Oskee Wow-Wow


Oskee Wow-Wow is the official fight song of the University of Illinois. The song was written in 1910 by two Illinois students, Howard Green and Harold Hill. It was intended as an entry in a contest for a student-composed opera or skit. The skit was never finished, and the students sold the song to the U. of I. Supply Store in Champaign where it was copyrighted in 1911. Melrose Bros. Music Co., Inc. of Chicago published it as sheet music in 1928 Oskee Wow-Wow is an invented phrase similar to other college cheers and yells of that period, and the Illinois cheer was used from before the turn of the Twentieth Century. It was designated as the school's primary fight song primarily because "Illinois Loyalty," the other fight song and official school song, was not well suited to rousing large crowds at a game.

Lyrics

The original words of the song are as follows:

Media

The music is included in the ″Illini Fantasy″, a medley of Illinois songs and marches arranged for concert band by James Curnow in 1970 as a commission from Director of Bands Harry Begian.
There have long been two versions of the song. Most commonly, it is played "from the hold" at the start of the chorus, when the "O" in "Oskee Wow-Wow" is held out. This version is played after first downs and touchdowns in football, and leading into time outs in basketball. Coincidentally, the buzzers at nearly every arena are in the same chord as the hold. The song used to be played "from the top" after an extra point was kicked, but has recently been replaced in favor of "Fight, Illini."
For many years, the band started playing the song "from the top" toward the end of the warmup period in basketball. When conducted correctly, the "hold" is played just as the buzzer sounds.
The song appears to have been written to be played after a touchdown, as it slows down while being played "from the top" before picking back up after the "hold."