The Buffalo Bills were a barbershop quartet formed in Buffalo, New York, on September 20, 1947. The quartet won the 1950 International Championship and is best known for appearing in the 1957 Broadway production The Music Man and its 1962 film version. The quartet was in existence for 20 years, until their last performance in New York City in 1967. Origins The quartet started out as an unnamed foursome, singing for community groups around Buffalo. The original members were tenor Vern Reed, an executive for the Tonawanda Boys' Club; lead Al Shea, who was a City of Buffalo policeman; baritone Herschel Smith, a corporate executive; and bass Bill Spangenberg, a truck driver for a steel company. During an appearance at the Buffalo Quarterback Club, the nameless quartet was introduced as the "Buffalo Bills", which was meant to be just for the occasion, but the name stuck from that day on. Coincidentally, a football team known formerly as the Buffalo Bisons also changed its name to the Bills around the same time; the name proved popular enough that the current Buffalo Bills team also picked up the name when they debuted thirteen years later. Their coach, Phil Embury, traveled with the quartet around the world. The Bills competed in the 1948 and 1949 SPEBSQSA International Quartet Contests, placing sixteenth and sixth, respectively. Champions Baritone Herschel Smith left the quartet after he received a job promotion and was transferred to Madison, Wisconsin. The Bills, unable to find a suitable replacement, took an indefinite hiatus. They soon found baritone Dick Grapes and success quickly followed. In 1950, the Bills won the Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Contest, earning them the title of International Quartet Champions. Soon after their victory, they appeared on the national radio program We The People and were honored by the Manhattan and Buffalo chapters on their return trip to their hometown. Their first national television appearance was on The Faye Emerson Pepsi-Cola Show broadcast on CBS in April 1951. The Bills also performed at military bases in France, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea. That same year of 1951, the Bills released a Long Play album featuring eight songs for Decca titled Barbershop Gems, which was also issued on 45 and 78 rpm records. Discovery In the early 1950s, composer and bandleader Meredith Willson hosted a radio program called Music Today with his wife, Rini. After listening to the Bills