Talk:The Whiffenpoofs

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Please don't take this as a troll or flame bait, but at Georgia Tech, we have a Glee Club whose student organization charter dates back to 1906, having never been suspended. Doesn't this seem to conflict with the Whiffenpoof's claim to being "the oldest collegiate singing group in the nation"?

For that matter, Glee Club lists several groups who date back to the 1850's or so, some of which have been in continuous operation. Bigpeteb 17:31, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The article actually refers to the Whiffenpoofs as the oldest collegiate a cappella group, which can be considered a different type of group than a glee club. A glee club is essentially a chorus and usually quite large, and they often sing to musical accompaniment. An a cappella group is generally smaller (no more than 20 people and usually around 8-12), with more complicated arrangements and absolutely no accompaniment, although some more modern groups often (to the horror of purists) feature vocal percussion and other human-made sound effects.

Incidentally, the Whiffenpoofs themselves were originally formed as the varsity quartet of the Yale Glee Club. --Gstevens99 19:38, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

Should we, perhaps, post the text of (either here, or on a seperate article) The Whiffenpoof Song?

"We are poor little lambs who have lost their way. Baa. Baa. Baa." --Wetman 01:29, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

A mass of deletions or AfDsis currently taking place of articles about a capella groups, such as the Yale Baker's Dozen. Singing groups with no references other than their own and university sites have generally been deleted. This group is famous enough to probably survive an AfD, but I added two independent references which talk about this group, as opposed to a passing reference or a directory listing stating that they will perform at such and such a place. It is better to demonstrate notabiility and meeting of WP:MUSIC than to have to do a lot of hand waving when it comes up for deletion review. Edison 17:33, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Good move, and yes, I agree that The Whiffenpoofs passes notability in contrast to most other college a cappella groups. Pan Dan 17:45, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

At some point in the future, I think we should remove the material that can only be verified on their website. Pan Dan 17:49, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

This is indeed a stub, as it neglects to mention that for most of its history up until very recently (and I'm not even sure about now but I hope not) the Whiffenpoofs were also very much a party/drinking club and the Whiffenpoof Song is a drinking song. When I was a grad student at Yale in 1978 I saw one of their performances and while they might not literally have been drunk they made an act of seeming so. Mory's is or was a glorified tavern.66.155.140.40 23:11, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

The Whiffenpoof Song is renowned among people of a certain age. The Whiffenpoofs generate enough cash to fly themselves literally around the world every year. A few of the songs that were written by members of the group while they were undergraduates have been adopted by other a cappella groups in tribute to them (e.g., Bob Birge's "Time after Time"). The group will shortly be 100 years old. I don't see how on earth it's possible to debate whether or not they are notable enough for inclusion in an encyclopedia.

For that matter, Mory's is famous as well. A Google search on either "Whiffenpoofs" or "Mory's" will turn up countless citations. Instead of complaining that these kinds of groups aren't worthy of the Wikipedia, why not add citations to what you call stubs? Mileage 05:48, 17 March 2007 (UTC)mileage