Animal House and actual greek ties

[The1calledTKE]

Originally posted by Dewgirl
I've heard the same thing about my school, University of Wisc. - Whitewater. According to what I've heard, Belushi went here and either was a Teke or had ties to them, and that the movie was based off some of those experiences.

I could be wrong though

Never heard of this but it would be interesting to find out.

[Kevin]

I always thought that, but that confirms it. There are window designs on the Omega house in that movie that resemble the Sigma Nu badge. Not just a coincidence I guess.

[wrigley]

I looked through my copy of Wired:The Short Life & Fast Times Of John Belushi by Bob Woodward. He was ethnically Greek. The book states that Belushi attended University of Wisconsin - Whitewater for only freshmen year. It's never mentioned anywhere in the book that he was a member of a fraternity while he went to college there. He transferred to College of DuPage.a community college, because the tuition was cheaper. His girlfriend later turned wife Judy Jacklin is an alumus( ?)of University of Illinois - Champaign.
Here's some interesting piece of Animal House trivia. John Landis and Sean Daniels decided to film on a college campus because Hollywood sets were too expensive. Over 50 colleges rejected their request to make the film on their respective campuses. That was until University of Oregon-Eugene agreed to host the film.
Also Chevy Chase turned down the offer of the part of Otter,the Rush Chairman,that was played by Tim Matheson.

[josh8o]

Originally posted by Seminole Pike
The movie was shot at University of Oregon, and the Sigma Nu house was used for the Omega(?) house. The lot next door was vacant, and that's where they put the Delta Tau Chi house for the movie.

sorry bud, but the "omega" house is a phi kappa psi house. i have a picture of it in my phi kappa psi manual. it is our oregon alpha chapter from the university og oregon in eugene. the chapter started in 1923 and became incative in 2000.

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by Symphony
Two interesting mistakes that were made in the movie....

Flounder Drives a 1964 Lincoln in a movie that is set in 1962.
The movie, set in 1962, features "Louie, Louie", which did not come out until 1964.

Thought kinda funny! Sue

Actually, Richard Berry wrote "Louie, Louie" and recorded it with the Pharoahs in 1956. It was released in 1957 on the B side of a single, enjoyed a little popularity on the west coast, and then faded from sight (or hearing), except for in the Pacific Northwest. Robin Roberts and the Wailers of Seattle revived and recorded it in 1961, but they didn't make it a hit either. Then in 1963 two bands from Portland -- the Kingsmen and Paul Revere and the Raiders -- recorded the song within days of each other at the same studio. Both versions became popular and made the charts, but the Kingsmen's version eventually won out as the one everybody knows. The popularity of the song in 1963 was fueled by the rumors that the lyrics, which are hard to understand in the recording, were "filthy." Copies of the "real," explicit lyrics were even circulating through the country. The rumors were so strong that an FBI investigation actually resulted (I'm not making this up, I swear by Herbert Hoover), but even playing the song at different speeds FBI agents were unable to crack the case.

The anachranism in "Animal House" was that Brother Bluto was teaching the pledges the "dirty lyrics," which did not begin to circulate until after the Kingsmen recorded the song in 1963.

In the event anyone has ever wondered, here are the actual lyrics:

Louie, Louie,
me gotta go.
Louie, Louie,
me gotta go.

A fine little girl, she wait for me;
me catch a ship across the sea.
I sailed the ship all alone;
I never think I'll make it home

Three nights and days we sailed the sea;
me think of girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there;
I smell the rose in her hair.

Me see Jamaica moon above;
It won't be long me see me love.
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again.

Now go have a toga party.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by MysticCat81


The popularity of the song in 1963 was fueled by the rumors that the lyrics, which are hard to understand in the recording, were "filthy." Copies of the "real," explicit lyrics were even circulating through the country. The rumors were so strong that an FBI investigation actually resulted (I'm not making this up, I swear by Herbert Hoover), but even playing the song at different speeds FBI agents were unable to crack the case.

The anachranism in "Animal House" was that Brother Bluto was teaching the pledges the "dirty lyrics," which did not begin to circulate until after the Kingsmen recorded the song in 1963.

In the event anyone has ever wondered, here are the actual lyrics:

Louie, Louie, (Oh No)
me gotta go.
Louie, Louie, (Oh Baby, or Yeah Baby)
me gotta go.

A fine little girl, she wait for me;
me catch a ship across the sea.
I sailed the ship all alone;
I never think I'll make it home

Three nights and days we sailed the sea;
me think of girl constantly.
On the ship, I dream she there;
I smell the rose in her hair.

Me see Jamaica moon above;
It won't be long me see me love.
Me take her in my arms and then
I tell her I never leave again.

Now go have a toga party.

I did a response earlier, but GC is acting pretty strange. Anyone else having a problem?

Anyway,

Not that it matters, but to be technical, I doubt that President Herbert Hoover cared much about Louie Louie, but FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover probably did. Heck, he didn't even like Richard Nixon.

Second, as a high school junior in 1963, I had a job answering the phone in the evenings at a rock and roll radio station in Columbus, Ohio. I took literally thousands of calls from "tenny boppers," their parents and local clergy about the "filthy" song. Frankly, there was no way to understand the words without having them written out in front of you. I had a copy of the above lyrics (the words in ( ) are my addition as I recall the record). Of course nobody would believe me when I read them. Thus is the stuff of urban legends.

Finally, as a Delt, I stand upon my Constitutional rights under the Fifth Amendment and respectfully refuse to comment on the grounds of potential self incrimination as to any similarity to, portrayal of or interest in any Delt Chapter/Brother, living or dead.

Take that, J. Edgar!

[MysticCat]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Not that it matters, but to be technical, I doubt that President Herbert Hoover cared much about Louie Louie, but FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover probably did. Heck, he didn't even like Richard Nixon.

My bad, DeltAlum. Thanks for the correction. My brain knows the difference, but sometimes my typing fingers won't listen to my brain. (BTW, just to make sure we make all Greek connections, J. Edgar was a KA, while Herbert wasn't Greek.)

Frankly, there was no way to understand the words without having them written out in front of you. I had a copy of the above lyrics (the words in ( ) are my addition as I recall the record). Of course nobody would believe me when I read them. Thus is the stuff of urban legends.

As I understand it, a number of factors contributed to the fact that the words were almost incomprehensible in the Kingsmen's recording:

-- Lead singer Jack Ely had strained his voice participating in a marathon 90-minute "Louie Louie" jam the night before the session.

-- Ely was singing with braces on his teeth.

-- The boom microphone in the studio was fixed way too high for Ely, who had to stand on tiptoe and sing up into the mike.

-- What the band thought was a rehearsal run-through turned out to be the one and only take of the song.

-- The words are in a mock pidgen-English to begin with.

You're right DeltAlum -- definititely the stuff of urdan legends. A guy named Dave Marsh wrote a book (no longer in print, apparently) about 10 years ago on the "Louie, Louie" phenomenon -- the truth is even more entertaining than the legend.

[SKRae]

The INSIDE of the house was the Sigma Nu house. The outside was a crack house (as told to me). But the outside fo the Sigma Nu house was also used in the movie, not sure which one though.

[Corbin Dallas]

Originally posted by josh8o


sorry bud, but the "omega" house is a phi kappa psi house. i have a picture of it in my phi kappa psi manual. it is our oregon alpha chapter from the university og oregon in eugene. the chapter started in 1923 and became incative in 2000.

Yep, here's some info:

At the time of the filming, the building used for shooting the Delta House's exterior scenes was located at 751 East 11th Street, across from the small Northwest Christian College. It was, at the time, a halfway house for convicts. The building was later divided into apartments for students but fell into disrepair and was torn down in 1986. The house's bricks were sold as souvenirs for $5 each.

Still existing on campus are:

the Sigma Nu fraternity at 763 E. 11th Ave. (right) that was used for the Delta House interiors and for the Tri Pi sorority exteriors, where John Belushi was a Peeping Tom
the Kappa Sigma fraternity at 1090 Alder St., where several scenes for the Toga Party were shot, and

the Phi Kappa Psi house, which stood in as the snooty Omega House (exterior and interior).

http://www.acmewebpages.com/animal/locales.htm

[Optimist Prime]

My nick name is Flounder

[SKRae]

My big sis's boyfriend's name is Flounder, he had to watch the movie to know what it ment (he had never seen it)!

[Tom Earp]

Corbin, once again yo da man!

Billy, I can see the fit!

I was going to write that story in 1966 but figured who in the hell wanted to see a sorry about a bunch of Greeks. Well History speaks for itself! Da Me!

Still love that movine so much I wore out the tape!

I am sure most of us can pick out the guys in House from the A House!!!!!!!

Actually DTC house looks a lot like ours in the condition it is in!

[Optimist Prime]

Originally posted by SKRae
My big sis's boyfriend's name is Flounder, he had to watch the movie to know what it ment (he had never seen it)!

That rocks! I was talking to someone on IM and i told her my nickname is Flounder and she thought I was her sorority's big brother screwing with her. So the real guy, plus me, plus big bro, plus your boyfriend=5 Flounders!! We're taking over!

Thanks Tom. You can see a pictures of me at www.radford.edu/~thetachi Click pics then under fall 2001 click beta class pledge battles. I lost weight but my voice is still high like the guy's from the movie!!

[OnePlus69Is70]

Here's something that's always amused me. They go on a road trip to Dickinson College, which is very obviously supposed to be Mt. Holyoke College (where Emily Dickinson went). The line 'Dickinson girls are supposed to be easy' cracks me up, because MHC girls really ARE easy- maybe it comes of going to an all-women school, I dunno.

[MysticCat]

As part of its Present at the Creation series, NPR (Morning Edition) did a story this a.m. on the creation of "Animal House." Among the questions answered by the story: Delta house was inspired by Dartmouth's Alpha Delta Phi chapter. You can find the story by clicking here.