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Oskee Wow Wow
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Oskee Wow Wow is used as the Illinois fight song since Illinois Loyalty is not as well suited for rousing a crowd during a game. The University
is somewhat unique in this regard, as it is uncommon for a school to have a separate fight song and school song.
Howard Green and Harold Hill, University students from 1908 to 1912, attempted to write a musical comedy in 1911 to compete in a campus-wide contest. The
musical was never finished, but Green and Hill managed to compose "Hail to the Orange," "Oskee Wow Wow," and "Cheer Illini" as part of the unfinished work.
In a letter to Cary Clive Burford, published in his book "We're Loyal to You, Illinois," Howard Green recalls the first performance of the song in 1911:
"... we entered ourselves in what was then known as the post-exam Jubilee contest. We were permitted to present two numbers and they were "Oskee-Wow-Wow" and
"Hail to the Orange." That was their first public appearance. I don't recall that we won any prize. By the next week I induced Charlie Graham, who was
a partner in the Co-Op store, to come to our house for what, today, might be called, charitably, and audition. He wasn't too interested. ... [but] he
offered us our choice: $100 cash, or one-half the gross receipts from the sale of the song. Obviously, being two 20-year-old kids, in the usual state of finances,
we took the cash. I wonder how many thousand copies of that Oskee-Wow-Wow song sold before the 28-year copyright expired and the ownership returned to me
and to Harold's estate."
The first recording of Oskee Wow Wow (along with "Hail to the Orange" and "Illinois Loyalty") was made by 100 members of A. A. Harding's 160-piece marching band
on October 31, 1925. On that day, the Illinois band traveled with the football team to meet Pennsylvania at an away game in Philadelphia. Following a
rioutous victory over Penn, a dramatic showing by Red Grange on Franklin Field, and a musical performance that left Eastern sportswriters in awe, the Illinois
band ferried to Camden, NJ to make a record for the Victor Talking Machine Company. This recording is reproduced here in .mp3 digital audio format. Listen for the 4 bars between the introduction and first verse that are
no longer played.
Earliest recording:
Oskee Wow Wow (from a Victrola record, recorded 1925) |
There are a number of slight variants to the words for "Oskee Wow Wow" floating about campus. Here are the words as originally published:
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Old Princeton yells her Tiger,
Wisconsin, her Varsity
And they give the same old Rah, Rah, Rah,
At each University,
But the yell that always thrills me
And fills my heart with joy,
Is the good old Oskee-Wow-Wow,
That they yell at Illinois.
Os-kee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Our eyes are all on you.
Oskee-Wow-Wow,
Illinois,
Wave your Orange and your Blue.
Rah! Rah!
When the team trots out before you,
Every man stand up and yell,
Back the team to victory,
Os-kee-Wow-Wow.
Illinois.
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Oskee Wow Wow as it is played today has been divided into two parts. Most commonly, it is played 'from the hold' at the start of the chorus. In a football game, a touchdown always evokes Oskee Wow Wow 'from the hold' and the entire piece is played after an extra point is scored..
During basketball and volleyball games, the band will start Oskee Wow Wow 'from the top' with about 32-34 seconds on the clock indicating the end of the warmup period. When properly conducted, this allows the 'hold'
to be played just as the buzzer sounds. By extreme coincidence, the buzzer at most every stadium, home and away, is in the chord of the hold.
| Oskee Wow Wow from one of the first University of Illinois Concert Band records, produced in the late 1940s or early 1950s, conducted by A.A. Harding. Listen as the band sings along. |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "Concert Band Record #44," with the Men's Glee Club, late 1950s. |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "Rose Bowl Echoes -- First Regimental Band Record #21," 1964 |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "1978 Halftime Highlights" |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "1979 Halftime Highlights" |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "1980 Halftime Highlights" |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "1981 Halftime Highlights" |
| Oskee Wow Wow from "The Marching Illini" (1982) |
The present incarnation of Oskee Wow Wow was arranged by Mr. James Curnow in 1982.
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