page_title: Stanford Fleet Street Singers
section_title: 1981–1991: Stanford patronage
hierarchical_section_title: Stanford Fleet Street Singers / History / 1981–1991: Stanford patronage
caption_attribution_description: English: The Stanford Fleet Street Singers in New York City, c. 1990
context_page_description: The Stanford Fleet Street Singers is a comedy a cappella group from Stanford University. The group performs original songs and sketch comedy, and wears a uniform of black vests and red bow ties. Fleet Street is perhaps best known for having published the first collegiate a cappella album composed entirely of original music. In total, Fleet Street has released 13 studio albums and has received a dozen national awards.
  Fleet Street was founded in 1981, as a collegiate a cappella group focused on comedy, theatricality, and barbershop harmony. In its early years, the group arranged and performed many Stanford-related songs, which earned them large audiences among Stanford students and alumni. Alongside a turn to more popular music, the 1990s saw Fleet Street gain national prominence, sweeping the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, appearing on national television and radio programs, at the Lincoln Center in New York City, and overseas. In 2004, Fleet Street published their self-titled, entirely original album to critical acclaim; this ushered in a new era for the group, defined by a focus on original music.
context_section_description: Fleet Street was formed in 1981, after a few years as a loosely-defined barbershop quartet. As freshmen, students Timothy Biglow, Kyle Kashima, and Chris Tucci had been turned down after auditioning for the Stanford Mendicants, Stanford's only a cappella group at the time. As juniors, they formed the Fleet Street Singers with an emphasis on barbershop harmony, theatricality, and humor.
  The group's earliest performances were free and took place on the Stanford campus, in dormitories, and at social events. The group's early repertoire included barbershop arrangements of Stanford standards and fight songs, such as "Hail, Stanford, Hail!" and "Come Join the Band". A dozen of these arrangements were written and ultimately recorded for the A side of Fleet Street's first record, Songs of the Stanford Red (1984). The B side comprised ten songs from Fleet Street's other repertoire: jazz standards and more comedic arrangements.
  The two sides of the group's repertoire were not always kept separate; the group often subverted traditional songs for humorous effect. They performed a parody of UC Berkeley's official fight song, with alternative lyrics lampooning the rival school's mascot ("The Dirty Golden Bear"). In 1987, Fleet Street reinterpreted the university's century-old alma mater ("Hail, Stanford, Hail!") as a rap, which earned them renown within the community. The Stanford Daily called it "a performance that characterizes the group's combination of music and comedy" and reported by 1990 its use at official university events including freshman orientation, fundraisers, and Big Game. From 1990–1992, Fleet Street also performed the hymn at the university's commencement ceremonies in Stanford Stadium. Each time, after the audience chanted "Rap! Rap! Rap!", Fleet Street also performed their rap version of the hymn. In 1991, Fleet Street was selected to be part of Stanford's National Centennial Celebration (celebrating 100 years since the university's founding); the group was flown to cities around the United States to sing the university's fight songs for alumni.
caption: The Stanford Fleet Street Singers on tour to New York City, c. 1990
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone XR", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "13.3.1", "Image DateTime": "2020:04:30 09:02:26", "Image TileWidth": "512", "Image TileLength": "512", "Image ExifOffset": "206", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[35, 28, 671/50]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[97, 30, 3771/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "1370611/3686", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "0", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "265487/1415", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "265487/1415", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "65", "Image GPSInfo": "2024", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "9/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "500", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2020:04:30 09:02:26", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2020:04:30 09:02:26", "EXIF OffsetTime": "-05:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeOriginal": "-05:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeDigitized": "-05:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "55248/11249", "EXIF ApertureValue": "54823/32325", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-10658/20317", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "17/4", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2013, 1511, 2217, 1330]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "792", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "792", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1798", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1348", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "26", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17/4, 17/4, 9/5, 9/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone XR back camera 4.25mm f/1.8", "EXIF Tag 0xA460": "2"}