 91 band displayed?

I would be interested in #letsgiveacheer's assessment of this performance.

Edited November 9, 2017 by SilverEagle

Christopher Walker · November 9, 2017

39 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

So, you didn't actually say so, but I am assuming by your comment that our current director has viewed this video (maybe more than once) and it didn't inspire him to emulate with his own band the energy and sound that the 91 band displayed?

I would be interested in #letsgiveacheer's assessment of this performance.

No, that would be an incorrect and unfair assumption.

I just know that this video has been referred to a number of times in the past, even back to my high school days when we were running a drill to Malaguena, and before this was uploaded to YouTube.

southsideguy · November 10, 2017

i remember back in 78 for 79 we playing a team from LA whose mascot was a indian ( not sure who they were or what their new mascot is). Anyway the students built a about 9 ft Indian or brave with cloth covering the groin area and the butt. When they got close to the judging part of the parade the cloth covering the groin area dropped and there it was a a big wiener. For some reason I thought it was Bruce's halls float.

On 11/7/2017 at 11:52 PM, trud1966 said:

And this happened, I was there!!

wow that even before the head shop was built in the parking lot behind the building on the corner.

oldguystudent · November 10, 2017

14 hours ago, southsideguy said:

wow that even before the head shop was built in the parking lot behind the building on the corner.

Can't tell if being serious or not. You do realize that's a screen shot from Animal House, right?

Anywho, I found the marching band sound to which we should all aspire.

southsideguy · November 10, 2017

animal house was on fry at that time right? I now laugh when I stop by vortmans and see the animal house that they moved to is now a a christian center. Did they have to do an exorcist before the christian center moved into the house. Those guys were a wild bunch.

Harry · November 11, 2017

Stix · November 13, 2017

On 11/9/2017 at 10:49 AM, SilverEagle said:

I looked to see if someone else had digitized an old filming of the North Texas Band during the Maurice McAdow era, but I couldn't find one. What I did find was a performance by the 1991 North Texas Band doing a demonstration at a HS band contest in DeSoto Tx. They were pretty close.

Folks, this band is less than half the size of our current (bloated) unit. It has twice the energy (or more), and a bigger and BETTER sound. Also notice that the dancers danced to the music that was part of the overall theme of the show.....not some cheesy tune that they picked out.

On 11/9/2017 at 12:27 PM, SilverEagle said:

So, you didn't actually say so, but I am assuming by your comment that our current director has viewed this video (maybe more than once) and it didn't inspire him to emulate with his own band the energy and sound that the 91 band displayed?

Wow, there are a lot of videos on Youtube of the Green Brigade.

Interestingly, here's a 2014 performance of Malaguena. I do think the 1991 arrangement has more energy, but in no way does the 1991 band put out a bigger sound with half as many members.

And, here's an interesting one, of the 1996 band. The video technique is awful (sorry, if someone here took the video), but what's really interesting is that according to the announcer, one of the Drum Majors is Nick Williams, the current director. I knew he had been Drum Major, but didn't know exactly when.

As for the Dancers in the 1991 Malaguena performance, I'm not sure they're THE North Texas Dancers. Since my time in the band (1980-82) and even before that, the NT Dancers always chose their own music, and rehearsed separately from the band (until the Friday before the game). Not to mention the NT Dancers have never worn uniforms which resemble Baton Twirler uniforms, like in the 1991 video.

I do have to say, with exceptions like Malaguena, Thriller (which has now been overdone), and Rhapsody in Blue, I have frequently been underwhelmed by the musical choices.

One last video - last year's homecoming with band alumni - because I'm out there on the field with a pair of cymbals :)

SilverEagle · November 13, 2017

2 hours ago, Stix said:

Interestingly, here's a 2014 performance of Malaguena. I do think the 1991 arrangement has more energy, but in no way does the 1991 band put out a bigger sound with half as many members.

Respectfully disagree old friend. You put the 1991 band in the same venue (Apogee) as the 2014 with it's better acoustics, and the results will be (IMHO) an even bigger blowout. Even Fouts had better acoustics than the DeSoto HS stadium in the 91 video.

If you doubted if the dancers in the 91 video really were "THE" dancers, then who were those dancers?

Back to making a "big sound". I remember one of the last times that Tulsa played at Fouts and Tulsa brought a pep band. Their pep Band made a bigger sound than the Green Brigade whilst playing in the stands. This was noticed by other people sitting around me in the stands......which were directly across from the GB. As FFR and I were leaving we were crossing the field (he wanted to visit with a couple of players) to leave the stadium and I made a point of going over and giving the director (Williams) my "critique" about their sound vs Tulsa's pep band. He started to offer up an explanation about acoustics, but quickly changed his mind and switched to a dismissive "thank you for your input".

Somehow i doubt he was truly thankful for my input.