Origin
Formed in the Fall of 1951, the original group consisted of seven singers, including Pete Baldwin (Tenor I), Ellis Baker and Les Streeter (Tenor II), Bob Johnson and Pete Gray (Baritone), and John Ackerman and Ed Opler (Bass). By February, the seven were practicing regularly in Painter and Hepburn Halls. However, it was not until March 15, 1952 that the D8 performed its debut concert at the Ides of March Dance. Later that spring, the group performed at a radio broadcasting where the WRMC announcer, Bob Arel, noting the double quartet (which had no name at the time) was short by one, jokingly introduced the group as "The Dissipated Eight." The following year, the group added four new members Mint Dole (Tenor I), John Hammond and Jack Harrington (Baritone), and Seward Highley (Bass) to replace the graduating seniors Bob Johnson, Pete Gray, and Ed Opler. Today, the Dissipated Eight continues on in the tradition of the original octet, maintaining the example of energetic dedication established by the group's founding members while continuing to push the boundaries of a cappella as we know it. Producing numerous records over the years, the D8 has compiled a vast archive of music from the past five decades.
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in 1943 as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award and nominations for the NAACP Image Award.
The King's Singers are a British a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 1968. They are named after King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s. Thereafter they began to reach a wider American audience, appearing frequently on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in the United States. In 1987, they were prominently featured as guests on the Emmy Award-winning ABC television special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas.
The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger than the tenor saxophone, but smaller than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contrabass and subcontrabass saxophones are relatively uncommon. Like all saxophones, it is a single-reed instrument. It is commonly used in concert bands, chamber music, military bands, big bands, and jazz combos. It can also be found in other ensembles such as rock bands and marching bands. Modern baritone saxophones are pitched in E♭.
Collegiate a cappella ensembles are college-affiliated singing groups, primarily in the United States, and, increasingly, the United Kingdom and Ireland, that perform entirely without musical instruments. The groups are typically composed of, operated by, and directed by students. In the context of collegiate a cappella, the term a cappella typically also refers to the music genre performed by pop-centric student singing groups. Consequently, an ensemble that sings unaccompanied classical music may not be considered an a cappella group, even though technically it is performing a cappella.
D8, D.VIII, D VIII, D08 or D-8 may refer to:
The Persuasions were an American a cappella group that formed in Brooklyn, New York in 1962, singing under corner streetlights and in subway corridors. Their style combined gospel, soul, early rock, and jazz into melodic five-part harmonies. Since being discovered by Frank Zappa, the Persuasions have released 23 studio albums to date.
The MSU Accafellas are a Tenor-Bass, collegiate a cappella group from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Founded in 1996, the group typically has between eight and eleven singers. The Accafellas have released 8 albums to date. Their arrangement of Jason Mraz's You and I Both appeared on the Best of College A Capella (BOCA) compilation in 2006. In 2010, The Accafellas performed their arrangements of Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn and Would You Go With Me in Nashville, Tennessee before the CMA Music Festival with Josh Turner.
The Nylons were an a cappella group founded in 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, best known for their covers of pop songs such as The Turtles' "Happy Together", Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", and The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
Octappella is a seven-man contemporary a cappella group based in Utah. The members first sang together in college. Since forming Octappella, they have released three albums and were featured performers at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games. Their albums feature a mix of humorous and original material and covers of classic songs from groups such as Styx and REO Speedwagon. The group won two 2006 Contemporary A Cappella Society awards, one in the Religious Album category and one for Religious Song.
Vocal Spectrum is a barbershop quartet from St. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, Vocal Spectrum won the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Collegiate Quartet Contest, and on July 8, 2006, they became International Champions, winning the society's International Quartet Contest. A distinctive feature of the quartet is tenor Tim Waurick's ability to sustain notes for upwards of 30 seconds, and the tenor's and lead's incredibly high vocal range, featured in many of the group's recordings and live shows.
Metropolis is a barbershop quartet affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society. The group won five consecutive medals with the Barbershop Harmony Society at their annual International Convention. Metropolis has performed over 460 stage shows in the United States and in Finland, Russia, England, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Japan and Ireland. They have performed in over 190 cities around the world and over 40 states/provinces in the USA & Canada.
Norman Fox & The Rob-Roys are an American 1950s doo-wop group from The Bronx, New York, United States.
The Tufts Beelzebubs, frequently referred to as "The Bubs", is a male a cappella group of students from Tufts University that performs a mix of pop, rock, R&B, and other types of music while spreading their motto of "Fun through Song". Founded in 1962, they have toured in Europe, Asia, South America, and North America, and they competed on NBC's The Sing-Off in December 2009, finishing in second place.
Straight No Chaser (SNC) is a professional American a cappella group that originated in 1996 at Indiana University. Originally a student group at Indiana University, they recorded a video in 1998 of a comical version of "The 12 Days of Christmas". The founding members all graduated, to be replaced by other students, in 1999. In 2007, the 1998 video went viral on YouTube, and subsequently led to a reunion of the founding members and a five-album record deal with Atlantic Records in 2008. The YouTube video has been viewed over 24 million times.
Best A Cappella is the third Japan-only compilation album of songs by the a cappella group Rockapella. When the group changed their Japanese record label to Rentrack Records and released two of their American albums and an additional compilation album in Japan, ForLife Records sought to capitalize on the renewed publicity and released this album of previous recordings. It is seen as an unaffiliated release since Rockapella no longer had a contract with ForLife Records at the time of its release, and therefore do not receive royalties for its purchases.
The Brown Derbies is an a cappella group at Brown University. They were founded by Darryl Shrock in 1982 and have released fourteen albums. They sing a variety of different genres, ranging from Rock, to Pop, to R&B and are known in the a cappella community for their unique use of syllables in the background vocals. They have toured throughout the United States and internationally, with recent performances in Beijing, China, Shanghai, China, and New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1997, the group performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House. In November 2007, they were featured on the CBS Early Show in a segment about the rising popularity of a cappella groups on college campuses, and in July 2011 they were featured on the Gospel Music Channel reality show America Sings. In January 2012, they performed in the London A Cappella Festival.
The University of Rochester YellowJackets (YellowJackets) are an all-male collegiate a cappella group based in Rochester, New York. As the University of Rochester's oldest a cappella group, The YellowJackets frequently perform for campus functions in addition to their performance schedule around Rochester and the northeastern part of the United States. The group's members are students from the University's River Campus and Eastman School of Music. On September 19, 2011 the group made their national primetime television debut to an audience of 5.3 million viewers as contestants on Season 3 of NBC's "The Sing-Off", ultimately finishing in 7th place (out of 16 finalist groups.) The group celebrated their 60th anniversary in October 2016 during the University of Rochester's annual Meliora Weekend celebration.
Out of the Blue is a co-ed a cappella group from Yale University. Out of the Blue's repertoire includes music that spans 50 years and several genres, including pop, folk, and R&B. The group has won multiple a cappella competitions, awards, and accolades, shared the stage with Ben Folds and Sister Hazel, and performed for audiences all over the world. Out of the Blue records a full-length studio album every two years. The group's sixteenth studio album, Late Nights, was released in February 2021.
DCappella was an a cappella group formed via a national search and run by Disney Music Group featuring Disney songs. The group originally consisted of Antonio Fernandez, Joe Santoni, Morgan Keene, Orlando Dixon, RJ Woessner, Shelley Regner, and Sojourner Brown: Kalen Kelly and Kelly Denice Taylor joined the group after Regner and Brown left. Deke Sharon was DCappella’s co-creator, music director, arranger and producer.
