I agree. Angry emails and irate phonecalls are not going to get you anywhere. To be honest, like 49erband said, Cory is probably one the best directors we could ever hope for. And to most of the band, he IS the best.
As far as the alma mater goes, Iām not sure of his motives behind that, nor am I sure of the nature of his stance on it. HOWEVER, people donāt have to make it seem like the band members or the director are a bunch of evil, insensitive people who continue to overlook the Alma Mater just to anger the alumni.
I myself am not opposed at all to playing it, to tell you the truth, and we in the band can only continue to keep bringing it up in class and trying to change things. I do understand where you guys are coming from, and I totally empathize with your standpoint ( if nothing else, just from one 49er to another). So you have my word that we will do what we can to try and straighten out this situation.
Rest assured, Iāve fired off 6 emails this morning, and have received two replies already, one from Athletics and one from the Alumni Association. I think the Alumni Association might be able to pull some rank here.
This email is in support of having the University Alma Mater
played at our home basketball games. I am outraged at the
Pep Band Director Cory Doverās refusal to play the Alma Mater.
As a graduate of UNC-Charlotte, I believe that playing the Alma Mater is an
important part of building tradition and a great sign of respect for the
University and its Alumni. Hopefully there is something that you
can do to resolve this issue and convince Mr. Dover to play the Alma
Mater. Thank you for your support in this matter.
Sincerely
UNCC Graduate 2003
[/b]
Response From Mr. Dover
[b]
Dear UNCC Graduate 2003,
I can appreciate your support for UNC Charlotte, and understand a
need to play the alma mater. I think you may need to review your
approach. To express an āoutrageā at my refusal to play is over the
top. One must be asked to do something before he can refuse it. I have
not been asked by the university, and personally have no problem
playing the alma mater. I am a little insulted. If you recall, UNCC
played the Texas fight song at each of the games. My first year as a
director was the year UNCC created their own fight song. Feel free to
respond to this as I will pursue getting the music.
Thank you,
Cory Dover - director
[/b]
RESPONSE FROM DIRECTOR OF BANDS - LAURENCE MARKS
[b]
Dear UNCC Graduate 2003,
I will talk to Mr. Dover about the Alma Mater. I have previously given
him the music and weāve discussed this idea of playing it in the past.
Alumni of the University should all demand that it be played.
Mr. Dover, the term used was ādead setā again playing the alma mater. In my uneducated opinion, I would say that is the say as ārefusing.ā And you should NEVER have to be asked to play the alma mater, that should be required music, just as the National Anthem and the Fight Song (whatever tune it may be)!
Mr. Dover appears to have the support of the members of the pep band and I would agree that strides have been made with the group in the past several years (with the exception of āAlā). However, he appears to have an arrogant streak based on his email response. Personally, if he takes this attitude, Iād like to see him gone.
I sincerely believe Mr. Dover will be told that itās long overdue to add this to the repertoire within the next few days.
Cory is not arrogant. But he is the man. B)
He was just stating that for something to technically be called a refusal, you have to be asked to do it and no one has asked him to do it. Thatās not saying he doesnāt want to play it. I honestly donāt think he was ādead setā against it. I understand why people want it played, and I, too, would like to play it. I am pretty sure that we will play it eventually (and if this year, which would be the likely case-we have to see when the band can actually get it together and playable, appropriate copies/arrangements made, etc). You also have to take in to consideration the great strides our pep band has taken in the past few years. The pep band used to be almost non existant and they had to use a microphone at games. Cory has done a lot for our band and made a lot of changes for the better. People actually want to be in the band now and know what a great time we all have. I again understand why people want the Alma Mater played, but not all changes come over night. Like Cory said, we used to play the Texas fight song until he became director just a few years ago. I am sure this will change soon, but please donāt go about demanding things the wrong way. And if Cory got angry or upset over that email, I donāt blame him. He has every right to feel that way. Iām sure anyone here would be, too, if something that demanding came at you out of the blue. But please do not accuse him of anything when you donāt know him and you donāt know all that he has to handle as it is. I have been in bands for 10+ years now and he is by far the greatest director I have ever had on a musical and professional level.
49erband, my emails have been sent through the proper channels and they were polite. Was I demanding? Not by any means, but I do believe 100% that youāll be practicing the arrangement very soon.
What did Mr. Doverās comment of playing the Texas fight song have to do with this? Nothing, it was the 49ersā fight song IMO, which happened to be the same as the Univerity of Texas. As for your comment, āBut please do not accuse him of anything when you donāt know him and you donāt know all that he has to handle as it is,ā Iām not sure what you mean. The University has an official piece of sheet music for the alma mater and he shouldāve known it existed (and according to Laurence Marks, had been given the sheet music) and took it upon himself to see that it is performed at games. A band director at any college or high school knows this. I understand some of your fellow band members have requested the dropping of Call Me Al. Where has that gotten you? So I stand by my earlier comments.
In closing, yes the band has made great strides. You are giving him too much credit for that, it is the performers, not the conductor, that makes a band. His email response to Hooligan wouldnāt go over well with the UNCC administration nor active members of the Alumni Association.
Give it a few years 49erband, youāll see tradition and what isnāt.
This is all very encouraging dialogue. For the record, I did send some emails and got some encouraging replies.
Given the frequency of a certain song, I was starting to wonder if these were the lyrics to the alma mater.
A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Donāt want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I donāt find this stuff amusing anymore
If youāll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long
Whereās my wife and family
What if I die here
Whoāll be my role-model
Now that my role-model is
Gone Gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations
If youāll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
A man walks down the street
Itās a street in a strange world
Maybe itās the Third World
Maybe itās his first time around
He doesnāt speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
If youāll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
On a seperate note, now that the emails have been sent and the proper channels have been addressed, this thread needs to die. Why? Because the problem is already in the process of being rectified at this point. So to save any furthermore argument or contention among fellow Niners, letās bid this thread adeu and trust in the fact that we in the band, as well as those in the AD and the Music Department, have been made aware of the problem and will now do all that we can to solve it.
I thought I might actually get [SIZE=1]minimal[/SIZE] credit for bringing this subject up and maybe giving 49er alumni something to look forward to. But if thats the way you want to be, thats your problem and not mine.
Once the people who have expressed an interest in this subject learn the problem has been fixed, the thread should die. Until then, the subject should be fair game. All we seem to know so far, is many people think the song should be played. No one has told me it will be played.
It is not a matter of my sensitivity. It was a matter of you, my friend, posting such a smartass comment in regards to a serious subject. Your post with the lyrics of āalā was ridiculous. We know the problem with that songā¦trust me. Itās been discussed quite a bit more than you know. Itās just pointless to drag this thing out worse than it already has been. I want to play the alma mater. Many times, I would like to see āAlā gone as well. And yes, this topic could still be considered āFair Game,ā but thereās not much of a point bitching about it unless you have something serious to say or some sort of update. If progress is made, then by all means, report it. If you have any NEW questions, feel free to ask anyone in the band or on this site. If you get a response of any sort, then by all means, let us know what it was. However, Iām looking back and seeing the same redundant posts over and overā¦when the point was made a page and a half ago.
HP-I wasnāt referring to your emails. I know what tradition is and I love this school. I have many traditions that spur past schools- and band is one of them as well. Also, Iāve been around this school since I was born. And yes, I am still of typical college age and havenāt had the years of experience as some have had with our school, but I still take great pride in this school and always will. I want to play the Alma Mater. I like our Alma Mater and I have played it in the symphonic band. We do not have the copies of the sheet music in pep band as far as I know. The only main places I know pep band music to be stored would be either in that rather large box that was kept in the old band room or already placed in our folders and I have not seen it in either. We can gain access to this music through the symphonic band, but as far as I know, we have not had it yet. If we have had it for some reason, there were not mass copies for the band. I think we will play the Alma Mater regardless. I donāt want to argue about such things as I know this has all gotten way out of hand. I just wanted to show my support for our director and I know that he has a lot on him. I just donāt want people to attack him and for everyone to know, heās really a great guy that has done a lot for us. The band wouldnāt be the same with out him and I really donāt think that the present members of the band would want to have any other director. I donāt think he was getting out of place by what he said in response to the email. I would be irritated, too. But I just think that this subject needs to die as 49erdrummer said b/c I know we will play it some time in the near future and I think that this subject is best left in the hands of the band til it is taken care of.
And Al wouldnāt be so bad if we had a less sucky arrangement. I know we play it all the dang time, but at least it is an easy song to memorize and one we can pull off really quick.
Hey Band and Drummer - - Iāve got a challenge for the bandā¦ whenever the director āqueues upā āALā, I dare all of you to begin playing the Alma Materā¦ Do not conform to what people want you to do - do what you want to do!! Stand up and fight for your rights to play the Alma Mater! Both of you have already said you want to play the Alma Materā¦ Part of college is about stepping out and finding yourselves, and learning some of lifeās lessons on your ownā¦ whatās he gonna do, fire the whole lot of ya? Surely he could not put together a better group of musicians, they would probably suck, then he gets cannedā¦ and you all get your positions back! Give it a shotā¦ live a little!!!
(this is a jokeā¦ well, maybe notā¦ it would be pretty cool thoughā¦ might even make SportsCenter!)
BTW - We never played the Texas fight song (The Eyes of Texas)ā¦ they played the 49ers fight songā¦ dadgummit!
First offā¦Hooligan, if you donāt already work for homeland security, there is a job waiting for you there.
Secondly I LOVE you can call me Al!!! And I will be very disappointed if it is no longer played.
Thirdly, You people bothering the band director need to get a f*cking life!!! There are obviously plenty of band members here on the board that you can make your wishes know to, but to just email him and say play the alma mater or weāll see about getting you fired is ridiculous. Do you really care that much??? Why donāt you first worry about attending all the games before you worry about whether the alma mater (which nobody even knows) is going to be played.
I guess this is a sad example of what can happen when you school doesnāt have a football team, but does have a message board. (in my Allen Iverson voice) "What are we talking about here, the Alma mater. MAn Iām worried about the game.
I would like to hear more āTake on meā and how about some āRock and roll all niteā. Tell that band leader he better play it or Iāll get his ass fired.
At least the last 2 posts had a sense of humor. Honestly, I donāt think most people in the band care one way or another if we play Al. I donāt mind it-but just would like a new arrangement.
[i]Originally posted by HP49er[/i]@Aug 30 2004, 07:10 PM
[b] In closing, yes the band has made great strides. You are giving him too much credit for that, it is the performers, not the conductor, that makes a band. [/b]
Someone who would post this has obviously never been in a band. The conductor makes ALL the difference. The exact same group of musicians can sound amazing or horrible just based on the director. Trust me, it' no coincidence that in Cory's tenure we've gone from little more than a joke (ok, that may be too harsh) to one of the strongest bands in the conference. And as for all this Alma Mater nonsense, I've been in the band for three and a half years and it's just never really come up. Some bands choose to play it at the end of games while others don't. (Playing it during the game is usually considered inappropriate since it's such a slow song). If the Athletic Department once asked us to do it, you can be sure we would be. And most complaints from alumni tend not to be about the Alma Mater but that we don't play the fight song enough. I think we rightly figure that six or seven times a game is probably sufficient. Anyway, that's my two cents.
[i]Originally posted by trombonedrew[/i]@Aug 30 2004, 10:40 PM
[b]I think we rightly figure that six or seven times a game is probably sufficient. [/b]
:scared: :scared: :scared:
There is a limit to how many times the fight song should be played and talking about the Alma Mater is nonsense?
I think I need to drop my financial support of this school. The critics of the athletic programs at UNC Charlotte may have a point, if this is how school representatives think.
