The Wave, `Tequila' Part Of Bissell's Legacy With UW Band

Who helped create The Wave? Who made the song "Tequila" synonymous with University of Washington football? Who once had the band recreate the eruption of Mount St. Helens and another time had them disrobe to "The Stripper" at a University of Oregon football game?

If you answered Bill Bissell, you know that he has been a fixture as the Husky band director for the past 24 years. But without as much as a trumpet blast, Bissell retired yesterday, effective at the end of the academic year.

"Shirlee and I wanted to do some other things," Bissell, 63, said of he and his wife. "Last year's band group and cheerleaders was the best I've ever had, so I want to go out on a high.

"Now I'll have to see if I remember how to fish. I know I can't remember how to play golf."

Bissell's last official duty was traveling to Purdue for the Husky women's second-round NCAA game. He has made "Hey, Baby" the trademark song of that team.

"You don't replace a person like Bill Bissell," said Barbara Hedges, UW athletic director. "He is so creative and imaginative. He is the reason the Husky band is one of the best in the nation."

Although there is some controversy in the matter, Bissell and then-cheerleader Rob Weller orchestrated the first wave at Husky Stadium on Oct. 31, 1981. The idea was a hit with Husky fans and sent the popular cheer throughout the country.

George Henderson, a cheerleader known as Crazy George in the Bay Area, claims he started the wave two weeks before the Huskies did. Henderson claimed it was at an Oakland A's-New York Yankees playoff game in the Oakland Coliseum.

The way the Huskies tell it, Weller, who now works with syndicated TV shows, prodded Husky fans into a sort of vertical wave, which quickly faded. Inspired, Bissell walked over and suggested Weller try the same thing laterally. Like a gathering tidal movement, it began rolling slowly through the student section, then swept around the stadium.

Several years ago, a Seattle newspaper columnist filed papers with the Library of Congress to copyright The Wave in the name of Sports Fans of Seattle, and The Wave's co-creators, Weller and Bissell.

"I'll never forget it," Bissell said of the day The Wave began at Husky Stadium. "It just took off and kept going. The Stanford players just stood in awe of what was happening and nearly didn't get its plays off. We hadn't planned it out. We did it purely by the seat of our pants."

Bissell began his career at Washington as an assistant professor in the school of music in 1970. He also had 17 years experience as a high school band director.

He was inducted into the Northwest Bandmasters Association in 1992, and was was honored with a citation of excellence from the National Band Association in 1981.

A search for a replacement will begin immediately, Hedges said.