Chapter I - The Bucks

We start with a guy by the name of David Jose. It's weird, but this whole shebang started when he, way back in the fall of 1993, asked Anthony Angeles, Greg DelDuca, Jamie Jacobs, Jim Llewellyn and Jon Abucejo to start a small singing group. They decided to name themselves 'The Five Bucks' in honor of an amusing Halloween party mishap concerning five dollars, Mr. Jacobs. After asking another member of the Heinz Chapel Choir at the time (the hyper-kinetic Sean Pershing) to join the group, the men got together and practiced two songs: "Always Something There to Remind Me" by Naked Eyes (which Tony Angeles based on the Tufts Beelzebubs' arrangement) and "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" by Rockapella (also arranged by Angeles). Just to add something different, funkmasters DelDuca/ Abucejo/ Llewellyn came up with the unique idea of incorporating a rap (originally a snipet of Public Enemy, then finally changed to the Sugar Hill Gang) in the middle of "Carmen Sandiego", along with samples from other contemporary hip hop standards.

 

Chapter II - Bakers

The following spring '94 semester brought about a first in the regular Heinz Chapel Choir calendar: the

Valentines Jazz Concert. HCC director John Goldsmith welcomed songs from small HCC ensembles to the

concert's repitoire....an idea a lot of choir members snapped up, including members of the semi-defunct Five Bucks. After getting together the core Five Bucks along with other people (Jenna Smoker, Liza Grove, Christine Furman, Jill Fletcher, Merrilyn Spalvieri, Jon Rhodes, Julie Kaufman, and Damon McClain), the group ("The Baker's Dozen") did an Angeles arrangement of Todd Rundgren's "Something to Fall Back On". The Baker's Dozen went on to perform "Something to Fall Back On" on the Heinz Chapel Choir's Chicago tour, adding HCC alto Lourie Collins and losing Jill Fletcher (a swimmer for the Pitt team), who was unable to go on the tour.

 

Chapter III - Bucks revisited + Forte

Onto the Fall of 1994....and the HCC annual Fall Concert in October. And, once again the Five Bucks answer the call, along with the Treblemakers (who performed "Goodnight Sweetheart"). This time, the Bucks, with new member Yarone Zober (who got his part by constantly listening to Tony Angeles' voice on a tape) once more performed Naked Eyes' "Always Something There to Remind Me".

 

Chapter IV - Quirky

It was the spring semester of 1995, and who'da thunk it? An arrangement of Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes", was performed to a non-stop clapping crowd (audience participation...ha ha) by a group consisting of Jim Llewellyn, Greg DelDuca, Anthony Greco, Yarone Zober, Justin Uniatowski, Jon Abucejo, Jamie Jacobs, Merrilyn Spalvieri, Jamila Young, Tricia Brown, Liza Grove, Julie Kaufman, Lourie Collins, and Inna Nirenburg. The group dubbed themselves '[Insert Quirky Name Here]'.

 

Chapter V - The Pendulums

It was the Fall Semester of 1995, and the Pitt Men's Glee Club was hosting a first-ever all-collegiate a capella  festival: 'Acappella Acapittsburgh Acatober', on the 28th of October. The Pitt Pendulums (the name inspired by a popular story of Edgar Allan Poe....'the PIT and the PENDULUM'..."Hey, we're called the Pendulums 'cause we're _swingin_!" -- Bill Bain) sang a variety of songs (see our current repertoire), alongside the show-stopping Pitt Pantherhythms, the fabulous George Washington Troubadors and the sensational Duke Lady Blue (no "s"!). The following spring semester of '96, we lost a few members, and gained five new ones, to sing at Penn State at a concert hosted by "None of the Above", another fun excursion! In 1996-97, The Pitt Pendulums, after being invited to the 2nd annual "Acapittsburgh" concert and having hosted a small November 19th concert entitled "Turkey JAM" (Joint Acappella Musicfest) and decided to put together a larger spring concert entitled "PHAT JAM"! in February 97, we sang the National Anthem to thousands of spectators at the MONSTER TRUCK RALLY, live at the Civic Arena; in March, we participated alongside our Penn State compatriots in Shamrockapella; in April, we hosted our first mega-concert, PHAT JAM; in late May, In addendum, our first CD came out: Soul Motion and Sound, and this will be the first year that we were not asked to participate in "Acatober Acapittsburgh Acatober".

 

Chapter VI - The Pendulums' First Decade

Fast forward to the year 2006.... There have been many changes in the Pends. We have been keeping up with Turkey Jams in the fall and Phat Jams in the spring having TONS of groups singing with us. We have also incorporated the always fun ROAD TRIP into the schpiel. We have traveled to such places as George

Washington Univeristy, the University of Illinois, the Univeristy of Richmond, and Johns Hopkins University. Every show was quite the experience and we had TONS of fun as well.

 

Chapter VII - The Pendulums Rise

Now comes 2008, and as we turn a new page the Pendulums are still going strong. We have continued the traditions of PHAT JAM and Turkey JAM and have traveled to such schools as the University of Mary Washington, Rochester Institute of Technology, and the University of Toronto (That's right, the Pends have gone international!). We have also competed twice in the International Competition for Collegiate A cappella (ICCA). We participated in the AcaPittsburgh Project, a joint effort by a cappella groups from Pitt and CMU to raise money for music programs in Pittsburgh public schools. As we continued through the year, we were very excited to share our passion for music with others. In the spring of 2009 the Pendulums gained much local notoriety which led to some firsts in Pendulums history. The public television station, WQED, did a primetime segment on the Pendulums and their recent success. Also the Pendulums were given the star treatment to sing at an 80th birthday celebration, which included a chauffeured limousine to the event. We are on our way!

 

Chapter VIII - The Pendulums Now

At last, we have reached today. As the years have passed, we’ve gained and lost many members, and yet our love of music still burns strong. We kept our old traditions like arranging our own music alive and added new traditions such as performing at an annual Lupus benefit concert and taking yearly trips to a local middle school to spread an interest in music. We all enjoy having this beautiful opportunity to take part in a musical life, and we hope you enjoy what we produce as well. There is still a long way to go for us, and while we are singing, prancing, and dancing to old and new ICCA choreography, we hope you enjoy the show!