Who would have dominated if champs could re-compete?
Posted by Lorin May | Posted in Contests & Judging, Just for Fun, Uncategorized | Posted on April 15, 2010, 11:22 AM
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A fun discussion developed this morning when some of us staff guys were taking a stroll around the block this morning. Webmaster Eddie Holt mentioned he’s got a picture of the bronze medal won by the Bartlesville Barflies (our first champs in 1939, picture of the medal here) when they competed again in 1942, essentially in the same configuration as the Phillip’s 66 Barflies. It was just the year before when the 1941 champ Chord Busters declared that they saw no reason to compete again now that they’d won, beginning a tradition that years later became a rule: Champs don’t re-compete, and no more than two members of a champion quartet can compete together thereafter. (Thanks for the info, Grady!)
But what if the champs could and would compete in the years after they won? How many championships would the Buffalo Bills (1950) have won had they continued to compete? Based on their singing level through the 1950s, would they have continued to win all the way until the Suntones (1961), or would The Confederates (1955) have stolen a few? Would Dealer’s Choice (1973) been a true novice champ if the quartets ahead of them had still been competing? How many championships would Bluegrass Student Union (1978) had under their belts? Would they have beat Boston Common (1974-1980) in 1980?
And can anyone imagine what contests would have looked like in the early 1990s with Acoustix (1990), Keepsake (1992) and The Gas House Gang (1993) gunning at each other year after year?
Take the poll: Who would have won the most medals if champs could keep competing? (Lists are based on MY biases — if you disagree, put it in the comments. I intentionally left out intact champions, but you can discuss them in the comments also.) I almost created a second poll, but you can answer the following in the comments area: “Which era would have been the most competitive?” (In other words, the era that would have been the toughest in which to repeat?)
Here’s a list of international champions to jog your memories.
Let the blood bath begin!
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This is an interesting, hypothetical question… most of us will base our answer at least partly on the number and quality of albums and cds produced by each quartet after they won. But by doing that, we only look at the quartets who stayed together for several years after they won.
We’ll never know how the competitive juices might have continued to stew in our champs if they were allowed to continue competing. Would Chicago News or Power Play have stayed together longer and kept improving? Would the Gas House Gang or Suntones be pulled apart by the continued pressure of the competition world?
Based on their recording history, I’d have go give a nod to the Suntones and the Gas House Gang. Both quartets were prolific with albums that continually got more musical and professional with each new release. There lies evidence that years after their gold medal performances, they were singing even better than when they won.
I agree with Dave, but would add the Bluegrass Student Union – prolific, professional, and powerful.
By the way, we have that bronze medal and the first gold medal ever awarded. It will be framed and added to the wall of champions soon. An unbroken link from the past to the future.
I think the Dealer’s Choice may have had an uninterrupted run until about the time the BSU’s Gershwin album came out.
And I think the Mark IV would have won every year between 1969-1972.
NIGHTLIFE!! These guys would still be kicking butt. They get better every year. It is conceivable that their streak would still be unbeatable from 1996. that is going on 14 years!
After I posted the poll, I wondered myself why I didn’t put Nightlife up there. I also wondered why I didn’t have an “other” category. But by that time there were already votes up, and I would have had to wipe them out to update the poll.
With Nightlife, all I can say is that with the role I play in the Society, I have be well aware of my personal biases on any given topic, and I tend to (and even aspire to) second-guess myself on my own biases. A big chunk of what I know about how to sing barbershop I owe to John Sasine as my chorus director in the Saltaires and as one of my quartet’s primary coaches. Nightlife was naturally on a lot of our chapter shows, and I always loved them, but it’s hard to be objective about a guy after you’ve spent that much quality time in his basement.
Go Nightlife!
The Buffalo Bills sound and stage persona would have kept them on top throughout the 50′s. Later Champs could have dominated for a few years, but not 10 years.
My dad judged ten international contests. He and Forry Haynes of the Mid-States Four judged the 1961 International when the Sun Tones won. I remember both of them saying it’s the only quartet where they were able to put their pencils down and thoroughly enjoy near perfection singing. They’re my all-time favorite quartet champs also, and I think they would have taken it all for at least the next 20 years — longer had they not aged so much.
Obviously, the quality of singing has improved over the years, but even so, I feel the Suntones continued to grow and improve. They did a combined weekend with Bluegrass Student Union in 1991; our chapter was priviledged to host one of thier three concerts. Thirty years after winning, they sang up a storm, and certainly matched the BGSU in showmanship.
Bluegrass would be my second choice, as they continued to evolve musically for many years after winning as well.
The Suntones were exceptional in their musical skills. I believe they would have carried the title for many years.
how can we overlook the classy, funny, beloved four renegades? they held the record for winning margin of victory from 1965 until platinum in 2000. that was no accident. they had the voices, particularly in the key parts, as well as the big sound, blend, great ballads, arrangements and personalities. and they had one quality that a few others on your list famously did not — they all got along, on and off stage. that’s an intangible hard to measure when we consider how a quartet might have held up in the pressure of repeated competition.
Yeah, I agree – I grew up glued to the Curtain Call record as a kid. Such a “professional” sound for lack of a better word. Bright, hard edges rounded off but still ringing.
I still think the Mark IV could have given them a run for their money in ’69.
Those that heard the Dealers Choice would never believe that they could ever have been beat, they won the first time out, and were so far ahead of everyone musically. I know they would have gotten even better (as they did while touring and making records) Go Yoda…
Such a hard question since the barbershop sound has changed so much over the years and been so cyclical.
I chose Gas House Gang simply because their recordings are one of my defaults when I am looking for a barbershop fix. Their artistry and sense of who they were made them something special. A very close second for me would be Dealers Choice.
An more interesting discussion for me would be to ask which champion quartet would have been more likely to win in another era? If you took a champ from the early days and timewarped them to today, would they have won? How about the other way around – would a modern quartet champ have won if they were sent back in time to compete? For that question, I’d give the edge to Dealer’s Choice. If I didn’t know when they had won, I’d swear they were a modern day quartet – stylistically, sound production, etc. I have no doubt that quartet would thrive if they were timewarped to today.
They’re not on the list but I still like the “4 Under Par!”
Gas House Gang would have won from 1993-1999, and Platinum every year since. As much as I wanted to pick GHG, those stats put GHG at 7 and Platinum at 10, so I had to go with Platinum.
Despite the fact that Platinum didn’t stay together long, they were the highest scoring quartet ever, and there is no reason to believe that they wouldn’t have continued to get even better over the years had they stayed together.
I chose GHG because they continued to sing and improve after winning, and I know Jim! I wanted to choose Acoustix too, but although they are still on the go, it’s not with their original bass and the dynamic/sound/chemistry is not exactly the same (although I am being VERY picky!).
BABS allow their champion quartets to recompete after one year out and I think it has improved the standard generally. It’s a pity if the same handful of singers keep having to chop and change part/quartet if they want to continue to compete.
Not all traditions are definitely worth preserving…
While I picked the Suntones, the BSU and GHG are such a close second. Platinum sung one of the two best songs (Cuddle Up) I have ever heard in competition when they won, the other being this year’s champs when they sang “Lucky Old Sun.” But for anyone who just loved to listen to a quartet live, there was absolutely no other quartet like the Boston Common. Their recordings simply do not do justice to their rich, warm, massive sound. Hearing Kent Martin hit a full voice high B or B flat on a tag, with Terry Clarke matching volume two octaves away was astonishing. For me there’s never been anything like them. What’s more, it is very interesting that the three top vote getters all had a very different kind of sound than other quartets in their era, and other quartets today.
I would have liked to add Second Edition to the list but then realized Acoustix, Keepsake and The Gas House Gang might have had something to say about that thought.
When I was in my 20′s I played tehe Suntones’ “Touch of Gold” so much I think it played through to the other side. They told me that they practiced every day for about 90 days, (as did my quartet, DC) and it certainly showed in their unity. Talk about a wall of sound!
Competing after winning “the big one” seems to work for choruses, after three years. Look at the success of Vocal Majority. Could it be something the choruses would consider an every-year challenge? It might be nice to ask. As or quartets, perhaps the society could arrange a special contest for Gold Metal quartets covering the previous 10 years. I have been dismayed at how many great quartets disband shortly after reaching the highest goal the society offers. There should be a way to encourage them to keep the creative and competative juices flowing.
I was a candidate judge in the pit in 1981 when the Boston Common did a cameo appearance at the NED prelims. I heard sounds and overtones that I had never heard before or since! Their warmth, richness and consistency was unbelievable! Having said that… When the Suntones won in 1961 they were way ahead of their time and would have won for ten years following.
I have a tough time with this question. I cannot, without a shadow of a doubt give it to any particular group.
I think from 1989 to the late ’90s would have been dominated by Second Edition, Acoustix, Keepsake and GHG.
The question only had 10 choices available, so I went with my favorite quartet of all time, Keepsake. I believe that if they were to compete today, they could very well win it all year after year. The sound that they produced was unbelievable. The lead-bari match was bar-none the BEST match ever. Don Barnick had such a smooth bass voice and applied his gold medal tenor tendencies to create an unbelievable bass sound.
However, if they were to compete again today, I do believe Second Edition would produce an unbelievable sound. David Harrington, in my opinion, has the best lead voice ever. He has a voice quality that would be perfect for this day and age. He has such a lyrical voice. I can just imagine him and Joe Connelly going head-to-head each year with the “newer” barbershop sound. It would be a great competition each year, and then you throw in GHG, Vocal Spectrum, Crossroads, and Platinum (yes, Crossroads and Platinum have members of the a couple of the other groups, but they are 2 of the highest scoring groups ever).
I think the Acoustix had a great sound (better with their original bass in my opinion), but I think they would have run into issues when they would have had to compete with the previously mentioned groups year in and year out.
Keep in mind, I am a young buck (21) and have only been in barbershop for a little over 2 years, so I haven’t had the chance to hear some of the older quartet’s like the Dealer’s Choice and the Gentlemen’s Agreement. I do think that the Bluegrass Student Union would have won for quite a few years, but I don’t think they would have won in today’s competition. I think they could probably compete for a medal, but going against some of the aforementioned quartets would pose too much of a challenge.
The main thing that I take into account is what today’s barbershop is like versus what it used to be. That is why I think GHG, Keepsake, Acoustix, and Second Edition would still compete for gold in “today’s” barbershop because they have an overall sound that I see could win it all. I have a hard time with saying how some of the older quartets like the Suntones and the BGSU would compete in today’s barbershop because the style of singing and the voice qualities that were used in their “era” are different than today. But in the case of David Harrington again, though he won 21 years ago, he does have that quality and type of voice that I see winning easily in today’s barbershop, and the same with the rest of his quartet.
Hopefully this is enough of an explanation, haha!
I’ve thought for some time now that perhaps there should be an unofficial AIC Contest (not just an AIC Show), which would be judged by at least candidate judges (giving them experience) using current judging rules — a sort of “Best of the Best” contest. No medals would be given, and the only prize would be prestige and bragging rights.
If that were merged into the AIC Show, maybe we’d hear more actual Barbershop at said shows?