However, I can't believe the discussion has gone this far without mentioning Elvis (and the other early rockers) who were also the true rebels of the '50s...and where the Sha Na Na ethos of musical "greaser" originated in the first place. And I can't believe his name isn't mentioned in the original paper.

But yeah. If Elvis' use of Royal Crown hair dressing (99% petrolatum) isn't the absolute embodiment of "greaser" then I don't know what would be...

We admire the way that Guffey and Marcus accurately deduced, from imaginative research, the 1969 Kingsmen’s conscious intent to invent a Fifties that would reunite Columbia’s shattered, polarized student body by having them relive together their roots. Writing this essay, however, recalled our attention to Hobsbawm, Trevor-Roper and hard-line cultural historians, such as Jean Baudrillard (popularized by The Matrix) who (unlike Guffey and Marcus) at the least, imply that people like us have “invented” history out of whole cloth.

The “invention of history” is a topic about which we can speak with odd authority; we know we, at least, did not invent history, we selected it. That’s a great difference. On stage, the careful choice of songs by music directors Al Cooper ’71 and Elliot Cahn ’70 constructed a new montage of the Fifties, based on the plots, themes, recurrent character types and musical emotions already contained in the music. The resulting Sha Na Na Fifties myth was not, therefore, “newly-minted” — only newly-selected.

The Columbia test case, then, suggests that even “he who controls the present” can still, at best, only select from the past. Looking at the skies, we deliberately drew lines between new stars to create a new constellation. But we did not, could not, create the stars themselves. The past too exists, even though we select from it.

Also, I'm surprised that nobody so far has pointed out the byline of the Columbia article: "By George J. Leonard ’67, ’68 GSAS, ’72 GSAS and Robert A. Leonard ’70, ’73 GSAS, ’82 GSAS." Yeah, it was written by two of the founders of Sha Na Na.

Founding member of the band, Robert Leonard, is a professor of linguistics at Hofstra University. The group's first guitarist, Henry Gross, went on to become a solo performer, and had a hit single titled "Shannon" in 1976.

Another Founding member Alan Cooper, the lead singer in the group's performance of "At The Hop" in the Woodstock film, also went on to an academic career. He taught religious studies for ten years at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was a professor of Bible studies at the Jewish Theological Seminaryin New York and now serves as the Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies and provost at the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Long time member, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, replaced Alan Cooper and became a recognizable member of the group as he taunted audiences while he flexed his muscles, burped and spat in the direction of the bass player. Today, Bowzer continues to tour under his own banner. Elliot Cahn, the group's original rhythm guitar player and musical arranger, later became the first manager of Green Day.

"Screaming" Scott Simon replaced Joe Witkin, the original keyboard player (and singer of Teenager in Love on their first album). Today, Witkin is an E.R. physician living with his family in San Diego, CA and playing with a band "The Corvettes" (http://www.thecorvettes.com/Home.html) doing an oldies revue. Scott Powell today is a specialist in Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine. He performed on the TV show under the stage name "Santini" (which he changed from his previous alias, "Captain Outrageous"). Powell left the band in 1980 and returned to Columbia to take pre-medical courses. He is a member of the Medical Staff of US Soccer National Teams, Team Physician for the U.S. Soccer Federation Women’s National Team and an Associate Clinical Professor at the USC. While with Sha Na Na he sang the bulk of the Elvis revival songs.

Frederick "Denny" Greene left the group to pursue studies in Law. After graduating from Yale Law School, he became Vice President of Production and Features at Columbia Pictures. He is currently a Professor at the University of Dayton. Greene was known for his skilled dancing and sang the lead in "Tears On My Pillow", "Duke of Earl" and others.

The greaser "Fonz" image of the loveable rebel, was a fiction that most of the US takes for granted. He was a wildly commercial stand in for the real rebels, the Beats, made family and TV-friendly a mere 20 years later.

Yes, "grease" was a word in the English language.

cf. Maynard G. Krebs?