Artist:Rockapella f/True Image
Song:Under the Boardwalk
Album:Spike & Co. Do It A Cappella: Soundtrack
The art of a cappella singing started on New York streetcorners and evolved into doo wop and soul. In recent years, a cappella has been successful on US college campuses. And the 1988 PBS special Spike & Co. Do It A Cappella came from the renewed interest in a cappella. You can stream it on YouTube. Spike Lee not only directed this show but he wrote it with Ernest Dickerson and hosted it with Debbie Allen. It features several a cappella legends like The Persuasions and Take 6 and the new wave of a cappella like Rockapella. There are also celebrity cameos by Samuel L. Jackson and Branford Marsalis. The concert was filmed at the BAM Majestic Theater in Brooklyn. Rockapella is one of the new a cappella groups formed in 1986 at Brown University in Providence, RI. The original members were Sean Altman, Elliott Kerman, Steve Keyes and David Stix. At first they were called High Jinks. After graduation, they got together in New York City and decided to call themselves Rockapella. They started out singing in the streets for tips. But it led to private parties including one for Kathie Lee Gifford. That led to a 1988 appearance on her WABC-TV show The Morning Show. Gerald Brown saw that appearance. And he was a producer on Spile & Co. Do It A Cappella. He invited Rockapella to appear on the show. They performed three songs including Under the Boardwalk with the short lived group True Image. True Image appeared on the 1990 Monie Love single It's a Shame and then they split up. The soundtrack is available on CD. Rockapella lasted a lot longer when they appeared on the PBS kids show Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? from 1991-96. That's when Scott Leonard replaced Steve Keyes. Leonard had been working in Tokyo Disneyland when the opening came up. Jeff Thatcher joined in 1993 and he and Leonard still lead Rockapella today. Otherwise the membership is fluid. Rockapella still tours and they last recorded in 2019. That's -pretty good for a group that started out singing in the streets of New York. Here's Rockapella featuring True Image performing Under the Boardwalk on the 1988 PBS special Spike & Co. Do It A Cappella,
No comments:
Post a Comment