#Top10 Barbershop Moments on TV
#Top10 Barbershop Moments on TV
From late night sketches to primetime cameos, here's a look back at the top 10 barbershop quartet moments on TV.
From late night sketches to primetime cameos, here's a look back at the top 10 barbershop quartet moments on TV.
In 1999, Metropolis was asked to perform on Dick Van Dyke's TV show "Diagnosis Murder." The quartet was performing at a festival in Munich at the time, so the show had to fly Metropolis in for the shoot. Metropolis sang "Winter Wonderland" with Dick Van Dyke on bass. They then sang "Stay Awake" from the Dick Van Dyke's movie "Mary Poppins."
Mike McGee of Metropolis said, "If it felt like the first song ended abruptly, it's because the director cut us off early. She said they didn't intend to use the whole song so they didn't need us to finish the tag. However, in post-production they changed their mind. The problem was they only did one take. Lesson learned, always do a second take in case something goes wrong. I worked in the production office on the show during season eight, and at the very end when Santa Claude runs through the back door to escape, he's actually running into my office. Fun stuff!"
Sean Altman was approached by one of the writers on "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" to bring his barbershop group, The Groovebarbers, onto the show for a segment in early 2017. The group was hired to sing a ridiculously whitewashed version of the spiritual "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen." Group member Adam Spiegel had the brilliant idea that, in addition to learning the requested pre-tape song, they should have a version of Sam Bee's theme song ready. He brought in his arrangement, and they sang it to Bee in the makeup room. She flipped over it and asked them to come sing it live for the audience during the next day's taping.
This SNL sketch features Lana (played by host Katie Holmes) on the first day of a new job. We meet her co-worker "Passive-Aggressive Pam," (Ana Gasteyer) who casually insults her with a smile. A barbershop quartet is played by SNL all-stars Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz. They casually highlight Pam's remarks in this season 26 episode from 2001.
On the season 4 episode of "Cheers" called "Dark Imaginings," Norm subs in on bass with the 139th Street Quartet. This was the group's first TV appearance. They went on return for the season 8 episode "The Stork Brings a Crane" as well as an episode of "Night Court."
In season 3, episode 12 of "Friends," Ross hires a barbershop quartet to congratulate Rachel on her new job. Later in the episode, Monica rehires the quartet to tell off her co-worker Julio.
Throughout the series "Scrubs," Ted's band pops up from time to time. We couldn't pick just one of their tunes, so we included this supercut of their performances. Ted's band is a real quartet called The Blanks and is headed by Sam Lloyd, who plays Ted.
Dick Van Dyke makes the list again, singing his 1968 classic "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with his group The Vantastix and Conan O'Brien in 2016. "Fun bit of trivia," Mike Mendyke of The Vantastix said, "Conan's sound guy Todd Winmill used to do sound for Five O'Clock Shadow back in the day. Small world!"
In the 1997 season 2 finale of "MAD TV," we got a "Spishak Record"' infomercial selling music that combines gangsta rap and barbershop quartet. This sketch also features Pablo Fransisco. The episode, which was hosted by LL Cool J, was also the final one in which Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones, and Artie Lange were credited as cast members.
King of Late Night A Cappella Jimmy Fallon has featured more vocal segments than any other host. Although, James Corden is nipping at Fallon's heels from his Late Late Show platform. We could only feature one video on this list but wanted to make sure that you got a chance to see The Ragtime Gals sing with Justin Timberlake, Sting, and Tina Fey as well as perform "Baby Got Back."
The Ragtime Gals is made up of A.D. Miles, Tom Shillue, Chris Tartaro, and Fallon. Shillue explained, "The Ragtime Gals was Jimmy's idea. He had heard that A.D. and I had sung together, and when I was hanging around the show doing sketches, Jimmy would say: 'We're gonna sing! Get ready!' Now I'm an experienced barbershopper, but I'm no musical genius. For that we have to go to Bob Martin, my hometown chum, longtime baritone in my quartet Scollay Square, and a Berklee graduate with crazy barber-chops. Using his mad skills, he muscles the hip-hop and pop tunes into the barbershop genre. Then I get the charts to the guys in NYC, and we start rehearsing. The guys drill their parts for about a week, then we get together and sing. It's a lot of work for two minutes of airtime, but that pretty much sums up everything that happens on Fallon."
When asked if there would be more Ragtime Gals appearances, Shillue said: "There are more planned. We are mum on the details, only because barbershop is a very competitive field, and we don't want any other quartets beating us to the punch on any of our songs. Believe me, it would happen.
"Last year we did a Barbershop Smackdown in NYC at Arlene's Grocery, with my guys Scollay Square versus our favorite quartet Our Town. It was not much of a smackdown, really, because we worship those guys like a bobby soxer digs Frankie. But we'd like to do that again soon, maybe at Joe's Pub. Anyone who likes good close harmony should keep a lookout for that."
The Be Sharps are legendary, known for singing "Hello, Ma Baby," "Coney Island Baby," and of course, their signature song, "Baby on Board." They first appeared in The Simpsons' season 5 premiere in the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet." The quartet's story roughly parallels that of The Beatles. George Harrison and David Crosby guest star as themselves. The Dapper Dans provided the singing voices of the Be Sharps, approximating the voices of Homer, Principal Skinner, Chief Wiggum, and Apu. They still get requests for "Baby on Board" and happily oblige. You can actually hear the character's voices pop through the mix every now and then so the Dapper Dans must've recorded the songs as well as the series' regulars.
"After the animators synchronized the audio track, music, and animation, we just fell in love with it," Simpsons director Mark Kirkland said. "We also enjoyed working on the choreography of the Be Sharps and trying to match the characters' movements with the music. We were inspired by the Beatles film 'Let It Be,' including the shots of the band in the recording studio where they decide to break up. There are also reference's to Moe Cavern (the Beatles started in the Cavern Club), singing on the roof is a homeage to 'Get Back,' and many others.
Which was your favorite? What did we leave out?
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10. Metropolis Quartet on Diagnosis Murder
In 1999, Metropolis was asked to perform on Dick Van Dyke's TV show "Diagnosis Murder." The quartet was performing at a festival in Munich at the time, so the show had to fly Metropolis in for the shoot. Metropolis sang "Winter Wonderland" with Dick Van Dyke on bass. They then sang "Stay Awake" from the Dick Van Dyke's movie "Mary Poppins."
Mike McGee of Metropolis said, "If it felt like the first song ended abruptly, it's because the director cut us off early. She said they didn't intend to use the whole song so they didn't need us to finish the tag. However, in post-production they changed their mind. The problem was they only did one take. Lesson learned, always do a second take in case something goes wrong. I worked in the production office on the show during season eight, and at the very end when Santa Claude runs through the back door to escape, he's actually running into my office. Fun stuff!"
9. Groove Barbers on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Sean Altman was approached by one of the writers on "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" to bring his barbershop group, The Groovebarbers, onto the show for a segment in early 2017. The group was hired to sing a ridiculously whitewashed version of the spiritual "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen." Group member Adam Spiegel had the brilliant idea that, in addition to learning the requested pre-tape song, they should have a version of Sam Bee's theme song ready. He brought in his arrangement, and they sang it to Bee in the makeup room. She flipped over it and asked them to come sing it live for the audience during the next day's taping.
8. Saturday Night Live's "Passive Agressive Pam"
This SNL sketch features Lana (played by host Katie Holmes) on the first day of a new job. We meet her co-worker "Passive-Aggressive Pam," (Ana Gasteyer) who casually insults her with a smile. A barbershop quartet is played by SNL all-stars Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz. They casually highlight Pam's remarks in this season 26 episode from 2001.
7. Cheers: "Dark Imaginings"
On the season 4 episode of "Cheers" called "Dark Imaginings," Norm subs in on bass with the 139th Street Quartet. This was the group's first TV appearance. They went on return for the season 8 episode "The Stork Brings a Crane" as well as an episode of "Night Court."
6. Friends: "The One With All The Jealousy"
In season 3, episode 12 of "Friends," Ross hires a barbershop quartet to congratulate Rachel on her new job. Later in the episode, Monica rehires the quartet to tell off her co-worker Julio.
5. Scrubs: Ted's Band "The Blanks"
Throughout the series "Scrubs," Ted's band pops up from time to time. We couldn't pick just one of their tunes, so we included this supercut of their performances. Ted's band is a real quartet called The Blanks and is headed by Sam Lloyd, who plays Ted.
4. CONAN: Dick Van Dyke & The Vantastix
Dick Van Dyke makes the list again, singing his 1968 classic "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with his group The Vantastix and Conan O'Brien in 2016. "Fun bit of trivia," Mike Mendyke of The Vantastix said, "Conan's sound guy Todd Winmill used to do sound for Five O'Clock Shadow back in the day. Small world!"
3. MAD TV: "Gangsta Shop Quartet"
In the 1997 season 2 finale of "MAD TV," we got a "Spishak Record"' infomercial selling music that combines gangsta rap and barbershop quartet. This sketch also features Pablo Fransisco. The episode, which was hosted by LL Cool J, was also the final one in which Bryan Callen, Orlando Jones, and Artie Lange were credited as cast members.
2. Late Night/The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon: The Ragtime Girls
King of Late Night A Cappella Jimmy Fallon has featured more vocal segments than any other host. Although, James Corden is nipping at Fallon's heels from his Late Late Show platform. We could only feature one video on this list but wanted to make sure that you got a chance to see The Ragtime Gals sing with Justin Timberlake, Sting, and Tina Fey as well as perform "Baby Got Back."
The Ragtime Gals is made up of A.D. Miles, Tom Shillue, Chris Tartaro, and Fallon. Shillue explained, "The Ragtime Gals was Jimmy's idea. He had heard that A.D. and I had sung together, and when I was hanging around the show doing sketches, Jimmy would say: 'We're gonna sing! Get ready!' Now I'm an experienced barbershopper, but I'm no musical genius. For that we have to go to Bob Martin, my hometown chum, longtime baritone in my quartet Scollay Square, and a Berklee graduate with crazy barber-chops. Using his mad skills, he muscles the hip-hop and pop tunes into the barbershop genre. Then I get the charts to the guys in NYC, and we start rehearsing. The guys drill their parts for about a week, then we get together and sing. It's a lot of work for two minutes of airtime, but that pretty much sums up everything that happens on Fallon."
When asked if there would be more Ragtime Gals appearances, Shillue said: "There are more planned. We are mum on the details, only because barbershop is a very competitive field, and we don't want any other quartets beating us to the punch on any of our songs. Believe me, it would happen.
"Last year we did a Barbershop Smackdown in NYC at Arlene's Grocery, with my guys Scollay Square versus our favorite quartet Our Town. It was not much of a smackdown, really, because we worship those guys like a bobby soxer digs Frankie. But we'd like to do that again soon, maybe at Joe's Pub. Anyone who likes good close harmony should keep a lookout for that."
1. The Simpsons: "The Be Sharps"
The Be Sharps are legendary, known for singing "Hello, Ma Baby," "Coney Island Baby," and of course, their signature song, "Baby on Board." They first appeared in The Simpsons' season 5 premiere in the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet." The quartet's story roughly parallels that of The Beatles. George Harrison and David Crosby guest star as themselves. The Dapper Dans provided the singing voices of the Be Sharps, approximating the voices of Homer, Principal Skinner, Chief Wiggum, and Apu. They still get requests for "Baby on Board" and happily oblige. You can actually hear the character's voices pop through the mix every now and then so the Dapper Dans must've recorded the songs as well as the series' regulars.
"After the animators synchronized the audio track, music, and animation, we just fell in love with it," Simpsons director Mark Kirkland said. "We also enjoyed working on the choreography of the Be Sharps and trying to match the characters' movements with the music. We were inspired by the Beatles film 'Let It Be,' including the shots of the band in the recording studio where they decide to break up. There are also reference's to Moe Cavern (the Beatles started in the Cavern Club), singing on the roof is a homeage to 'Get Back,' and many others.
Which was your favorite? What did we leave out?
Let us know in the comments below!
Don't forget to subscribe to the FloVoice Newsletter to never miss a note!