If you haven’t heard them, try this link to download an MP3 of “Hey You” [before I get yelled at–this is their official site, they offer this song for download]
Their site is www.bubs.com
Basically, they do all of the instrumentation for the songs they cover … vocally. It’s both nifty and hilarious. And amazingly well done.
Any other fans out there?
I was in the UCLA A Capella chorus in 1983-84. Does that count?
Did you guys make guitar noises, drum noises, and stuff?
Opal, this sort of thing is becoming more and more a staple of college campuses. In Claremont, CA, where I went to school, there were several groups: The Shades, the Men’s Blue and White and the Women’s Blue and White, Midnight Echo, and so on. USC has the SoCal VoCals, UCSD has the Tritones. CalTech has the Ecphonia. All of these groups do rock instrumentations, totally acappela.
You can reach some of these groups through the following website: http://www.varsityvocals.com/groups.html
And if you can get out to see any of these groups live, it always makes the CDs look like a joke.
Enjoy!
Thanks, Opal. I downloaded that song and it’s quite good, but their style isn’t quite as unprecedented as you might think. See what you can find from a group called The Bobs, start with their website www.bobs.com. They’re a quartet, so the sound won’t be as full. They do great vocal instrumentation, including a couple of Jimi Hendrix covers, which is not the first thing that comes to my mind for an a capella group. They do a great distorted guitar on the old Creem song “White Room”, although I liked it better when Janie Bob used to do the lead. You might even track down their version of “Particle Man”, complete with sung versions of the accordion and calliope parts.
They have a few samples on their site, here. Start with “Caravan”, the old Duke Ellington classic.
[sub][hijack]
I was reading one of the reviews on their website, including one from Billboard. It must have been done from a phone interview. The article was about how The Bobs came to do a cover of The Doors’ “Light My Fire”. The reviewer said they combined it with something magical from the 16th century. Billboard is a music magazine so they should know this. The word is “madrigal”.
[/hijack][/sub]
I’ve heard a few others, but they don’t seem to do the instrumentation the same way… like they just do “doo doo doo” and “aaaaAAAaaahh” to reproduce the melodies of the various instruments… whereas these guys do the “neeerneeernEEEER” and “tshhhh! tshhhh! tshhh!” and “wraaah wraaah wraaa” of guitars and drums and cymbals and stuff… of what i’ve heard they seem to be the best.
There is an all female group called Sil’hooettes that is very good also.
I’ve heard a few others, but they don’t seem to do the instrumentation the same way… like they just do “doo doo doo” and “aaaaAAAaaahh” to reproduce the melodies of the various instruments… whereas these guys do the “neeerneeernEEEER” and “tshhhh! tshhhh! tshhh!” and “wraaah wraaah wraaa” of guitars and drums and cymbals and stuff… of what i’ve heard they seem to be the best.
There is an all female group called Sil’hooettes that is very good also.
Have you heard The Bobs, Opal?
No, I’ll look for them. If they do it the way that the Beelzebubs do then I’m sure I’ll like them 
I know the style you’re describing, Opal, The Bobs invented it. They don’t do it on every song, though, so start with “White Room” and go on from there. They also do “Ring of Fire” with a great trumpet solo without the trumpet.
So far all of the songs I’ve downloaded by The Bobs are more like doo-op harmony 
So far all of the songs I’ve downloaded by The Bobs are more like doo-op harmony