The Side Street Ramblers
1983 International Quartet Champions



(L to R) Keith Houts, Brian Beck, Dennis Malone, Earl Hagn






Encore!


CD #1:

I Feel A Song Comin' On
Only Yesterday
Consider Yourself One Of Us
Love To Meet That Old Sweetheart
Yes Indeed
Looking Through My Window
I Truly Love You
Story of The Rose
My Blue Heaven
That Someone Is You
I Wonder Whats Becoming Of Sally
Broadway, A Little Light
Kitten On The Keys
The Way We Were
I'm Sorry I Made You Cry
Hello Broadway

CD #2:

Everybody Loves A Lover
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Put Your Arms Around Me
Short People
1927 Kansas City
Smile Medley
Here's That Rainy Day
Proud To Be An American
Bye Bye, Blackbird
Have A Little Talk With Myself
Send In The Clowns
All Of Me
Gotta Be On My Way
Put Your Hand In My Hand





HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

In 1975, Stage Door Four baritone Dennis Malone's company transferred him to
California although he wanted to continue singing in a Dallas quartet . That
left two other members of the disbanded Stage Door Four, tenor Keith Houts,
and super lead, Jim Law looking for a bass. One night in late 1975, 6'5"
Earl Hagn appeared at a Vocal Majority rehearsal. With very obvious 6'3'
bass vocal chords, Earl was approached by many three man quartets. As luck
would have it, Earl agreed to audition for a quartet whose bari was in
California and might not return.

Dennis Malone was from Chicago, IL and began his barbershop career in 1968
while in college. He went on to direct the Little Egypt chapter in Herrin,
IL. Dennis is a piano technician/restorer and an accomplished piano player.
Keith Houts had always been in a quartet. Before the Ramblers, he sang in
the Playbills and the Stage Door Four. Originally from Tennessee, he worked
as a machinist with Braniff Int'l. Jim was a long time barbershopperand
quartetter. He joined  the Stage Door Four shortly after they won the
Disrict championship due to the retirement of original lead, Phil Leslie. A
singer since elementary school, Earl Hagn had performed wiffi many groups
including an octet in college called the Bullfrogs. It's said that when he
joined the quartet he originally thought International was a truck.

Jim, Keith and Earl began rehearsing and sent tapes and music to Dennis. In
August, just three short weeks before the divisional contest, Dennis moved
back to Dallas and began rehearsing with the trio. The sound was
unbelievable! At division they placed a close second and continued to work
for District. On October 23rd, in San Antonio the Ramblers stole the
convention and the contest with two excellent sets highlighted by the song
Dennis brought from Illinois, "Gotta Be On My Way". Listening to the record
of the 1976 SWD contest and hearing the thunderous applause is historical
proof that the Ramblers won the contest and the audience. Being named
district quartet champions only 90 days after forming made them an
"overnight success". They are perhaps the only district champion to win the
title of novice champs in the same contest.

After winning the title in 1976, they were invited to sing for almost every
chapter in SWD and during the course of their history, probably have. The
next step through competition was obvious, qualiiy for Int'l. Mter many
hours of planning and rehearsals, they qualified for the 1977 Intl in
Philadelphia. The previous year, the SWD's lnnsiders were crowned Int'l
Champions. But in Philly, the Ramblers weren't quite as fortunate, they
placed a disappointing 28th. Although feeling dejected, they worked even
harder, and qualified for the 1978 Int'l in Cincinnati. But again, luck was
not with them. Lead Jim Law decided to retire from his law practice and
moved to New Mexico and they had to step down from the competition. Losing a
lead singer would kill almost any quartet, but not the Ramblers. This was
just about the time the Dealer's Choice were breaking up and lead Bill
Thornton (also the Rambler's coach) was looking for another quartet. Mter
passing the audition, they picked up where they left off and soon qualified
(placing first, as they would continue to do) in the Pre-lims.

The Ramblers were also active members of the judges selected the Classic
Collection and gave the Ramblers another bronze. The Ramblers give credit to
their coaches, one being Don Clause. He and the Ramblers believed a positive
attitude is a must. They also sought and received the assistance of stage
presence coaches John and Tom Sommer of Columbus, Ohio. Rehearsing three
nights a week, the Ramblers worked especially hard several months before the
1983 Int'l.

Selected to sing 22nd in the quarter finals Thursday afternoon, they tested
the audience, and themselves by singing "Smile Medley" and "I Wonder What's
Become Of Sally." Their fans were a bit worried when only after naming the
other top 19 quartets, they finally announced the Ramblers would be singing
last in the Semi-finals. There they sang "Heart Of My Heart" and "Please
Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone". For the first time on a competition
stage, they felt confident and at ease.

Again the judges made the Ramblers nervous by somehow, once again, picking
the them to sing last. It was about this time their fans learned that during
the week the quartet had experienced several bouts with bad luck. Even
though Brian had been trapped in his room, Earl had walked through a screen
door, Keith had caught the flu and was singing bass they overcame them in
time for the contest. Brian said of Keith's illness, "We've always kidded
about being able to create the tenor part with overtones, but we didn't
relish attempting to fool the judges with this trick!" Brian had also caught
the bug and was very weak and with the exception of singing in the
quarter-finals, stayed in bed all day. That positive attitude was paying
off. With the help of Brian's home remedies, the problems disappeared and no
one even noticed.

A screenplay writer couldn't have placed the Ramblers in a better or more
dramatic position. Singing as the last quartet of the entire competition,
the Ramblers breezed through, "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey" and were
definitely the crowd's favorite. Then the song we were all waiting for.. or
rather the TAG!

Brian had written and arranged a very beautiful ballad entifled "I'm Sorry I
Made You Cry". Later, Don Clause added a "killer" tag. This now popular gut
buster had all four hitting, in unison, a high F sharp and building in full
voice up to the 139 decibels that knocked the audience against the back of
their chairs. They then peeled off, with three parts working their way into
a perfectly balance major chord and ending.

This performance received the only standing ovation of the entire quartet
contest and everyone felt sure they had just heard the last song of the
Ramblers as competitors. They were right. The Ramblers were announced as the
gold medal winners in Seattle and their long sought after goal was
accomplished.

Their championship year included several special events. In addition to
attending the Int'l Mid-Winter convention (that year in Hawaii - nice
timing, guys) they also toured Europe including

1984 on the Phil Donahue  Show

Switzerland, the Alpine foothills, saw DaVinci's 'The Last Supper", the
French Riviera, the leaning Tower of Pisa, Rome, Pompeii, the Isle of Capri,
and the Vatican. These trips and other performances throughout the year had
them in great demand, and deservingly so.

Thankfully, the Ramblers recorded two fine albums. The first was entifled
Side Street Ramblers, released in 1982, and featured many of the songs they
sang in competition plus "Everybody Loves A Lover", "Here's That Rainy Day",
"Bye Bye Blackbird" and everyone's favorite, "1927 Kansas City".

Their second album was even better with many of their show songs like "My
Blue Heaven", "Kitten on the Keys", "Yes Indeed" and a studio version of
"I'm Sorry I Made You Cry". These recordings are still available and show up
from time to time at the International convention's barbershopper's shop.

The Ramblers continued to tour, sing on hundreds of annual shows and improve
their sound and show package over the next six years. They traveled a great
deal overseas including Singapore (1985), Innsbruck, Austria (1986),
Australia & New Zealand (1987), England's BABS convention (1988), and even a
Love Boat cruise from Acapulco to Los Angeles (with Jason January filling in
while Dennis and Donna waited to have a baby).

In 1988, Brian left to rejoin the reunited Dealer's Choice so the others
asked "super lead I super coach" Jim Casey to join the quartet (lead #4).
The Ramblers continued to sing for another year. Their last song was for the
1989 AIC show while they were still going strong. They did reunite for a
Dallas Town North show to celebrate their gold medal 10th anniversary in
1993. The last time they sang together was for Heather Hagn's (Earl's
daughter) wedding in 1994. With all four still active, another reunion could
always be just around the corner.

The Ramblers were well known for their cooperation and professionalism. With
every performance, they gained many friends and fans. During their tenure
they were excellent good will ambassadors for the Southwestern District as
well as the Society.

Where Are They Now?

Dennis now lives in Virginia and sings with the Alexandria Harmonizers
winning gold medals in 1989 and 1995 ~ving him six). He served as a section
leader. In 1991 hejoined the popular quartet Vaudeville for their last year.
In 1992 he joined DC Bass
 Gary Parker and formed the Bingo Brothers. They placed 8th in the New
Orleans International, won the 1993 Mid-Atlantic District championship,
changed leads and placed 10th in the 1994 Int'l. They were a very popular
show quartet around the MAD and surrounding districts. Dennis now sings with
a new quartet called Premiere and is the director of a newly licensed
chapter, Centerville, VA, The Sounds of America Chorus.

Keith is "retired" and enjoying his days living in his "hand built" log
cabin near Tyler, TX. He directed the Greater East Texas Sound Connection
chorus for ten years and was a certified Stage Presence judge. Keith is
proud to be the oldest tenor to win a gold medal. Keith continued to sing in
quartets and returned to International with Dallas Sound. He now has
reunited with Brian and is going for another gold with Great Stage Robbery.
Keith also directs the new Tyler, Texas Vocal Express chorus.
Brian continues writing great songs and arrangements. He's currenfly the
director for the Dallas Town North Men of Note chorus and also sings a new
part, bass, with Keith in Great Stage Robbery. When he medals and then wins
the gold, he'll be the first to triple as well as medal in three different
voice parts. A tribute to a top musician.

Earl is a commercial artist with his own studio. He's done remarkable work
for barbershop projects such as the Roundup's masthead of the 80's, the SWD
Logo, the award winning "Voice of the Townsmen" bulletin (society's top
bulletin in 1993), and counfless show programs. A past president of the
Association of International Champions (AIC), he's the publishing editor of
the Medallion (AIC's newsletter). His post-Ramblers quartets include Dallas
Sound, Backstage Revival and Impromptu. He is now reunited with Bill
Thornton in Players. In addition to having held almost every officer
position including President, he's been Town North's Barbershopper of the
Year. If thats not enough, Earl is solely responsible for the masterful
layout of this book, Golden Memories, having donated well over 150 hours of
his time to it's completion.






The Ramblers at contest.




The Ramblers with Phil Donahue.




Ramblers with Jim Casey.




Ramblers with Jim Law.




Ramblers with Bill Thornton.

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