| Golden Memories |
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Chapters |
Houston Tidelanders, 1983 - John Devine, Director
| .chorus to perform the show in Dallas!
This popularity translated into money for the chorus, making the habit even harder for the barbershop purists to break. Finally, thanks to continued efforts by the barbershoppers, and a litfie encouragement from a growing movement called on Civil Rights, the barbershoppers won out and by 1952, the last minstrel show had been performed in Houston. This change, though welcomed by the barbershoppers, drastically reduced the number of members in the chapter. Twenty or twenty-five members were all that was left, and the slow journey to better quality barbershop singing began. At first, directing was assigned to a committee of four. Bliss Mapes, Theodore (T.C.) Blackstone, Walter Jenkins, and Edward Acton seem to be these first four directors. Though several men directed the chorus in one fashion or another, these seem to be the four most commonly referred to during the first three years or so through 1955. At about that time, a genfleman by the name of Phil Winston began doing a large part of the directing and continued to do so until 1957. In 1957. V.L. Hooper, a man well-known to most Southwestern District members, moved to Houston and joined the chorus. Soon he was directing the chorus in its first contests in the late 50's. Though Houston did not place high in these first contests, the chapter was beginning to steadily improve through the talents of V.L. Hooper, and the hard work of other members such as Dick Crockett, Bill Park, Jim Carter, George Sifilman, and John Neighbors. The Houston chapter performed a number of "park" shows which they were often asked to do, and also began doing annual shows which for many years were called the "Cavalcade of Harmony" shows. By the early 60's, the Houston chorus was beginning to score well in contests, and was soon winning District contests. In 1965, Houston competed in its first ever international contest. |
Though many members were certain the gold would be theirs,
they had the rather humbling experience of placing 12th.
In 1967, Connie Keil became the director, replacing V.L. Hooper who left for business reasons. Soon, in 1968, Houston won district again and shocked themselves by scoring 2nd at International in St. Louis. After Connie Keil left, Houston's next International appearance came the next year at Atlantic City where they placed 4th under the direction of John Devine. Under the direction of Mike McCord, Houston placed 3rd at Portland in 1973, and 4th at San Fransisco in 1976. The competition in San Francisco will be remembered as a victory though, because it was there that Houston earned its first quartet gold medals through a group known as the inusiders. The Innsiders were first formed In 1968 and barely resembled the group that eventually won. It Is joked that almost half the chorus was an Innsider at one time or another. Finally In 1971, the winning group was formed with John Devine singing lead, Dr. Tom Pearson on bass, Guy McShan on baritone, and Mike Cox singing tenor. In 1971, the Innsiders placed 3rd in district. In 1972, they placed 2nd in district and 15th in their first international bid. In 1973, though unable to compete at international, the Innsiders did win district trophies. When they returned to international in 1974, they skyrocketed to 4th. Convinced they could win, they sought the coaching skllls of Don Clause, rehearsed at least twice a week and managed to move up to 2nd place in 1975. With one more place ahead of them, the Inusiders worked incredibly hard that last year. They rehearsed as many as five to six times a week the month before international. In fact, they had rehearsed so much, that tenor Mike Cox claims he does not even remember singing the first contest set while on stage. It was probably pretty good though, because 1976 was the year the Innsiders brought Houston its only gold medals, winning the International Quartet Contest. |
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How It All Began Chapters Chapter Histories International Quartet Champions ChorusesAdministration
Contests and Conventions Registered Quartets Publications Recognitions In Conclusion