We had to walk 10 miles to TOONS practice...
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The Toons was founded in 1990 by several Wellesley and MIT students, including Rich Villanueva, Jen Pogue and Becca Arnal. Originally, the group was pretty straight-shooting, as can be seen in early pictures of members in their concert garb of blue blazers and dresses. 1993-1994The fall of 1993 brought eight new members, owing mostly to the fact that several members were away for the term. Soon after, the Toons officially adopted the "bright color and black or jeans" concert attire. And the Toons were singing lots of newer music, like the now classic "Take On Me," and old music, like "Feelin' Groovy," our signature song. This year was also marked by the beginning of the "Jen and Rich" photo tradition, in which Jen Harris and Rich Villanueva pose provacatively at every Toons happening for pictoral historians, the "Mmmm...potato chips!" skit, and the graduation of the last remaining founding members.
1994-1995The 1994-95 year marked our first performance at the MIT Parents' Weekend A Cappella Concert (now called GBIS -- the Greater Boston Invitational Songfest), the Chorallaries' Bad Taste Concert, and our first overnight road trip in two years, to Colgate University. As usual, we had concerts at both schools during both the fall and spring terms, which included the famed "Wellesley College Rules" skit (much better than "Mmmm...potato chips!") and the greatest number of alums in the audience ever (three). The Toons also hit the Internet with their *new* World Wide Web page. The year was marked by a performance at the Museum of Fine Arts for their celebration for the re-opening of the Huntington Avenue entrance, and the recording of "Target Practice," the first public release of recorded Toons music. On July 2, 1995, the Toons had their "airwaves" debut, as CKUT included "Son of a Preacher Man" from the album "Target Practice" in the "NAKED VOICE" show (CKUT FM 90.3 (Cable 91.7) Montreal, QC). Other concerts that year included the Brown Bear Necessities' Acapallooza, and WPI's songfest. It was this year that the target symbol which decorates the cover of our first albumn, Target Practice, was developed. It began (and remains) the universal symbol for Jen Harris. During one of our skit development sessions, one member (the reticent Liz Parker) remarked that she did not find a particular joke funny, which found the response "You're not our target audience." Liz asked who our target audience was, and it was that moment that Jen chose to walk into the room and utter a particularly engaging Jen-ism, exemplifying herself as typifying a member of our target audience. The point became graphically illustrated when either Neil Renninger or Howard (we're not sure which) drew the now-famous target symbol, and placed "Jen" at the center of it. 1998-2001
The year 1998 brought the release of the Toons second studio album, 59th Street Bridge. Soon after this album premiered, the Toons were performing such classics as "The Mario Skit." The fall of 2000 brought seven new jingles, and brought Toons membership up to 19 for the semester. Although these delinquents did not produce a jingle skit, they did manage to create a very colorful breakfast at Fall Retreat 2000. Under director Charles Floyd, the "real" changing of the millennium brought with it the Toons third studio album, Holding Our Own, recorded at Newbury Sound in Boston. With 17 tracks, the new album was an epic, and was released at the Spring 2001 concert. This monumental achievement was only surpassed by Ryan Manuel's ability to cackle like the Joker in front of a packed Kresge Auditorium, and Mike's famous "Holy 10-dollar Muses CD." Memorable songs from 2000-01 include the "Disney Medley," and "How Deep Is Your Love." These were thoroughly bastardized at the Chorallaries' 2001 Bad Taste concert, which the Toons trashed in true cross-dressing style. Skits that year included the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Skit, in which Ryan brilliantly played the Pizza Monster, and the Batman Skit, in which Kieran was just "wrrrrrrrrrrrrrong!" The end of Spring 2001 marked the departure of two beloved members, Jeremy Cheng and Sawaka Kawashima. 2001-2002Fall 2001 brought two new members, and brought our membership back to a booming 19. Fall 2001 was characterized by the repeated singing of "All I Want" by Neil Basu against his will, and the beginning of the "Not An Addict" time period, during which time Nikhila Deo became more recognizable as "that hot girl who sings the druggie song" than the G&W bus on a Saturday night. That Fall also saw a very well attended concert in 54-100, a room that became synonymous with the words, "DEAD SEXY!" yelled backstage before any performance. The "TV Sitcom Medley" premiered during Fall 2001, as did the blockbuster "Billie Jean," the biggest choreography number ever seen by a Toons audience, masterfully done by David Ngo. Spring 2002 saw the Toons on a tour of the East Coast. Toons drove down to Atlanta and stayed in good ole Peach Tree City before heading back up to sing at Duke, American U, and the Empire State Building. As always, tour included an illegal pee stop for Deb that ended with police involvement. The Spring 2002 concert marked the end of an era, when we said goodbye to five members: Neil Basu, Jocelyn Warner, Janaki Wickrema, Niyati Gandhi, and David Ngo, whose Xtreme Box skit will live on for all time. Spring 2002 Elections also saw the end of Charles Floyd's two-year reign as director (WOW!) and the beginning of the Toons Scrap Book. 2002-2003
Spring 2003 began with goodbyes from several long time Toons: Charles Floyd, Gautam Jayaraman, and Cecilia Lam. Toons were much smaller this semester, with only 13 members, but still managed to compete at ICCA Regionals in February 2003. Mike Stevens received a "Hot Lips" Vocal Percussion award at the competition. Toons worked heavily on their fourth studio album, All Jokes Aside. The semester was best known for "The Romp Skit," penned by Brooke, featuring such Wellesley campus favorites as the Rugby Team scene, and Mike's infamous ad-lib. Stephen Larson was the brains behind the Pac Man skit, a colorful true-to-the-real-thing presentation with a feminist heart. Spring 2003 ended with goodbyes to four dedicated Toons: Brooke Bryant, Casey Muller, Stephen Larson, and Deb Dasgupta. 2003-2004
Fall 2003 brought a ton of new jingles! This semester Neelima, the newly elected director, took Toons to the Big Blends Concert in Maine, among other fun road trips. The Toons had (have) a particular knack for getting the worst possible rental cars this semester but it always turned into a laugh and a good time by the end of the trip. This fall concert was marked with awesome Toons costumes and the Aqua hit (arranged by Claire Gross) "Cartoon Heroes". Spring
Semester 2004 the Toons went on an awesome Toons Tour all over the East Coast.
We sang with groups including the Prinecton Nassoons,
Upenn Off
the Beat, and Emocappella (of George Washington University) to name a few.
This was also the tour of the "Please touch museum". You can talk to
Mr.Mike Stevens about this experience. We also said goodbye to another enormous class. This included Toon devoteesKieran Pechter,
Nikhila Deo,
Neelima Teerdhala,
Claire Gross,
Patrick Kim,
Heather MacDonald, and
Brian Wong. It was a tearful goodbye but we're sure these smart and talented alums will be amazing in their future careers!
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE??? |