The Marching Chiefs of Florida State University: The Band That Never Lost a Halftime Show

by Bill F. Faucett

Overview

The history of Florida State University's Marching Chiefs is chronicled, from early efforts to found a band before the program's 1939 establishment at Florida State College for Women, to the Chiefs' attainment of "world renowned" status. The band's leaders, shows, and music are discussed, along with the origins of some of their venerable traditions, game-day rituals, and school songs. This story of the Chiefs takes into account the growth of FSU and its School of Music, the rise of "Big Football" in Tallahassee, and the transformations on campus and in American society that affected them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476668321
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/24/2017
Pages:	235
Sales rank:	979,005
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Bill F. Faucett is an arts administrator and fundraiser and a former classical music critic and columnist at the Palm Beach Post and American Record Guide. He is director of development at the University of South Florida’s College of The Arts.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: FSU vs. East Carolina, September 20, 1980
Part I. Marching Chiefs One Time!
1. College Town (to 1937)
Higher Education in Tallahassee
“Femina Perfecta”: The Florida State College for Women (1909)
2. Picture and Sound (1938–1946)
The Tally Troopers
Two Cellists
“Band Pageantry” and War
The Remarkable Frank Sykora
Sellers Returns
3. Becoming the Chiefs (1947–1953)
A Coed University … Again
Halftime Hijinks
Robert Braunagel (1949–1953)
October 1950
Football Gets Serious
Part II. Marching Chiefs Two Times!
4. Whit (1953–1962)
Manley R. Whitcomb
“Music, Music, Music”
“Hell-Raisers”
Small Scandals
Damned Gators
Whit Retires
5. The Art of the Marching Band (1963–1970)
Charlie Carter
“Brownie”
“Never lost a ­halftime show”
Forging an Art Form
“Ghosts of FSCW”
The Chiefs Go Bowling
6. World Renowned (1971–1976)
“With an ­ever present flair”
“Anti-Football Views”
Syria and Jordan (1974)
Dis-Spirited ’76
Part III. Marching Chiefs Three Times!
7. Football Rising: Bowden, Bernie and
delete deleteBentley (1976–1990)
Tradition Returns
“Where our traditions come from”: FSU at Ohio State, October 3, 1981
The Voice
Shellahamer Returns
“We played the ‘War Chant’ ­non-stop”
8. A Marching Band for a New Era (1991 to Today)
Dunnagin and Plack
“Zero tolerance”
Exit Charlie
World Renowned … Still
Post-Game: “Here’s a hymn…”
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Bill Faucett writes about one of the great university band programs with a historian’s care for detail and a band member’s insight and passion. The historical moments come to life, the personalities are critically and sympathetically portrayed, and the band’s music resonates. Most of all, the book tells a significant and engaging story”—Douglass Seaton, Warren D. Allen Professor of Music, Florida State University; “Bill F. Faucett’s superb chronicle of one of the country’s best-known (and best, period) marching bands is written with the concise prose of a journalist, the narrative sweep of a novelist, the thoughtful objectivity of a historian, the deeper-digging obsession of a musicologist, and the Hymn to the Garnet and Gold–singing heart of a Marching Chief. Though Faucett is himself an FSU grad and Marching Chiefs alum (Flush and drum major) who now claims offspring among the Chiefs’ current ranks, this doesn’t skew his vision or keep him from shining his light into a shadowy nook and cranny or two. If anything, it may only fortify his resolve to get the story right. This is a rich and interesting tale, very well told.”—Robert S. Thurston, former Chief Arranger-Composer, United States Air Force Band, Washington D.C.

From the Publisher