The Innsiders
1976
(retired)
Winning Members:
Tenor: Mike Cox
Lead: John Devine
Bass: Tom Pearson
Bari: Guy McShan
Replacement Members:
Tenor: John Wiggs
Bass: Dick Oury
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The Innsiders of Houston, 1976 international quartet champions, may have more alumni than the University of Texas. In the Southwestern District they're an institution older than the Vocal Majority.
Only four, of course, won the gold medals in San Francisco, but they figure they owe at least an occasional wearing of the medallions to a host of other guys - most of them tenors. Those four were Mike Cox, tenor; John Devine, lead; Guy McShan, bari; and Tom Pearson, bass. That particular combination first got together in September 1971 and six weeks later placed third in the district quartet contest. From that point it was a steady rise: 15th at the international contest in '72, district champs in '73, a quantum leap to 4th-place internationally in '74, silver medals in '75, and the top of the heap in '76.
At that time Mike worked for an LTV subsidiary at the NASA Johnson Space Center; John was with Texaco, Guy with General Electric, and Tom had become an orthodontist. Only John and Guy, however, were original members of the Innsiders, which they formed shortly after John arrived in Houston in 1967. (By 1970 John also was director of the Tidelanders Chorus.) The first tenor and bass were John Wiggs and Dick Oury, respectively.
At a reunion of the "Innsiders Alumni Association" in 1982, it was figured that the history of the 1976 champs, both before and after winning the gold, covered eight different versions of the quartet.
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