Pitch Perfect The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory

by Rapkin, Mickey

• ISBN13: 9781592403769
• ISBN10: 159240376X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-29
• Publisher: Gotham

Summary

Pitch Perfectis a behind-the-scenes look at the bizarre, often inspiring world of collegiate a cappella groups. The first collegiate a cappella group, the Yale Whiffenpoofs, was founded by Cole Porter back in 1909. But what had been largely an Ivy League phenomenon has, in the past fifteen years, exploded. And it’s not what you think. There are now more than 1,200 a cappella groups at colleges across the country. The very best of these collegiate groups square off in the annual International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella—a showdown marked by wrenching close calls and exhilarating triumphs. And, really, where else can you hear Michael Jackson’s Bad” in four-part harmony? In Pitch Perfect, GQ editor Mickey Rapkin follows a season in a cappella through all its twists and turns, covering the breathtaking displays of vocal talent, the groupies (yes, a cappella singers have groupies), the rockstar partying (and run-ins with the law), and all the bitter rivalries. Along the way are encounters with boldfaced names such as President George W. Bush, Prince, David Letterman, Barack Obama, Barbra Streisand, Hillary Clinton, Marisa Tomei, Amanda Bynes, Nick Lachey, Merv Griffin, Jim Carrey, Microsoft’s Paul Allen, John Legend, and Jessica Biel. At the heart of the narrative are three a cappella groups whose interactions are anything but harmonious: the historic Tufts Beelzebubs, founded more than forty years ago with 40,000 albums sold since—and struggling to record a new album that lives up to the hype; Divisi of the University of Oregon, a relatively new, all-female group attempting to overcome a loss in the 2005 championship; and the University of Virginia Hullabahoos, the so-called bad boys of collegiate a cappella, who will attempt to compete on a higher level this year while retaining their casual soul. Bringing a lively new twist to America’s fascination with talent showdowns and peerless performers, Pitch Perfectis sure to strike a chord with readers.

Author Biography

Mickey Rapkin is a senior editor at GQ and has written for The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. 1
Divisi: Wherein twelve ladies in red ties are snubbed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella-and contemplate returning for seconds	p. 17
The Beelzebubs: Wherein the legendary Tufts Beelzebubs face a crisis in leadership	p. 31
The Hullabahoos: Wherein we meet the upstart bad boys of collegiate a cappella	p. 49
Divisi: Wherein the ladies of Divisi struggle with more than music while the origins of the ICCAs are explained	p. 65
Wherein we pull back to explain the collegiate a cappella explosion of the late nineties, meet the self-proclaimed father of contemporary a cappella, and find out how an a cappella album can possibly be overproduced	p. 79
The Hullabahoos: Wherein the Hullabahoos' origin story unfolds and the 2006-2007 lineup spends a chauffeur-driven weekend in Portland	p. 89
The Beelzebubs and Hullabahoos Collide: Wherein two groups clash in a very unusual Mason-Dixon throwdown in October of 2006	p. 101
Divisi: Wherein the original members of Divisi return (disastrously) to prepare these new girls for the quarterfinals of the 2007 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella	p. 115
The Beelzebubs: Wherein the Bubs descend on their founder's lake house for ten days of recording in January while a true Hollywood a cappella story unfolds	p. 127
The Hullabahoos: Wherein the Hullabahoos travel to Los Angeles for winter break 2007 and attempt to (among other things) gain admission to the Playboy Mansion	p. 145
Divisi: Wherein Divisi comes face-to-face with some Noteworthy ladies in the semifinals of the ICCAs	p. 159
Wherein we peek inside the nefarious world of the Contemporary A Cappella Society, a feud is born between two companies-Primarily A Cappella and Mainely A Cappella-and the NCCAs go international	p. 177
The Beelzebubs: Wherein the Beelzebubs travel west for spring break	p. 189
The Hullabahoos: Wherein the Hullabahoos' relaxed attitude finally catches up with them while Brendon Mason reports back from a Lexington, Virginia, jail cell	p. 207
Wherein the ICCAs goes international, the man behind Mainely A Cappella quits the scene, and we meet Merv Griffin's favorite a capella group-which not surprisingly turns out to be the a cappella equivalent of the cabana boy	p. 223
Divisi: Wherein personal tragedy becomes triumph in the spring of 2007	p. 235
The Beelzebubs: Wherein the Beelzebubs unleash Pandaemonium on the world	p. 241
The Hullabahoos: Wherein the Hullabahoos reconnect with an old friend in the spring of 2007-and come face-to-face with a new one	p. 253
Epilogue	p. 265
Acknowledgments	p. 273
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