1985 Champs – The New Tradition
Photos courtesy of BHS, AICGOLD.COM and Dan Jordan
We all have Traditions.
Family Traditions.
Holiday Traditions.
Some are Old…
And, some are Grand.
But in 1985 a New Tradition emerged to become Gold Medalists in the Barbershop Harmony Society.
And the quartet did not disappoint, creating lasting traditions that are still regarded as brilliant today.
How It All Began…
A quartet does not assemble at the flick of a switch – it takes someone to take the initiative and reach out to other barbershoppers.
And Bob Gray is the one who took the initiative to start Grand Tradition, the forebearer of The New Tradition.
Gray, who joined the Society in 1969 as a ten-year old was already a veteran in a sense – his father was a 50+ year member of the Society and sang in numerous quartets while also directing the El Cajon Music Masters chorus. “Music was always in my bones”, he said.
He reached out to Tony Woods to sing lead and Ted Steigers to sing bass. Gray also added a tenor, who unfortunately was only with them briefly. Sadly, that combination of the Grand Tradition didn’t last. What may have scared them away were the wild costumes the quartet had selected. According to Gray, the quartet was fitted with lime green tuxedos. “The lime green tuxedos were horrid” lamented Gray.
In October 1976, Gray contacted Terry Monks, who was a member of the San Diego chapter, about singing together in a quartet. He then reached out to David Garstang to sing tenor at about the same time Lester Lee joined the quartet replacing Tony Woods at lead.
Monks also recalled those lime-green tuxedos. “I’m really glad the second generation of GT didn’t fit into the lime green tuxedos, they WERE horrid!”
Gray remembers those early days of the quartet. “We were at a C level, but we worked at it”. Gray explained that when Lee replaced Tony Wood at lead, the quartet started to gel. “We were pretty successful”.
Like Gray, Garstang got his start singing barbershop harmony as a legacy. “I was brought into the fold by my dad. He was a long time barbershopper and had joined the El Cajon chapter after we moved to San Diego.”
By late fall the quartet consisted of Gray, Garstang, Monks and Lee.
That foursome first competed in the Far Western District Southern Division novice contest in January 1977. “We wanted to test the waters, and we won!” said Monks. Interestingly, Monks got his start in Barbershopping by working as a singing waiter at an ice cream parlor in the mid-1970’s. Among the guests was a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society. “He approached me and asked me if I wanted to sing in his quartet,” said Monks. Sadly, that quartet “never really materialized”, but even so, he joined the San Diego chapter.
Shortly after they won the novice quartet championship, they started doing shows and competed on the divisional level to qualify for the district competition. They finished 5th in the fall district contest in 1977 with Lester Lee singing lead.
Incidentally, Dan Jordan competed in that same contest with the 4-Highers, placing 6th – right behind the Grand Tradition!
Sadly, there was a falling out with Lester Lee, and he left the quartet in late 1977. Monks explained that they were scheduled to sing a Swan Song set at the southern district novice contest in January 1978, so they turned to Dan Jordan to fill in for the lead part. Monks said that Jordan had hosted the quartet several times when they attended coaching sessions in the Los Angeles area.
But there was some apprehension by Garstang about Jordan joining the quartet. “I was a bit dubious”, said Garstang. He explained that Jordan had sung baritone in the 4-Highers, not lead and that was cause for concern. But that concern faded quickly. “We did one of the numbers he knew of ours and it kinda’ clicked”. He went on to say, “the confidence and emotional honesty with which he (Jordan) sang just drew me along. Monks echoed those remarks. He said, “the quartet had a good blend and the chords would ring.”
Jordan first started singing in 9th grade. He was influenced by Regnal Hall, the school’s music teacher who taught barbershop harmony to the chorus. Jordan said that Hall invited him to attend a show at the high school. “’You might like it’”, Jordan recalled. Jordan said the show “Blew him away – I never heard anything like that before!”.
So, in 10th grade, Jordan joined the school’s mixed choir and “I was hooked”. Hall then invited Jordan to the Crescenta Valley Chapter Meeting one Tuesday night. Jordan was ready to join immediately, but unfortunately, the chapter had a rule that only allowed men over 18 years old to be members. “But I still went every Tuesday night for two years!”, said the then 16-year-old Jordan. That September (1972), the chapter let him join, even though he was 6 months shy of his 18th birthday. “It was just great”.
In March 1978 the quartet – Dan Jordan, Terry Monks, Bob Gray and David Garstang – competed in the Far Western District International Preliminary Contest. Monks said, “We finished just out of the running”. Then in the fall of 1978, the quartet competed – and won – the Far Western District Quartet Contest in Long Beach, CA.
The following spring at the March 1979 preliminaries, the quartet qualified for the International Contest in Minneapolis, where they placed tenth. “It was a real surprise for us”, said Monks, who expected to finish no better than 14th. He said the quartet had only prepared four songs – Rock·A· Bye Baby Days; Don’t Leave Me, Dear Old Mammy and Something I Like About Broadway; Every Street’s a Boulevard In Old New York.
But for the unexpected third set, the quartet “dragged out” two other songs from their repertoire – Don’t Tell Me the Same Things Over Again – a song also sung by the Boston Common – and Do You Really, Really Love Me?
In the warm-up room before the finals, Gray explained that he was having trouble with one of the passages from Don’t Tell Me the Same Things Over Again. The other three told him to ask for help from the Boston Common, who were in the warm-up room just down the hall. According to Garstang, the “four scared kids” went down to the “door of the four Gods of Barbershopping” and knocked. Garstang said that Larry Tully, baritone of the quartet answered the door, “giving us a look that would curdle fresh milk”. “’Hello Mr. Tully,’” Garstang remembers Gray saying. In the background, the three other members of the Boston Common – Rich Knapp, Kent Martin and Terry Clarke – all gave similar looks. “I was sure they were about to tell us to take a powder,” said Garstang. “Then all of a sudden, they burst into laughter and welcomed us in, not only helping Bobby with his part but also giving us an impromptu coaching session!”
Gray also remembers it well. “Larry Tully was awesome; he taught me the part, and I went back to the quartet and sang it several times through perfectly! Of course, we went onstage, and I still screwed it up!”
Gray added “We were learning yet another “Boston Common” song for that contest, “From the First Hello To the Last Goodbye”. He explained that it was written with the “Boston Common Low Tag” – a tag that complimented their rich low sound. “But the truth was, we couldn’t handle it down low!” The tag was too low for Gray and Jordan, who “just couldn’t hold (the low note) out long enough.” So, the quartet re-wrote the tag to take it up an octave! “We nailed it!” said Gray “We were told it was the loudest overtone in the contest!”
Garstang recalls that time fondly. He said that the Boston Common “became our friends and mentors, and I have many other fond memories of our times together.”
That 1979 contest was filled with future gold medalists including the Classic Collection, Sidestreet Ramblers, Chicago News. Rural Route 4, Boston Common and Legacy Quartet Champs 139th Street Quartet.
Of course, the winning quartet that year was Grandma’s Boys who brought down the house with their Toy Soldier set. The bass of that quartet?
John Miller
Then in March 1980, the quartet qualified again for the International Contest in Salt Lake City.
In the first set of the competition the quartet sang One-Two Button Your Shoe and Take it Back and Change it for a Boy. Monks was disappointed. “It didn’t go wonderfully”. He said they were out of the top 10 on the first night. “It was a weaker set”. The quartet was dressed as young kids. “We made some really, really last-minute changes” with the songs, that while they worked well, didn’t score well.
As the second set on Friday night in the semi-finals, the quartet sang Who’ll Be the Next One to Cry and From the First Hello to the Last Goodbye. Monks said that set was “very, very well received” and vaulted the quartet to 6th place. Then in the finals on Saturday night, they sang Rockabye Baby Days and Don’t Leave Dear Old Mammy.
When the scoresheets were tabulated, the Grand Tradition placed fourth – medalists!
The quartet was now a popular request for shows – not only in the Far Western District, but elsewhere. “We did a show in Saint Louis, Eugene OR and Tacoma, WA – with the Most Happy Fellows” (1977 champs). Monks said the quartet was doing 20 to 25 shows a year. He also explained that since he, Garstang and Gray lived in San Diego and Jordan lived in LA, they used these shows as opportunities to rehearse.
Then, in March 1981 the quartet again competed in the international prelims, but unfortunately, failed to qualify for the 1981 international because Monks was ill. Monks attributed the illness to all the travelling. “That was partly one of the reasons I got sick” he said.
Instead, they used the money that they raised from the shows to produce an album. The quartet spent several days in Los Angeles recording the album. “It was interesting,” said Monks. He said the first night in the studio “things didn’t click”, but after some microphone and headphones adjustments the quartet was able to “click a lot better”. On Saturday the quartet finished the album and completed two extra songs. They went back on Sunday and recorded a couple of parts that were dubbed in to cover mistakes.
The Brick Wall
The following year (1982), the quartet did qualify for the international and finished fourth.
Again.
This was disappointing to the quartet. In 1979, they cracked the Top 10 unexpectedly and then medaled in 1980. But since then, they watched as two other quartets won the gold medals – Chicago News and the Classic Collection.
In Seattle at the 1983 international, Monks recalled how they sang. “Our first session went pretty well,” but he continued that the second session “didn’t go as well”. Monks remembers being backstage and listening to the Side Street Ramblers and knew that they weren’t going to win.
The Grand Tradition placed 4th.
Again.
“We had beat our heads against the 4th place wall several times”, said Gray.
After returning from Seattle, the four regrouped and assessed their future. They decided to disband. Even so, they continued through the spring of 1984, honoring all their show commitments. But once those were completed, they decided to part ways.
The breakup was extremely amicable. Monks and Garstang teamed up with Mike Laughton and Mike Spencer to form Western Union in 1987. That quartet would go on to place 13th in 1990 and 19th in 1993. Gray also echoed the sentiment when speaking of Terry Monks and David Garstang. “Both guys are both great barbershoppers”. And Garstang added about Dan Jordan,” Dan is the easiest lead that I’ve ever had the pleasure to sing with”.
The New Tradition
Soon after they returned from Seattle, Jordan and Gray reached out to Johnny Sherburn who remembers, “Dan and Bob approached me and asked me if I’d be interested in singing in a quartet with them.”
While in high-school in the mid-1960s, Sherburn sang in the concert choir and Madrigal Group. He said that the director chose barbershop for the group. “We were doing Merideth Wilson’s ‘The Music Man”. And the boys sang the male parts, and the girls sang the female part. This was Sherburn’s first exposure to barbershop, but he admits “we didn’t know what to do with it”.
From there, Sherburn joined the high school Folk Group that performed locally. As fate may have it, the group sang on a local talent show that also included a barbershop quartet from the Cresenta Valley Chapter. “I was fascinated by the sound they were making,” said Sherburn. “There was this ‘buzz’ that was happening and I never heard that before”. Afterwards, one of the quartet members gave Sherburn his card and invited Sherburn to their chapter meeting. Sadly, it wasn’t until “several years later” that Sherburn discovered the card in his wallet and decided to pay a visit. “I had graduated from high school and found myself not involved in music”. He said that he reached out to that man for details and attended the next chapter meeting. “I just walked in the door”.
Sherburn said that as soon as he walked into the chapter meeting, he was grabbed immediately by Bob Elder who was forming a quartet “because I could sing tenor, I had a good falsetto”.
He later became friends with Jim Kline and Bob Mathis of the Acadia Chapter. Many remember Kline as the Bass of the 139th Street Quartet and Gold Medalists “Gotcha”. While attending an afterglow at their chapter show, Sherburn, Elder, Kline and Mathis got together to sing tags. “And that’s how the Crown City Good Time Music Company was born”, which was his first quartet. “We sang pretty well,” said Sherburn. “It was a really fun group”.
Now the New Tradition included Jordan at lead, Gray at baritone and Sherburn at tenor.
But they still needed a bass.
They first turned to Max DeZemplen, but unfortunately the combination “didn’t work,” according to Jordan. DeZemplen would later sing with Special Request, placing 10th in 1985.
They then turned to Jim Kline, the popular bass of the 139th Street Quartet, but Kline turned them down as he was committed to the 139th Street Quartet.
Then, in November 1983, they heard that John Miller, bass of the gold-medal Grandma’s Boys, had been transferred to the west coast for work. Jordan said, “Bob called me and said ‘hey, you’ll never guess who’s living in California!’” Gray – once again acting as the initiator – called Miller, who said “’Let’s get together and see what it sounds like’”.
So, the four met on Saturday, December 3rd, 1983, in Jordan’s apartment. Gray said “We sang with him (Miller). It was ok. It wasn’t great”. Jordan would go on to say that said that when Miller left, Gray sighed and said, “We blew it, we sucked”.
In actuality, Miller was quite pleased. “I knew right from the beginning that we were singing pretty well”. But Miller’s trepidation was not about their singing, but about whether he wanted to again go through all the arduous work needed to be a gold medalist.
He asked the other three if he could have a week to decide and went home to discuss the possibility with his wife. Fortunately, she urged him on. “Had she had not been so encouraging; I probably would not have done it”.
So, the four got together again the following weekend and worked on two songs: “I’m Alone Because I Love You” and “My Wild Irish Rose”. They started singing “I’m Alone Because I Love You” “and it just bubbled”, said Jordan. Sherburn agreed. “It was a lock. Big-time lock, without really trying”.
Afterwards the four sat down in Jordan’s living room and discuss the idea of singing in the spring qualifier and their chances of qualifying. They realized the competition was going to be tough – the Occidentals, 139th Street Quartet, Remember When, the Knudsen Brothers.
“’Let’s go for Number 1’”, Jordan recalled Miller saying. “My jaw dropped”.
The four discussed moving forward and their approach. Fortunately, not only did Miller fit in harmonically, but his philosophy was also akin to the other three. Miller said that he told them “I will do this, but I want every time we’re on stage to be an act – we take on characters, we take on roles”. And that suited the other three perfectly!
They discussed the quartet name and quickly arrived at the New Tradition! “I called up Kenosha (then headquarters to SPEBSQSA) the following Monday and registered the quartet”, said Jordan.
The Road to Gold
In March 1984 the quartet set out on the competition trail in pursuit of the gold medal they desired. The first challenge was the Far Western District International Preliminary Quartet Contest in San Jose, CA.
As with previous years, the Far Western District had been a hotbed of highly talented quartets. And now there was a new one in town.
The Knudsen Brothers.
That quartet had placed 38th in 1983 in Seattle but had just relocated from the Rocky Mountain District to Phoenix in early 1984 where they were now getting excellent coaching from Phil Winston and Gary Steinkamp. That coaching paid off.
They won the prelims, beating the New Tradition by only 11 points.
“We almost felt embarrassed that we won,” Said Jak Knudsen, “cause nobody was expecting us”.
Especially the New Tradition.
“I could tell they were really shocked and stunned”, said Jak Knudsen. His brother Lynn added “It seemed like it was unbelievable”.
Miller agreed. “We knew we had work to do for St. Louis”. Gray agreed with Miller. “We didn’t have anything put together with anything we wanted to do. Miller concurred. At that point, they had only been together for about 6 months. “We were still getting our songs and acts together”. Gray added that they figured they could sing well enough to make the finals, but… “It wasn’t us – it was ‘every other barbershop quartet’”
Even so – as with all barbershop contestants – there is a sort of genuine admiration for each other. Looking back, Jordan remembers it fondly. “Good for the Knudsen Brothers. We had (both) beaten Remember When and 139th Street Quartet (and qualified for the international). Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!”
Bob Gray said, “They are terrific guys” and still stays in touch with brother Curtis Knudsen.
Owen Knudsen summed up their admiration of The New Tradition. “They won – they took it all,” he said. “They went from 7th place to winning – they didn’t even medal before that.”
Later that spring, the quartet also competed – and won – the Southern California West Division Quartet Contest.
Then, that summer at International in St. Louis, the Knudsen Brothers placed 8th, and The New Tradition placed 7th. “They weren’t gonna let us beat them again,” said Lynn Knudsen who went on to say, “They employed all their experience and expertise.”
The quartet did three different sets at the St. Louis International – one a dance routine, one a “straight-on” barbershop set, and the last one was the “flyboys” set.
Miller explained that the St. Louis contest “proved to be a good learning experience” for the quartet that solidified their philosophy of creating acts – “mini shows”. “We thought of it as our own little production,” said Miller. He went on to say, “Our motivation was to create an impact with the audience, to offer more than two songs”, unlike other quartets that “sing well, then wait for the scores”. He said that their intention was to offer something more and “the scores would follow”. Gray echoed those sentiments “Scoring high – and even winning – were distant seconds to our desire to entertain audiences”.
They Were “Characters”, All Right!
After returning from the 1984 contest, the quartet felt “pretty good” about the results, said Miller. They reviewed their performances and the scoresheets. They noted that their final set – the Flyboys – was the third highest score of that evening. The other two nights, the quartet – singing more traditional sets – placed 5th with the first set and 13th on the second set.
The first set included two uptunes – instead of a classic uptune/ballad approach; the second set included “a lot of dancing and an over-arranged version of From the First Hello to the Last Goodbye,” said Miller.
“In the third set we embraced the idea of taking on characters,” said Miller. “It was classic New Tradition”.
“Oh, They Like that” added Sherburn. From there, the quartet began brainstorming ideas of similar packages that they could use the following year.
They decided that since the World War I “Fly Boys” set was successful, they would add a World War II package.
But what would they add for their third set?
According to Sherburn, “John kept saying how much he loved Groucho Marx” and how much fun it would be to do a Marx Brothers routine. “As we were talking about this,” said Sherburn during a rehearsal in Miller’s living room, “John said ‘oh wait, I’ll be right back’”. Sherburn said that Miller bolted upstairs and minutes later came running downstairs “and he’s completely dressed as Groucho Marx! – make-up, the whole nine yards!”. Sherburn said he turned to look at Jordan “who starts acting like Chico (Marx)” and cries out “This is Perfect!”
Miller said that Jordan immediately took to the Chico role. “It’s as if he was born Chico, he was just in the wrong body”. Gray was perfect as Harpo. “He didn’t have to say anything” and Sherburn was perfect as Zeppo.
Miller said, “I always wanted to do (a Marx Brothers package) because I did Groucho anytime there was a costume party”. The quartet then turned to Lloyd Steinkamp who gave them “Lydia the Tattooed Lady” and then changed the lyrics to a popular show opener song and combined it with the (real) Marx Brothers signature song “Hooray for Captain Spalding”, again changing the lyrics to fit their routine.
Championship Year – 1985
In October 1984 the quartet once again competed in the Far Western District Quartet Contest in Bakersfield, CA. They chose their first and third sets from St. Louis – the ones that placed 5th and 3rd, respectively for the international contest. “We had a pretty good feeling we would win, so we used it more as an opportunity to perform,” said Miller. And that philosophy – not worrying about the score – paid off as they beat Route 66, the second-place quartet, by over 200 points!
Incidentally, Miller pointed out that two members of that quartet – Rob Menaker and Jeff Baker would go on to win the international contest in 1996 with Nightlife!
From there, they turned their attention to preparing for the international preliminaries and fulfilling show commitments.
In March 1985 the quartet competed in the International Preliminary Contest in Fresno where they beat the 139th Street Quartet by over 200 points.
Incidentally, the Knudsen Brothers Quartet – who had beaten them the previous year – finished 5th.
Lyn Knudsen was right when he said, “They employed all their experience and expertise.”
Not only that, but by now the quartet had been together for just over a year and were really becoming a more cohesive group. They used the same two packages they used at the district contest in October. They considered using the World War II package, “but it required costume rentals, and we felt it better to keep that as a surprise at international”. They also ruled out using the Marx Brothers package – which they were in the process of fine-tuning, and – as one would expect – wanted to save that for their last set in Minneapolis.
But there was also concern among the members about the set. Sherburn explained that Lydia the Tattooed Lady was not arranged properly and could be considered “illegal” by the judges’ standards. “We had a pretty good chance” of being disqualified, said Sherburn. Miller also shared Sherburn’s concern about acceptability.
But to prepare for how well (or not!) it would be received by an audience, they decided to use the package at several of their stops on the show circuit – they were appearing in 38 shows that year! Miller said the reactions to those early performances “were so positive – that it gave us the confidence to let loose at International.”
They also spent time on their music as well. Miller talked about the work they put into their craft. “We focused on singing a lot,” said Miller. “We spent a lot of time warming up and a lot of time doing exercises to lock in vowels”.
They now turned to the International Contest. Sherburn spoke about their chances of winning. “In my heart, I thought we might have a pretty good chance of winning the thing”.
The Contest!
The 47th annual international convention and contest took place in Minneapolis, MN and brought together competitors not only from Canada, but also from Sweden. There were other visitors, too, from Korea, England and Africa. All told, over 8,000 people were in attendance for the week.
The contest was held in the Minneapolis Auditorium, which was built in 1927 and held just over 10,000 people. Sadly, the building fell dormant as events began being held at the nearby Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington and was demolished in 1989 to make way for the brand new Convention Center.
Keeping to their plan, the quartet opened on Thursday night with their World War I package Wait Till You Get Them Up In The Air, Boys/Come, Josephine, In My Flying Machine; I Was Married Up In The Air/When You’re Married. They led after the quartet-finals, outscoring 2nd-place Vaudeville by 44 points. That quartet was in a close race with The Harrington Brothers, Rural Route 4, and Interstate Rivals – who were all separated by just 36 points!
In the semi-finals, the quartet premiered their World War II package. That package featured the songs Goodbye Broadway, Hello France/Pack Up Your Troubles In Your Old Kit Bag/Over The Top At Chateau Thierry/Hang The Washing On The Siegfried Line and So Long, Mother. Again, the quartet landed in first place over the Harrington Brothers who had done much better in the second round than in the quarter finals.
Gray said that after the first two sets, most people had said “We were in the medals”. But they knew there was stiff competition from Vaudeville and the other medalists.
And then came the finals.
The quartet was appearing seventh that evening. Of course, no one had any idea about what was to come.
Former International President Bob Cearnal was he emcee that evening. He had everything he could do to control the crowd – they were already rooting for the quartet. As he called out – nearly shouting over the mayhem – “Representing the Far Western District. The South Bay and San Fernando Valley California Chapters…”
…And before he could even complete the sentence, Bob Gray wandered out on the stage – dressed as Harpo Marx, of course – followed by Jordan and then Sherburn, who were waving to the crowd. Lastly, John Miller appeared – as Groucho – quickly placing his hand to his ear as if all the applause was for Groucho alone. As they formed at the microphone, “Harpo” pulled out his pitch pipe and began blowing it repeatedly. They then stepped to the microphone and Sherburn began “Hello”, followed by Jordan then Gray and finally Miller.
“Well, hello.”
“Hi”.
And they were off into the history books.
“I’m Zeppo, I’m Chico, I’m Groucho”, and each one of them turn to look at Gray to introduce himself. But – those who remember the Marx Brothers – know that Harpo Marx never talked – he communicated in another fashion.
Right on cue, Gray turns to the audience with a beaming smile and reaches under his trench coat.
“HONK, HONK” bleats the horn hidden there as his introduction.
The crowd erupted into laughter.
They completed the song with a tag that drove the audience onto their feet in applause. They paraded around the stage. Miller even laid down!
They returned for their second song, Lydia the Tattooed Lady. The song flowed nicely. As they neared the end, the quartet suddenly stopped in mid-song and Miller – er, Groucho – stepped to the microphone and uttered “This is the silliest thing I’ve ever seen.” The crowd roared once again.
The audience loved it – and were cheering wildly – for nearly one whole minute before the quartet exited the stage.
Backstage “We hugged each other for over a minute”, “ said Gray.
Then Miller turned and said, “wait a minute.”
“Listen.”
“The audience is going crazy”.
“It just went on and on,” said Sherburn. “We were blown away by the reaction. It was “truly a thrill”.
Unfortunately for the Cincinnati Kids, they were next to compete.
Scott Brannon was the lead of that quartet. He explained that the normal procession at the contests is for the next quartet to be brought backstage just as the competing quartet is finishing their set. “And what you expect is that they (audience) is gonna applaud and then pretty soon the next quartet gets announced and goes on stage. “We go back there and the applause for New Tradition went on for 10 minutes” He said that the crowd was going “absolutely berserk”. They were terrified about what to expect. He said that Steve (bass Steve Thacker) was “looking around backstage for a white towel that we could go out on stage and wave”. “The applause was endless”
Gil Lefholz, International President at the time, said their third set was “historic, unique and imaginary”.
After the final round Gray said they waited backstage for the call-off. “They did 5th – it wasn’t us; they did 4th – it wasn’t us”, said Gray. Then the emcee announced Interstate Rivals as 3rd place medalists. Gray said that at that point several people started to congratulate them. Yet, Center Stage and Vaudeville were holding court elsewhere. “When they said Vaudeville as second place, we looked at each other and said, ‘we either won or didn’t even medal!’”.
“But then the MC said “the new champions “Groucho Harpo, Chico…”
“The audience response was incredible,” said Gray.
Sherburn called the win “Amazing. An out-of-body experience”.
As expected, the quartet took a big hit in the Arrangement category. They received a -13 score for Lydia the Tattooed Lady and a -11 score for the Marx Brothers/Opener (back then, the Arrangement Category was based on a -20 to +20 scale). These penalties actually landed them in 3rd place for that evening, but because they did so well in the previous rounds, they still were able to win, outscoring second-place Vaudeville by almost 80 points!
Gray said that afterwards, the arrangement judges came up to them and said, “you should have been disqualified”. Among the reasons they gave were “talking in the set and singing too many ‘la-la-las’”.
But remember. This quartet wasn’t interested in how many points they scored or whether they won or not.
They wanted to perform.
And perform they did.
Championship Year
Shortly after they were crowned champions, the quartet was featured in an article in the Los Angeles Times. The article included a photo of the foursome singing to a packed audience at St. Mark’s Episcopalian Church in Van Nuys, CA. The article spoke of their ability to break the “mold” of people’s perceptions of barbershop quartets wearing “Straw hats, garters and singing ‘Sweet Adeline’”. The article explained how the quartet preferred a more novel approach to their work, with Miller summing it up. “For us, it’s a total theatrical performance”.
The quartet was also featured in the August/September issue of Westtunes Magazine, the official publication of the Far Western District.
Later that year, the quartet travelled to Rochester, NY to be part of a unique show hosted by the iconic musician Mitch Miller. Well known to barbershoppers, Miller was a native of Rochester and was hosting “Musical Madness”, a special event to honor local business leaders and feature the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. The event was the first ever at the brand new Riverside Convention Center with over 2000 guests on hand. Appearing on the show were four “guest” conductors – local dignitaries – who used unique methods to conduct the orchestra. These included a Citibank official who used a car radio antenna as a baton and a newspaper executive who used a bullwhip to “encourage” the orchestra to play!
But the highlight of the show was a “on-the-button” appearance by the New Tradition who brought down the house with their “tight harmonies despite their Marx-brothers attire”.
Later on, in the show the quartet had fun venturing out into the audience to find four people to sing “Sweet Adeline”. They also helped Mitch Miller lead the entire audience in singing “When the Saints Go Marching In” as well as officiating a game of Musical Chairs with audience members.
Following the show, the quartet joined Mitch Miller for a private dinner where he presented each quartet member with a baton. In appreciation, the quartet sang several songs for the group.
“We truly enjoyed our performance,” said Jordan. “We are grateful that we had the chance to ‘Sing Along with Mitch”.
In January 1986 the quartet hosted a New Year’s celebration with “Out with the Old, In with the New” that featured The Classic Collection – 1982 champs, the ever-popular 139th Street Quartet, Chase Manhattan – Sweet Adelines silver medalists. The event took place on Saturday, January 3rd at La Canada High School in La Canada, CA. There were two shows – a matinee at 4:30pm and an evening performance at 7:00pm. Tickets were $8.00/each
The New Tradition made a habit of helping promote Barbershopping. An example of this commitment came in the spring of 1986 when the newly crowned champions conducted a master class session at Brigham Young University.
At the time, BYU was an advocate of acapella music and wanted to develop a program centered around Barbershop Harmony. Music Department chairman – Professor Newell Dayely contacted long-time barbershopper Rollie Bestor, who also was a certified judge – and asked him if he could help. As luck would have it, the quartet was already in Salt Lake City as the headliners for the Beehive Statesmens’ Annual Show. They happily agreed to participate and proceeded to give a 90-minute workshop that was attended by both faculty students. “I was extremely impressed”, remarked bass John Miller.
The success of the workshop helped BYU approve a curriculum on Barbershop Harmony that was implemented in the fall of 1986.
Moving On…
Unfortunately, job commitments began interfering with their quartetting. Ultimately, Miller’s job transferred him back to the east coast. And Bob Gray was looking to move down to San Diego where he was planning to compete with another quartet.
At about the same time, Jim Kline contacted Sherburn and asked him to try out for the 139th Street Quartet. That quartet was looking to replace long-time lead Larry Wright. “So, I went down to his house and we sang and had a good match”.
After Johnny Sherburn replaced Larry Wright as lead of the 139th Street Quartet, Bob Gray joined the popular and perennial top ten quartet Saturday Evening Post and Dan Jordan went on to sing with the Perfect Gentlemen.
One of their final shows as a quartet was in June 1989. Jordan organized “An Evening of Four-Part Harmony” to “celebrate barbershop singing”. The evening included appearances by the Maters of Harmony and The Bobs, described by the UCLA school newspaper as “Devo meets the Mills Brothers”. Jordan had a purpose for including The Bobs. “I thought it would be a great experience to hear harmony of the 1980’s”.
Jordan said that the stereotype of the four guys in styrofoam hats and red-and-white striped vests with their thumbs in their lapels “has really hurt barbershop”.
The “Other” Alter-Egos:
While the Marx Brothers routine will go down in barbershop annals, the quartet did not stop there with their creativity. ‘
Among the routines they created were
The Kings of Comedy
Sherburn appeared as Charlie Chalin, Jordan portrayed WC Fields, Miller was Stan Laurel and Gray played Oliver Hardy. Their comic genius begins immediately with their opening number “Another Op’nin’, Another Show” from the 1948 Cole Porter musical Kiss Me Kate.
Using the old “pass the hat” routine, the quartet goes through a series of exchanges – each member getting a different hat (that of course does not fit!). Ultimately, they all get their original hats back as they end the song with a harmonious tag that receives loud applause from the audience!
Later on, there’s a segment where Sherburn – who was also an agile dancer – tapped his way through “In the Good Old Summertime.
Star Trek
One of the routines they developed was based on the popular TV and movie series Star Trek. Sherburn explained “We just started brainstorming one night with Roger Payne who was visiting with us”. Payne was the tenor of Four Under Par, a Top-Ten Comedy Quartet from the mid-1980s, who is regarded as one of the present-day geniuses of comedy quartets. “They came up with some of the nuttiest stuff. It was from ‘completely absurd’ to ‘nobody should ever do that onstage’!”
The routine begins with the iconic television introduction “This is the voyage of the Starship Enterprise”. Upon completion, the lights go up to reveal the quartet – Sherburn as Sulu, Jordan as Kirk, Miller as Spock and Gray as “Bones” McCoy. The parody includes a re-written version of “Don’t Bring Lulu”:
“You can bring Spock, though his logic’s a crock, but don’t bring Sulu”.
Barbershop Jeopardy
Another of their brilliant routines “Barbershop Jeopardy” featured the foursome singing the show introduction to the lyrics
“Barbershopping Jeopardy, Music History, golden memories, A show that’s filled with lots of stuff. Miss the question, that’s just tough”.
The quartet then goes through the set with Sherburn dressed in his “Flyboys” costume, Jordan dressed as WC Fields and Gray in his “Bones McCoy” costume. And who is the host of the show?
None other than “Groucho” himself – John Miller.
In keeping with the format of the show, the contestants provide questions to the answers. Such as:
A: “Often seen with a seeing-eye dog.
Q: “What is a Stage-Presence Judge!
One of the sets that never got to the stage was a Bonanza set. “I was gonna be Hoss, Johnny was gonna be Adam – in all black – Little Joe was John and Bob was Lorne Greene.
The quartet had an arrangement of the show’s famous opener and paired that with several other western tunes “It was great”. Jordan said that Miller was “perfect” as Adam. “I had the big hat (like Hoss).
Lastly, they also planned a package based on Mount Rushmore but were not able to perform it because of the impending break up.
Each member of the quartet seems to point to the other regarding who was the most creative of the group. Finally, Gray said, “Johnny kept the three of us sane”. “He was the very best analytical mind – to say ‘this works’ or ‘that doesn’t work’”
Looking back, all four members are grateful for their time together and the memories that they shared. Gray said that “winning was a distant second to our desire to entertain audiences,” and that “the reaction of the audience after our Marx Brothers set meant much more to me than any Gold Medal!”
Sherburn agreed. “I never imagined our plans would leave such a lasting impression. It’s fascinating to see how people felt then and now.
Miller said “I’m just glad there are a few who remember us at this stage. It’s been almost 40 years.” And Jordan added “It was our pleasure!”
Whatever – or however – no longer matters. They were remarkable champs that will be remembered for decades.
About the Members of the Quartet:
Terry Monks
Terry Monks, the original bass of Grand Tradition, the forebearer of the New Tradition is a retired claims adjuster and is now busy writing a genealogy book. After leaving the Grand Tradition, Monks sang with Garstang in Western Union, a top-20 quartet in the early 1990’s. The two other members of that quartet – Mike Spencer and Mike Lawton – would go on to win the International Championship in 1994.
Monks said that his musical background “was strictly instrumental”, playing the piccolo in high school “just like Merideth Wilson”.
Currently Monks lives in Medford, OR and volunteers at local theaters and works on stained glass and glass beveling. Although he has not been active in the Society since the mid-1990s, he continues to enjoy listening to barbershop music.
David Garstang
Garstang has been a member of the BHS since 1971. After leaving the Grand Tradition, Garstang sang with Terry Monks in Western Union, which competed placed 13th at the International in 1990 and won the FWD Championship in 1994. Incidentally, the other two members of the quartet – Mike Spencer and Mike Lawton – would go on to win with Revival in 1997. Garstang jokes that he and Monks were “the training wheels for future gold-medalists”. Currently, he directs the Music Men Chorus of San Marcos, CA.
Garstang is a retired software engineer who is currently writing his first novel. He has been married to Marlene, his college sweetheart for 43 years. They have two daughters who are “brilliant and musically talented”. Besides Barbershopping, Garstang is active in local theater and chamber/madrigal productions.
Johnny Sherburn:
Sherburn is a vet who served in the Vietnam war. Professionally, he sang with the Dapper Dans of Harmony from 1971 through 1976 “that turned out to be a whole lot of fun because I learned how to be a song-and-dance man”. While with the Dapper Dans, he appeared on a Tony Orlando special and the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He also finished school. After his stint with the Dapper Dans, Sherburn returned to working as an X-Ray Technician, got married and had three children. During that time, he “took time off” from singing, although he continued to be interested in Barbershopping. “Then I got the call from Danny and Bob, and that’s when TNT got started”. Sherburn said “it took me about a year” to get his singing voice back in order “to do this style of music”.
Bob Gray
Gray is a retired Project Manager from Boeing Corporation and now lives in Kansas to “get away from it all” and “slow things down”.
His creativity extends to their homestead, where he and his wife have made extensive changes to their home including their “dream master bedroom and bath” as well as a storm shelter.
In his spare time, he is a community driver for the Amish population in the area, transporting them to sites that are unreachable via their own unmotorized transportation, including visiting their family members out of the state. “It’s a lot of fun, I enjoy it!”.
John Miller
Miller had a “legendary” career as a marketing executive with the CBS and NBC television networks. Among his many successes were the creation of such hit television shows as Miami Vice, The Golden Girls, Seinfeld and The West Wing. He has received many industry awards including lifetime achievement awards.
The Millers have four children. Their son Justin has become well-known in the Society as director of the Westminster Chorus and the Masters of Harmony. He now directs The Vocal Summit in Portland, OR. Incidentally, Miller now has a home in Portland and enjoys singing in his son’s chorus. “He is way more musically talented than I,” said Miller. “I’m just a chorus slug!”.
Dan Jordan
Dan Jordan suffered a serious stroke in 2019 and was hospitalized for over 7 months while he recuperated. He has made a miraculous recovery since then. “It has been quite an undertaking,” said Jordan. “Getting my voice back is the toughest thing”.
Jordan said he “couldn’t talk at all – for a long time”. He said that when he tried to speak, “Everything was all jumbled together”. While he still has trouble speaking, he has no trouble when he sings!
Jordan has been singing with Gangbusters, a senior quartet that competed – and won – the Far Western District “two-times in a row!”.
Besides barbershop, Jordan has sung gospel, doo-wop and has appeared on television and radio.
Today Jordan has amassed a collection of Barbershop memorabilia and is in the process of turning this into a travelling museum. “I now have a suit from every quartet that won the Far Western District”. He also has a medal for every quartet that medaled from FWD, “I’ve got programs, everything. It’s crazy!”
About the Author:
Tony Scardillo has been involved with Barbershopping for over 50 years and is a member of the Westchester, NY chapter “Westchester Harmony”. He has been writing about the championship quartets for several years. His work is available on www.harmonyville.org.