The Lads were another fine quartet that, unfortunately, didn't last long after winning the gold medals. For that reason, they are not as popular today as they were in the '50's. Back then, The Lads were one of the great quartets, very popular on the show circuit. There are very few chapters who DIDN'T have them on their annual show which made the Lads, before and after winmng, a very busy foursome. They first formed in September of 1954 and, as with almost all great quartets, the first sounds were very encouraging. They also felt the potential and with much encouragement from fellow Albuquerque chapter members and other quartets, they began working toward improvement. Don Pitts, 29, was a native of New Mexico and worked for Sandia Corporation (prime contractor for the Atomic Energy Commission) as an electrical engineer. Dan Aycock, 31, came from Arkansas. He was an administrative supervisor for Sandia Corporation. Carl Wright, 30, was from Vermont.

He worked as an architectural draftsman with Stanley & Wright. Stricken with polio as a child, Carl spent his life on crutches. To his credit, he never let his handicap affect his positive attitude, his performance or his love of singing. Texan Gil Wallace, once a member of the Lubbock chapter, was the oldest at 34. Gil also worked for Sandia Corporation as a mechanical engineer. The Lads never had a regular coach but instead closely observed the other top quartets of the day such as the Four Hearsemen, The Orphans, and the Desertalres. In addition to the help from fellow quartetters, The Lads learned advanced barbershop craft from such society experts as Johnny Means and Floyd Connett. From them they gained an appreciation for the "song" and attribute their success to gaining the desire to ring chords with as much perfection as possible. They were blessed with a perfect lead-bass match. To add to this gift they all took voice lessons and worked on vowel matching long before

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