Holidays like Valentine’s Day are great for niche marketing, and the guys of Zooniversity (see: Coastie Song) have outdone themselves.
This time around they’ve hit on a campus spot that’s softer than it is sore. For the annual day of love Zooniversity produced a song (with obligatory local references and clever Madisonian turns of phrases) expressing their love for the University of Wisconsin’s chancellor, the one and only Carolyn “Biddy” Martin.
The aptly named “My Biddy” plays on the slang term for girls as well as the artists’ love for the likable and publicly active chancellor, and has a catchy chorus to boot. Also new to the Zooniverse, which is comprised of UW Junior Quincy Harrison and Sophomore Cliff Grefe, is Sophomore vocalist Sam Petricca of UW Madhatters.
The smooth lyrical styings of Petricca add a softness to an already catchy and rather acoustical beat. Petricca, Grefe and Harrison wrote the song over the last week.
“We all wrote the chorus together, and then sat down and wrote our respective verses.” Petricca said.
According to Petricca, the vocalist and Mr. Grefe began their friendship in the dank dorm rooms of Sellery Hall, making beats and writing songs for fun.
“A couple of months ago Cliff told me he wanted to get me on a track, and we kept up a dialogue from there,” Petricca said.
The guys of Zooniversity continue on their path of crafting local campus references and phat beatmaking, and this song–friendlier to a much wider audience–may hopefully lead them to their goal of meeting the chancellor as they patiently and lovingly state “I think its about time that we meet/ and you could tell me all all about your P.H.d.”
Though some might offer objections by questioning the appropriateness of sexualizing any of the university’s administrative heads, this song seems to fit in perfectly as another single on an album dedicated to the glorification of Madison. And, tactful or not, Zooniversity is accomplishing the goals they set for themselves.
“We wanted to make a love song for Valentine’s Day that everybody on campus could relate to […] and who doesn’t love Biddy?” Harrison said.