The Suntones is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1961 International Champion.

First formed in Miami, FL in the fall of 1957 when two members of the recently disbanded “Memory Four” quartet, Gene Cokeroft (tenor) and Danny Whipple (bass), joined forces with Clark Bell (lead) and Bill Wyatt (baritone). Like most quarters of those days, the Suntones cut their teeth on good old fashioned barbershop harmony as well as some Hi-Lo style tunes. Bill Wyatt became the primary arranger for the quartet arranging several pieces such as “That Old Black Magic”. His most notable piece was his original tune, “The Chordbusters’ March”.

In 1958, Danny Whipple was drafted into the military and was replaced by Glenn Suddith as bass, however, Glenn soon had to leave the quartet for personal reasons and the quartet temporarily broke up. By November of 1958, Gene and Bill had began singing with Gene’s childhood friend, Bob Franklin, on lead. Shortly afterward, a man whom none of them had ever seen before, walked into the Miami chapter meeting one night and began singing with them. The man’s name was Bill Cain. Bill was fresh out of the Navy in San Diego and the Suntones immediately elected him as their new bass. The Suntones loved this new sound so much, that they rehearsed nine nights in a row and entered the Dixie District contest. They were the surprise of the weekend placing 2nd.

In the summer of 1959, the Suntones competed in their first international contest held in Chicago, Illinois. Despite Bob being sick with the flu, they placed 24th. That fall, they won the first championship of the newly formed Sunshine District. It was at this contest that they met a sharp young man from West Palm Beach named Harlan Wilson. In the spring of 1960, Bill Wyatt had to leave the quartet, so the called up Harlan to join them as their new baritone. It was an instant click and the Suntones began their climb to the top. At the 1960 international contest in Dallas, they improved substantially and placed 8th.

At the 1961 international contest in Philadelphia, the Suntones went into contest after spending several months of rehearsing and improving. They were up against society favorites such and the Nighthawks, Town and Country 4, Four Renegades, Bay Town 4, and others. In the quarter-finals, the Suntones sang “A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet” and “You’re Nobody’s Sweetheart Now”. In the semi-finals, they sang “Oh How I Miss You Tonight” and “Mother Macree”. By the end of the semi-finals, the Suntones had the audience on their side. Call it luck, call it destiny, in the finals on Saturday night, the Suntones were picked to sing last. They began their finals set with “Mighty Lak A Rose”. This song received the only standing ovation in the entire contest which caught the quartet off guard. They ended the contest that night with a song that would become one of their trademarks, “Bye Bye Blues”. They won it all by a stunning 343 point margin. Some believe that even if they hadn’t have competed in the finals, they still would’ve had enough points to win.

For most international champions, they are crowned, cheered, and their fame slowly disappears. For the Suntones, however, this was only the beginning. The Suntones decided that if they were going to continue performing, they might as well do it right. They began setting new standards that all quartets would soon follow.

They began recording soon after their championship and released their first album entitled “A Touch Of Gold” in 1962. This would be the first of ten albums that they would release. The other albums included: “Afterglow” (1966), “Watch What Happens” (1967), “Somewhere” (1971), “A Touch Of Old” (1972), “Keep America Singing” (1972), “Fiddler” (1973), “As Time Goes By” (1976), “Where Is Love” (1978), and “My Fair Lady” (1982). They also would release a live CD in 2003.

The Suntones soon realized that their sound was crucial to their performances, so they began hauling around their own sound equipment to bookings and began performing with handheld microphones. They were the first barbershop quartet to do so.

As for their music, they decided to add songs that were more up to date with times to their repertoire. Gene Cokeroft became the primary musical arranger for the quartet arranging some of their most famous pieces such as “Watch What Happens” and “Finian’s Rainbow Medley”. Gene’s most notable arrangement is his arrangement of “Danny Boy” in which he sang the haunting melody.

The Suntones soon would seek out professional bookings outside of Barbershop circles. When Jackie Gleason moved his popular variety TV Show to Miami in 1966, he called up the Suntones to perform on his show. This began a 4 1/2 year career as semi regulars on the show performing as a quartet and providing vocal backups for other performers on the show.

The Suntones made several other appearances with many other celebrities such as an appearance on the Mike Douglas Show in 1971 and appearances with other celebrities such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Eddy Arnold, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Benny Goodman, and even President Gerald R. Ford.

The Suntones are very well remembered for their “Monster Medleys” of Broadway musicals. These medleys included “West Side Story”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, “Sound Of Music”, and “My Fair Lady”. Each medley was nearly 10 minutes long and were show favorites on each of their shows. It was legendary arranger, Walter Latzko, that arranged these amazing pieces.

In May of 1979, Bob Franklin decided to leave the group due to vocal problems and tension with the other members. Most doubted that another lead singer could be found to take Bob’s place but they soon found him. Drayton Justus, lead of the Gentlemen’s Agreement, joined them as their new lead in January of 1980. Drayton brought a brand new sound to the Suntones as well as a batch of new songs.

The Suntones continued to perform for another five years before singing their swan song in January of 1985 in Montclair, NJ during a special tribute to Walter Latzko. They had several reunions after 1985 including their 30th anniversary performances in 1991. Bob Franklin returned to the lead spot for the first time in 12 years to celebrate the occasion. Drayton sang his final performance with the Suntones in 1993 in Calgary, Alberta.

In 2001, the championship version of the Suntones reunited and sang together for the final time. Bill had been diagnosed with throat cancer and was losing his ability to sing. In 2003, the Suntones returned to the show circuit with Harlan’s son, Todd Wilson, replacing Bill as bass. Todd had won his gold medal in 1990 as the tenor of Acoustix. The Suntones made their final onstage appearance with Bill on October 18, 2003 in Fairfax, VA, though his health did not allow him to sing. This special show featured a quartet made up of the sons of the Suntones called, “The Sons Of The Tones”. Bill succumbed to his cancer on July 31, 2004 at the age of 71.

In 2005, the Suntones were inducted to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Hall of Fame. In 2011, they were honored for the 50th anniversary of their championship in Kansas City, MO with a special AIC Show performance and many other honors throughout the weekend.

The Suntones sang their final show in May of 2012 in Cleveland, TN. They continued to have annual reunions until the passing of Gene Cokeroft on July 23, 2015 at the age of 79. In February of 2017, they reunited for the final time during a special tribute to Gene with Gene’s son Bruce substituting on tenor.

Today Bob Franklin survives and is living in Vero Beach, FL. Harlan and Todd Wilson went on to form a vocal group called “The Nashville Singers” and performed with them for many years. Harlan is now retired and living in DeLand, FL. Todd Wilson still actively performs with the Nashville Singers and lives in Nashville. Drayton Justus went on to become the Society’s international president in 2006. He sang in many more quartets and remained active in the society until later in his life. Drayton passed away on November 11, 2021 at the age of 89.

The Suntones were pioneers in their craft and way ahead of their time. They traveled nearly 2,000,000 miles and sang nearly 2,000 shows and touched the lives of thousands throughout their time together. They are still remembered today as one of the best quartets ever and are still seen as the gold standard. Their music can still be heard today on streaming services everywhere and many still consider them “favorites”. Long live the Suntones.