We know that you are burning with Frequently Asked Questions...

 

Here are some Frequently Given Answers (FGAs)

 

 

How did you come to be?

 

Spiritual and metaphysical stuff aside, Fleet Street’s here because back in 1981, a few Stanford dudes didn’t make the cut into one of the college’s a cappella groups. So they retaliated by making their own a cappella group.
 

How’d you get that goofy name?
 

Well, we tried a few other ones first, including “The Fetuses,” “The Amoebas,” “The Steaming Manholes,” “The Tentacle Men,” and “The Heffalumps.” But none of those stuck. One day one of the wiser of us noticed Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street was playing in San Francisco, and drew the line from “Fleet Street” to “barber” to “barbershop.” Barbershop music was most of what we sang at the time, and so we christened ourselves “Fleet Street.”

 

For whom do you perform?

 

Ooh, not ending with a preposition! The answer is absolutely everyone. In the past few years, we’ve performed on syndicated talk shows, at the New York City jazz club Birdland, in bars in Hollywood, in countless college lounges all over the nation, for corporate events, for private parties, for each others’ girlfriends, for random people, for lots and lots of dorm meetings at Stanford . . . if you can name it, we’ve probably sung for it.

 

Yeah, but do people actually like you?

 

Deke Sharon, considered the father of modern a cappella, called our 2004 self-titled album “the most important collegiate a cappella album to be released in a decade.” Fleet Street has won numerous Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, as well as National Collegiate A Cappella Awards, the latter of which landed us a spot on NBC’s “Today Show” and a performance in Lincoln Center back in the 90s. But trophies shmophies. When it comes to whether people like us, we can’t speak for our audiences. But try us yourself and I think you’ll be pleased.

 

How much do your group members get paid?

 

Not a dime. Any time you buy from us or hire us, all the money goes back into Fleet Street’s group account, so we can do nice things like record music and fund our own performances.

 

And are you all really that good-looking?

 

Is the Pope Catholic?

 

Why do you wear bow ties and vests?

 

Why do you wear skin?

 

If you’ve been around for 35 years, you must have some deep traditions.

 

We do, but I fear I can’t reveal them to you, lest I bring the rage of the entire group down upon me.

 

You say you guys are funny, but this ‘About’ section isn’t very funny.

 

We’re trying to show that we can be professional young entrepreneurs as well as cuttingly witty and rebellious icons. So don’t take our word on the “funny” thing; watch our videos or listen to our songs to see it for yourself!