It's 11:35 p.m. on a performance night and Spontaneous Combustion is on the serenading prowl. They've already made one hit, and they're looking for more helpless prey.
The group's four current members, Lew Cirne '93, Bill Lapcevic '93, Norm Roye '93 and Dave Kaiser '93 bound down the steps of the Channing Cox apartment complex, filling the stairwell with the bops, bums and ba-das so typical of their 1950's doo-wop style of music. They contemplate their latest kill, who gave a fairly average response to a Spo Co serenade: a high-pitched shriek, an explosion of giggles and a scarlet-red blush.
"Our standard rehearsal," Cirne, the group's tenor, explains, "involves half an hour of babbling and waiting for Norm or Dave. Then we go out and find a victim and serenade them until they make us go away."
Somehow this round of midnight serenades has a bit more meaning than the hundreds they've performed for countless unsuspecting targets over the past three and a half years because most of the group will be graduating in a few weeks.
Wednesday night at 8 p.m., Spontaneous Combustion will serenade the College for the last time as they take to the stage in Spaulding Auditorium for their farewell concert. The show, which will probably last about 90 minutes and will include about 20 of the group's best songs, promises to be a memorable goodbye for a group that has become an integral part of the a capella scene at Dartmouth.
"It's our last and our best," Cirne said.
Although the group has never done a full show in Spaulding, they promise the formal atmosphere won't inhibit the casual, impromptu wackiness and improvisation that has helped establish the group a kind of cult following.
"They're gluttons for punishment," Cirne said of the group's loyal following.
"Most get dulled by it after enough concerts," Kaiser said, "they don't feel the pain any more."
Spo Co's sound is far from painful. Over the years, the group has filled many rooms across campus with beautifully-balanced and perfectly tuned harmony that sends a chill up a music lover's spine.
"The musicality always comes first," Lapcevic, the group's lead, said.
"Well, at least we don't let anything get in the way of the music," Cirne said. "The fun comes first."
And what fun the group has had over the years. Serenades have ranged from the swimming pool during practice and a full computer science class in Filene to President Freedman's office and a pair of Gamma Delt brothers during meetings. They sang in every dorm on campus and, by Cirne's accounting, "every restaurant in the greater Hanover area."
The group was originally formed by Jeff Cobb '92, who started the group with Cirne, Lapcevic and Ted Wallace '93.
Spo Co gave its first concert in February of 1990. Since then, the group's level of music has grown in sophistication, but they've remained faithful to their doo-wap roots.
"We're proud of what we've done," Cirne said. "Our first year, 80 percent of the campus didn't know who we were. Now it's just 70 percent."
More likely it's much less. Whether its in Spaulding, a dorm room or the swimming pool, Spontaneous Combustion has a terrific sound and an endearing, goofy charm that has made them well-known to Dartmouth students.
They have a style that is unique among Dartmouth singing groups; it's a sound that will be missed.
