Listen in, as composer/arranger Jerry Bilik, BMus ’55/MMus ’61, takes you inside the Michigan Marching Band. He’s the artist behind some of their most beloved classics.

It’s short. It’s sweet. And it can really swing. But the origin of “Let’s Go Blue” as part of the University of Michigan’s call to arms was anything but simple.

The rule barring women from the Michigan Marching Band was dropped in 1972 — not with a bang, but a whisper.