Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. The group's name is a portmanteau of "rock" and "a cappella". Rockapella sings original vocal music and a cappella versions of other songs. Over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music style toward a sound more influenced by R&B. Rockapella found their enduring success in Japan early in their career. They are most successful for their role as a house band and comedy troupe on the PBS children's geography game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?.
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.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? is an American half-hour children's television game show based on the Carmen Sandiego computer game series created by Broderbund. The show was hosted by Greg Lee, who was joined by Lynne Thigpen and the a cappella vocal group Rockapella, who served as the show's house band and comedy troupe. The series was videotaped in New York City at Chelsea Studios and Kaufman Astoria Studios and co-produced by WQED and WGBH-TV, and aired on PBS stations from September 30, 1991, to December 22, 1995, with reruns continuing to air until May 31, 1996. A total of 295 episodes over five seasons were recorded.
Jeffrey Thomas Thacher is an American musician, best known as a member of the vocal group Rockapella. A professional vocal percussionist and singer who emerged on the early contemporary a cappella scene in 1991, Jeff Thacher co-founded the Boston-based a cappella group Five O'Clock Shadow that year and went on to join Rockapella in 1993 as their full-time mouth-drummer.
Live In Japan is the fifteenth overall, tenth North American, and second live concert album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It was recorded during the group's "Wa" (Peace) Tour on June 2–12, 2003 at The Blue Note and was released a year later. Live In Japan is the final album founding member Elliott Kerman can be heard on, marking a key piece of Rockapella history as the group no longer contains any of its founding members. It is also the last album Kevin Wright can be heard on, since he left the group in December 2009.
In Concert is the twelfth overall album, seventh North American album, and first live concert album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It was recorded live on December 9, 2000, at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, California. A corresponding DVD was also filmed as part of a PBS Special. The DVD contains a shortened version of Jeff Thacher's vocal percussion solo during "Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?" and does not include "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress".
Don't Tell Me You Do is the ninth overall and fourth North American studio album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It is the first album released by the group on a North American record label. All but two of the tracks were recorded during the fall of 1997 and originally released on the independent album Rockapella. When Rockapella obtained their North American record deal in 1998, the songs "Moments of You" and "Hold Out For Christmas" were added in the place of "Bed of Nails" and Don't Tell Me You Do was released in the spring of 1999. In 2004, when the album was re-released on Shakariki Records, the then rare 1997 studio recording of the song "Bed of Nails" from the original album, Rockapella, returned to the track list in the place of "Hold Out For Christmas", which can be found on the group's holiday album Christmas.
Primer is the sixth studio album by the a cappella group Rockapella and marks their North American debut. Its track list was intended to represent the band's live show at the time and was recorded 99% live-in-studio over the course of two days at Sonalysts Studios in Connecticut, with the exception of the bonus track, "Shambala," which was recorded prior to the Sonalysts sessions.
Out Cold is the fifth studio and second holiday album by the a cappella group Rockapella. ForLife Records wanted the group to do a second Christmas album, but settled for a mixture of Christmas and non-holiday music. This combination has led it to be described as the "winter romance" album.
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.
Best Fest is a compilation album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It is first of three Japan-only compilation albums of the group's recordings, featuring a mix of tracks from previous Japanese albums, as well as two new songs that were not previously available. It was marketed as a "greatest hits" album; a "hit" in Japan is a song that has been used in a Japanese television commercial, of which Rockapella had many. As an incentive to get fans to buy it, the album includes two previously unreleased songs, "Tornado Man" and "Always You", and separate track versions of the "Logo" songs, the different versions of the "Rockapella jingle" the group does at the beginning of each of their first five CDs.
More Than Ever is the second Japan-only compilation album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It contains recording from the US albums Don't Tell Me You Do and 2 with a new photo session of the group.
Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? or Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? The Album is a soundtrack album to the game show of the same name that ran from 1991 to 1995. Rockapella, the house band on the show throughout its entire run, performed six of the ten songs on the album.
"Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?" is a song by American a cappella group Rockapella that was written as the theme song to the PBS game show of the same name. The song is part of the larger Carmen Sandiego franchise.
Barry Strauss Carl is an American voice-over actor and musician best known as the bass of the a cappella vocal band Rockapella while the group was house band on the PBS children's geography game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. He was a member of Rockapella from 1988 until he left the group in 2002. Carl is known for his signature deep voice, which he used during his years with the band to create an almost instrumental sounding bass.
Bang is the sixteenth overall and eleventh North American album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It is the first studio album the group has released since 2002 and marks the first recording appearance of members John K. Brown and Steven Dorian, who had joined the group in 2004 and 2010, respectively. The album consists entirely of original music, making it the second all-original album released by the group, preceded only by their 1994 Japanese release Vocobeat, and is also the first Rockapella album to have at least one song written by each of the five members. The album contains a special bonus fourteenth track: a cover of Vampire Weekend's "A-Punk."
George William Baldi III is an American singer best known as the bass singer of the a cappella singing group Rockapella from 2002 to 2014, and then had a second stint with the group from 2022 to 2023, becoming a supporting member after each departure.
Steven Dorian is an American singer best known as a tenor in the a cappella group Rockapella from 2010 to 2016.
A Rockapella Holiday is the seventeenth overall, twelfth North American, and fifth holiday album released by the a cappella group Rockapella. The tracks consist of new songs premiered on the album and songs the group has perfected since 2003 during their holiday concerts of the same name.
Carmen Sandiego: Out of This World is a tie-in album to the children's television game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Five of its ten songs, as well as the spoken track "A Brief Disclaimer," were performed by the show's host, Greg Lee. Lynne Thigpen, who co-starred on the show as The Chief, also contributed a song, as did the show's house band, Rockapella. Unlike its predecessor, it was marketed to both children and adults, owing to the inclusion of rock bands XTC and They Might Be Giants.
