Gee ... I Coulda Had the V8s Sing at Our Party

>>> What's in a name?--Though not named after the vegetable juice, V8s director Erica Metzger '98 says the group was once asked to be in the juice company's ads. (The College nixed the deal as a conflict of interest.)

The nation's oldest continuing women's college a cappella group--the V8s-- is coming into its prime at age fifty-four, with plans for its first CD in four years and its first performance tour in a decade. Director Erica Metzger '98 says the fourteen-woman group needs to raise $11,000 to fund the two ventures.

A spring break trip to San Francisco is being organized, and will include performances at alumnae gatherings, high schools, and colleges. The group has already completed two of four recording sessions for their new CD, which is due in June. "When we sing at other schools, they always ask if we have CDs. Now we won't have to say, 'Yes, but not with our voices on them,' " Metzger says.

The V8s began as backstage accompaniment at the 1942 junior show, and were such a hit that the eight women were soon singing on their own. Their name comes from the World War II "V for victory" image, and the crooners were the first nonprofessionals to sing at the famed Stage Door Canteen.

The current V8s--one of five campus a cappella groups--still sing some of the original group's songs, and apply their smooth harmonies to tunes by everyone from the Andrews Sisters to the Indigo Girls. Metzger says this versatility and their complex harmonies are the group's trademarks. They perform not only at campus gigs and at other colleges, but also at private parties. To find out more--including how to book the V8s--visit their new web site at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/org/v8s/ or contact business manager Karey Scheyd (klscheyd).