Something important happened last night. Something very important that could be a turning point for our great hobby.
At least a hundred movers and shakers from the music industry got together to hear Monkey Magic - reborn as The Great British Barbershop Boys - launch their new CD. And I gotta tell you: they ADORED it.
The venue was the uber-trendy Absolut Ice wine bar in London's West End, packed to the rafters with record promoters, agents, producers, deal-cutters and assorted luvvies. (One bar is kept at below freezing point; customers are escorted in by huskies, made to wear a thermal coat for their own protection and limited to a 45-minute stay. Not the bar we were in, thank goodness).
Pretty girls bearing chilled drinks and canapes circled the crowd as they waited in bewildered anticipation for the appearance of four unknown guys singing "Barbershop" on a little stage set up in a corner especially for the event.
Barbershop? Isn't that singing waiters kinda thing? Four old geezers in boaters and aprons?
The star act was introduced as the first signing to Arista, a brand new label in Sony Music's portfolio.
And on they came - not a boater in sight. Four super-smart, cheerful young men in stylish grey suits and striking red-and-white striped ties, a nice echo of their Barbershop origins.
You could almost smell the audience's approval. They loved them already.
The boys kicked off with their Christmas CD's signature tune, Let it Snow. Women melted as only women can melt when Duncan rattles the floorboards with his rich doo-ba-doo's. Their rhythm was infectious. It was tight, A-grade singing, oozing confidence without arrogance, and slick, slick, slick.
The audience went potty. They clapped and cheered and whooped for more. Cynical A&R men grinned ear to ear, nodding furiously at each other across the room.
Tenor Alan then introduced the quartet with a well-paced and amusing explanation of the Barbershop style featuring Zac and Duncan as mainstays and Joe and he as fillers-in. Just the right length and content.
Then came some mainstream Barbershop in the shape of No No Nora with a couple of swipes that blew plaster off the walls (OK, they were amplified, but not obtrusively so). Most of those guests had never heard anything like it before - the extraordinary sensation of live, expanded sound at point-blank range complete with body heat. It has dimensions that can never be captured in a recording.
Again they went wild. They wouldn't let the boys go. As an encore we were half expecting another track from the Christmas CD, but no - they did the good old Chordbusters March! This was on their manager's advice, apparently. He was right; another frenzied reception as the boys removed more plaster with a supercharged tag.
We should all be hugely proud of this foursome. Their performance was simply sensational, right on every level.
The event won't change barbershop overnight. But it was without doubt the most significant development in the public perception of barbershop that I have seen in over 30 years, one that will give us endless opportunities to continue positioning the art form as something of appeal to the all-important younger generation.
After the show it was back to the bar where everyone wanted a little piece of The Great British Barbershop boys. One thing's for sure: it will never go to their heads. They're just too nice.
Paul
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Footnote: It's a pity more barbershoppers couldn't attend the event but, as the organisers explained, the guest list was already full to bursting with industry bods. They were kind enough to see that BABS (and LABBS) was represented on the night - by Chairman Alan Goldsmith, Marketing Director Laurie Whittle and Liz Garnett and myself as arrangers who had written material for the CD.
