*.."From out of nowhere" was the common answer by spectators as well as the society's editors in response to the sudden appearance by the 1973 champs, Dealer's Choice. . . and they were almost correct. They were only the sixth quartet to win the gold medals on their very first attempt. * This over-night success took less time than most, only about two years, to achieve. The Dallas Big D chapter quartet first formed in July of 1971 with Al Kvanli (Roustabouts) - tenor, former Texas Boys Choir member whose dad sang with the Fort Worth chapter, Gary Parker - bass, Louie Mullican singing lead (later of the Main Attraction) and Bill Thornton (from the Playbills) singing bari. The DC had some unique voices to blend together so the road was a bit rough learning to balance chords, * ('39 Bartlesville Barflies, '4] Chord Busters, '42 Elastic Four '5] Schmidt Brothers, '52 Four Teens, '73 Dealer's Choice, '90 Acoustix)

Despite their hard work, they placed a disappointing 7th at the 1971 district contest. The judges critique convinced them that no amount of hard work was going to fix the natural mismatch. In late 1971 while singing in the back of a bus returning for a singout, they woodshedded a few songs with Brian Beck (Doo Dads). The sound really clicked and so some changes were made. Bill moved to lead and Brian was asked to sing bari. Thankfully no hard feelings were held by Louie who became one of their biggest fans. They also transferred to the new Dallas Metro chapter. In March they placed a respectable fifth at prelims in Arlington. Still not having won district or qualifying for an International contest they decided to attend Harmony College in Racine, Wisconsin and the new quartet coaching seminar with the society's very best coaches. This decision proved decisive and set the quartet on the road to the gold. After a week of intense coaching, 12-hour days

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