The ninth quartet from the Southwestern District to win the gold medals was also the very first quartet from Houston to appear on the International contest stage. The Innsiders began in 1967 when John Devine joined the Tidelanders chorus. He picked Guy McShan to sing bari. Both had been in Port Arthur's Spindletoppers quartet. They asked tenor Johnny Wiggs and bass Dick Oury to join their new quartet. These four were the first of 13 Houston chapter members who, over the next 19 years, made up the Innsiders quartet. The championship version first sang together in September of 1971. They decided to set goals. They first wanted to become a popular show quartet and win a few contests. Six weeks later they placed third in the district contest and were being booked on many shows around the SWD. From that point on it was a steady rise. Mike Cox joined the society in 1962 and worked as supervisor for an LTV subsidiary at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He had directed church choirs and was well known as a "cut up" and added a humorous touch to the quartet. John Devine was a charter member (1962) of

the Port Arthur chapter before moving to Houston in 1967. He worked as a purchasing agent for Texaco. Named music director of the Tidelanders chorus in 1970, John immediately led them to a fourth place finish in Aflanta. Guy McShan, a sales engineer for General Electric, joined while in high school in 1950. As a Dallas chapter member Guy sang in several quartets one of which was the Doo Dads, 1965 Southwestern District quartet champions. He had also been a member of the Grand Prairie and Port Arthur chapters before moving to Houston. Dr. Tom Pearson was an orthodontist who joined the Houston chapter in 1967. Pearson had served as show chairman, assistant director, and chapter president. In 1969 Tom won the district quartet championship with The Debonaires. Tom was an accomplished pilot and often flew the quartet to out of town performances. The Innsiders qualified for the Atlanta International and placed 15th in 1972. That same year at district they moved up a notch and came in second behind the Dealer's Choice. With their sights set on the next prelims, a quirk of fate stepped in.

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