a cappella boys are hot
Yes, I think a cappella boys are ridiculously hot. I mean, I married one for gosh sakes!
The obsession goes back to high school (see… told you we were an odd bunch), and one of the highlights each year was a visit by an all-male a cappella college choir on their Holiday and Spring west coast “tours.” They came from a spattering of the Ivy league schools (and co-ed choirs from Stanford), and our school was a notoriously wonderful venue for anyone who wanted to find a reason to visit the Monterey Peninsula.
You see, our school didn’t have a “brother” boarding school, as it had gone co-ed back in the ‘80s. So any boys that walked on our campus were not just anomalies, but were instantly the cutest and hottest boys ever. It was simply declared a holiday anytime the “Marginot line” on our campus separating “boys can be here” from “boys can’t be here” was broken by a gaggle of men. So that meant that these little a cappella choirs got a lot of attention from us… just think of Elvis, the Beatles, NKOTB and lots of school uniforms.
Everyone would buy their CD after the performances. Some girls would even go so far as to contact them to buy their annual t-shirt or try and reach the members by email (and these is the early Internet days). I remember when one of my friends went to Princeton and told me that she was sad to learn that the choir boys weren’t as cute as she remembered… and we laughed at what we must have built their image up to! As a day student, I wasn’t as warped into the system as the boarders, but I still adored the music. I definitely bought the CDs and loved listening to them… and in college, I started buying the BOCA CDs annually and burning tons of CDs with downloaded a cappella MP3s.
And when I see/hear great male a cappella groups now… I still swoon. Like Tuesday’s episode of GLEE with the Beelzebubs…
p.s. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to their version Semi-Charmed life in college!
Obviously Mr. M didn’t lose any points by admitting he was in a high school a cappella group (more like a barbershop quartet, but still!)… and now that one his fellow members/classmates is a part of Straight No Chaser, my mind runs wild with the how much I would have geeked out on him if I went to his high school!
Anyone else out their a closet a cappella geek? Or maybe you just want to give a shout out to your respective college group???
16 Comments
Amanda
Hi Kim … it’s Amanda :)
Now this is weird – my husband is a self proclaimed a cappella nerd! He started in high school, was in Straight No Chaser in college at IU, and then sang on a cruise ship in a 4 person group! He actually started his own business where he now books all kinds of musicians on cruise ships – but specializes in a cappella. My experience has been that the a cappella world is definitely small … so I’m dying to know which SNC member your hubby sang with! I know all the professional guys personally (except the newest replacement) … and my brother-in-law was actually in the (college) group most recently – so that’s another connection!
I totally agree – there is something super cute about these boys. Mike told me that SNC did so many sororities Mom’s Days and Monday Night Dinners … how perfectly fitting!
kimberly michelle
It’s such a small small world! He was in the group with Walt… I should have snapped a photo of them in the yearbook to post ;)
Sara
Oh I love a cappella boys/men whatever are very cute/hot! Have you seen the commercial for the singing show starting soon and a very large group of guys sing Poker Face by Lady Gaga? It’s amazing!!!
Colleen C
OMG I love a cappella boys too! Freshman year of college I was friends with a boy who was in the campus all boys a cappella group and on Valentine’s day he had them come to my dorm room and sing to me!!! I just about died and talked about it all the time in college … oh wait, I still talk about it all the time.
(They did it for all their friends but I still felt special!)
Aubrey @ My Simple Everyday
YES YES YES!! A cappella love forever!!!! I was in a co-ed a cappella group at Cal in college (Artists in Resonance, AiR) and had the best time!! We went on an East Coast Tour one spring break and met some awesome groups from a bunch of Ivy league schools…. I always swoon when I see/hear all guy groups. Can’t wait for “The Sing Off” on NBC to return!!!
Jade
You know NKOTB did some of their sets a cappella at Radio City this past June. :)
Charlene @ Sweetchic
I JUST watched that episode of GLEE and was totally wowed by that acapella performance!
Kim
Oh my gosh. I love that clip. I was going to watch Glee tonight (I always miss it on the day it airs) and now I just can’t wait to watch the boys again. There’s something about a cappella that makes me happy. I could watch Sister Act I and II for hours because of the harmonies. ;)
Amanda
NO WAY! Walt is one of Mike’s close buds … he sang with him and now Walt even does some work for him. Most importantly, they are in the same fantasy league(s)!
Julie
I am a total a cappella nerd. I love them! :)
Amanda
I am a total a cappella nerd. Three of my college roommates were in a cappella groups, so I always went to all of their arch sings and concerts, bought the BOCA CDs, etc. etc.
I love the Beelzebubs, and I totally recognized their sound when I saw Glee this week. The only group I love more is U Penn Off the Beat. They are ridiculous.
Mrs. Puma
I really love a cappella too! I thought it was pretty funny you mentioned Straight No Chaser, because I called my parents the other night to get the answering machine because they decided to get last minute tickets to the OKC show. They loved it and bought the CD box set. Kinda weird to like a style of music just as much as my parents, makes me feel like I’m getting a bit old!
Terri (Swan)
You would have loved my college. There were at least 13-14 a capella singing groups for an undergrad population of 5,000. You couldn’t spit without hitting a guy who sang in a capella group. :)
Katie
Ahhh I love that you posted this. I was in a co-ed acapella group in college called Twisted Measure. Yeah. I thought I was pretty awesome…but I was probably just super dorky. However, I absolutely loved the Bubs on Glee this week! Seriously…to sing without the assistance of instruments takes so much more talent than to have a guitar/piano/etc accompanying you. Just throwing it out there, but the all boys acapella group would/should totally kick McKinley High’s glee club’s booty in an instant.
Maggie
Ahh, a capella groups, how I love them! I first became obsessed when I visited my sister at Dartmouth and we went to see one of the groups perform. And then I became obsessive about them when I got into college when one of my good friends was in our college’s male a capella group. And I LOVED Teenage Dream on Glee, so happy you posted it!
Breezy
Love this post! My first 2 boyfriends were a capella singers! “Earth angel” always takes me back… ;)