Temptation

Not sure, but note that what they play after third-down stops is actually just a teaser of "Temptation" - the full song is considerably longer. (They usually only play the full version on Homecoming, right before "Hawaiian War Chant".) I'm not certain, but I think the MMB started playing the "Temptation" teaser after third-down stops sometime in the 1990s.

Temptation was first performed just as part of a halftime show in the 50s.  There is no special connection that I know of- there's a lot of home games to fill, and hey here's a Perry Como song that might work.  It caught on and stuck because, as you point out, it freakin' rules. 

Well I don't know much of the pre-MMB and Perry Como history of the song, but "Temptation" as played by the MMB was arranged by Jerry Bilik, a student in the early-to-mid 1950s.  Bilik was also the genius behind the "M Fanfare."  Apparently Bilik languished as a 17th-chair trombone before Bill Revelli discovered his composition skills.

Bilik was apparently Revelli's go-to guy for arrangements.  If you've rocked out to Revelli's and the university symphonic band's "Touchdown USA: The Big Ten" recording of concert arrangements of Big Ten fight songs, you know how talented Bilik was/is.  The arrangements are by Bilik, and they're awesome.  This was released on cassette as well (maybe CD at some point), but here's a link to the LP:

http://www.amazon.com/Touchdown-USA-Gridiron-University-Michigan/dp/B001TG1120/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1279135773&sr=1-1

As a student at U-M, he was also highly involved with the U-M Gilbert & Sullivan Society (that's late-19th-century English comic opera).  He sang in the company's opera productions, directed/conducted the singers and orchestra, and even composed new music for an opera written by Gilbert & Sullivan for which the music has been lost.  The Company plans on releasing for sale a recording of that music within the next few years.  In 1954, Bilik was the conductor for the Company's production of The Pirates of Penzance. Much as Revelli loved him, he wouldn't let him out of his MMB duties; Bilik had to travel to Michigan's football game in Columbus, then figure out on his own how to hop a plane back to Ann Arbor in time to conduct the 8 PM performance.  During the 1970s Bilik arranged and conducted a Gilbert & Sullivan halftime show for the MMB.

As of the mid-1970s, Bilik still lived in Ann Arbor.  Currently, he lives in Cabin John, Maryland, but still maintains an office in Ann Arbor.  He's made his career as a composer.  In addition to arranging music for several popular TV shows, for the past several decades he has served as VP of Creative Development for Disney on Ice, and has written and arranged the music for all of the Disney on Ice shows, which he also directs.

His most celebrated original composition is "American Civil War Fantasy" (find a performance on Youtube).  In 2002 he returned to Michigan Stadium to conduct a halftime show for the 50th anniversary of the "M Fanfare" and some of his other work.

In May 2009 Bilik returned to Ann Arbor to conduct some of his own work in the Ann Arbor Concert Band's Mothers Day Concert.  His talents range from ice shows to classical to contemporary television to classic pop to comic opera.

Google "Jerry Bilik" and you'll find a lot of other info on him.  Here he is:

FWIW, you can hear a chamber band play "Temptation" during R.F. Simpson's party scene in Singing in the Rain, a movie set in 1920s Hollywood.  I assume the song goes back at least that far historically.

In the early 1950's the MMB percussion section went ballistic into the most amzing performances and a number of legendary routines (precision marches like the "St Louis Blues March", dance steps and concert formations) highlighted them.  At the risk of making you wonder whether I have blue-brillo-pad hair, I'll disclose that my former band director, Jack Bittle, was a part of the section.  George Cavender arrived in the early 50's and took over the MMB while Wm Revelli directed the Symphony band.  It was sometime around the mid 50's that Jerry Bilik joined the University staff.

Anyway it seems that "Temptation" was arranged by Jerry Bilik in 1957 and immediately became the post-game favorite that it is today.   The piece itself dates back to 1933 and, if you're having trouble sleeping, listen to the insipid Perry Como rendition.  I think that's why Bilik chose it as it has long rythmic passages with not much going on - perfect for adding percussion and syncopation.

I second the recommendation of finding "Touchdown USA".  It is filled with the best arrangements of the Big 10 and other fight songs (ND maybe?).  These are often the versions you hear on the radio and television.

Temptation and Hawiian War Chant (referred to be the band as "T & W") were both halftime songs arranged by Jerry Bilik (excellent post on him by the way) performed during the Revelli era that stuck and became MMB classics. In addition to hearing the full versions of each song during the homecoming halftime show, the MMB plays them each home game during their postgame show and will usually run through each one during their Saturday morning rehearsal (have to get up early to see that, though). The postgame show features the full version of The Victors as well as the Yellow and Blue.

As a side note, I found out recently that the MMB was the first band to ever perform a post-game concert--Don Canham asked the band to perform after the game so a few thousand people would stay in the stadium and thus ease the flow of outgoing traffic. Now, it is hard to find a college band that doesn't perform a postgame concert of some form.

here:

http://mvictors.com/?p=4968