So tomorrow the Rice Owls will play the Marshall Thundering Herd at Historic Rice Stadium in the Conference USA championship game (noon EST, 11 AM CST, ESPN2, check local listings), and I’ll be there in the stands with the Rice MOB, freezing my embouchure off. In any event, to honor the occasion and to hopefully avoid angering the weauxf gods, here are ten songs from my collection for which the MOB has an arrangement. Odds are you’ll hear a couple of these if you tune in or attend in person.
1. I Can’t Turn You Loose – Was (Not Was)
2. Vehicle – Ides of March
3. Love Shack – The B-52’s
4. Hit The Road, Jack – Ray Charles
5. Pipeline – The Ventures
6. Everybody’s Everything – Santana
7. YMCA – The Village People
8. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
9. You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
10. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together – Taylor Swift
That latter one was my contribution to the script for the U of H show, since our parting of conference ways may mean it’s a long time before we face off on the gridiron again. Our director Chuck Throckmorton arranged it as a medley with Neil Sedaka’s “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”. Believe it or not, I don’t actually have a copy of The Kingsmen’s version of “Louie, Louie”, which is the MOB’s calling card. If you’ve ever seen the movie “The Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad”, in that scene with the USC Marching Band at Dodger Stadium, it’s the MOB version of “Louie, Louie” that you’re hearing. We play it after every touchdown, so I hope we’re all sick of hearing it by the end of the game. Go Rice!
I didn’t realize you were a Rice alumnus. Maybe you could get the band to reenact the Rice Police beating the bicycle thief during the halftime show. Now I would pay to see that. C’mon. I know the MOB would be irreverent enough to do something like that.