Is adding collaborators or guest performers to a Hawkeye Marching Band (HMB) halftime show one step too far? Can there be too much of a good thing? The HMB has always had a collaborative streak in its DNA, from its longtime association with the Scottish Highlanders to several impressive performers and conductors. Here are a few examples of how the HMB has invited other teams and performers into Kinnick Stadium and helped the rafters ring just a bit louder than usual.
Early days: Forming up for the opposing team
When the HMB first started performing for football games, they would march onto the field, much as they enter the field today, followed by a flag raising ceremony, and then they would not only play the opposing team’s fight song; they would also perform drill to accompany. Both the fight songs and drill were homemade—they didn’t borrow charts or drill from visiting teams, as that would have been extremely difficult in the 1950s—and a fair amount of care and welcome was placed on the practice.
Of course, this salute concluded with recognizing the home team, with “On Iowa” and later, “The Iowa Fight Song” at full volume with a large block or pennant IOWA formation.
1958: Meredith Willson
When he composed “The Iowa Fight Song” in 1950, Meredith Willson was known as one of Iowa’s greatest musicians, from his flute playing days with John Philip Sousa’s band and the New York Philharmonic to his work on national radio. However, when he was a guest conductor with the HMB in 1958, he was the composer and librettist of the hottest show on Broadway, The Music Man, based on his childhood days in Mason City, Iowa. In fact, the HMB’s last halftime show of the regular season (Notre Dame v. Iowa, Nov. 22, 1958) was a medley of tunes from The Music Man, and with Willson in attendance. The show concludes with Meredith taking the ladder and conducting the band in “The Iowa Fight Song.”
1958 was a great year for Iowa football, and the team was headed to the Rose Bowl for the second time that decade. Whether the HMB and the Highlanders would make the trip was in jeopardy, as they did not have the financial sponsorship required. At the game, Willson made a passionate plea on behalf of the band. “This is the finest university band in the nation and has the finest director I’ve ever met, in Fred Ebbs, and this band has got to be in California come New Year’s Day.”
The Santa Fe railroad answered the call and sponsored the HMB and Scottish Highlanders not only for transportation to the game, but several other destinations where the students could visit attractions and perform, including Kansas City, Albuquerque, Disneyland, the Grand Canyon, and Pampa, Texas. The HMB show saluted the railway’s support with a locomotive formation.
Watch the 1958 Notre Dame v. Iowa Halftime Show featuring The Music Man
1964: “Doc” Severinsen
Fred Ebbs brought a couple of guest performers in during his time directing the HMB, but of special note was the visit by upcoming trumpeter Carl “Doc” Severinsen in 1964. Doc was a trumpeter in the NBC Orchestra for the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, but still two years away from becoming that show’s iconic bandleader. According to the show script, his visit was sponsored by Getzen’s of Elkhorn, Wisconsin; a manufacturer of brass instruments. The show was designed to highlight Severinsen’s virtuosity on the trumpet, with songs like “Trumpeter’s Lullaby” and “Carnival of Venice.” The show closed with a “dazzling display of exciting rhythm and sound…a powerful foot stompin’ arrangement of ‘Two O’Clock Jump’.” Formations included the outline of a trumpet and the band spelling “DOC” on the field in all caps.
2018: Pat Green
In 2017, more than 70,000 football fans turned to the southeast corner of Kinnick Stadium to face the newly constructed Stead Children’s Hospital and lifted their arms in a mass gesture of hope. The Hawkeye Wave, lauded as “the greatest tradition in college football,” was born.
For the first game of the 2018 season, the University of Iowa Hawkeye Marching Band and the University of Northern Iowa Marching Band combined forces, along with country music artist Pat Green to perform his classic hit and then Hawkeye Wave theme song, “Wave on Wave.” Green was no stranger to his songs crossing over with athletics; “I Like Texas” has been used as the Texas Rangers’ victory song for twenty five years. He actually returned for a reprise performance on Sept. 7, 2019, during Rutgers v. Iowa, and to record a special version of “Wave on Wave” with the HMB.
2022: The Ohio State Marching Band
The University of Iowa has been a member of what is now called the Big Ten Conference since 1899. While football rivalries in the conference run deep and provide energy and entertainment to fans, seeing schools come together on the field can do the same. In 2022, the Hawkeye Marching Band traveled to Columbus, Ohio to perform alongside The Ohio State University Marching Band in “The Shoe”. The show was an Elton John spectacular, including hit songs “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Rocket Man,” and “I’m Still Standing.” The show put around 500 marching band students on the field forming stars, hearts, and of course, pianos.
Elton himself gave both bands a shout out on Twitter, saying “What an incredible dedication and so much creativity!” Whether you were a Buckeye or a Hawkeye that day, the bands gave fans much to celebrate. As the saying goes, “The Band(s) Always Win!”
Images and 1958 Halftime Show Video: Hawkeye Marching Band Records, University Archives, RG RG06.0024.006; Hawkeye Marching Band Digital Collection in the Iowa Digital Library
Pat Green and Elton John halftime show videos: Hawkeye Marching Band YouTube Channel