If the Lettermen had made their debut in the music scene today, they’d have enjoyed a much smaller following. Who would listen to a band of grown men in matching sweaters , each marked with a letter?

Luckily, the Lettermen aren’t a contemporary band, but appeared on the music scene at just the right time to make music history, becoming one of the most popular vocal bands and garnering a career spanning upwards of 45 years.

Tony Butala, the original founding member of the group, says this about their success:

“We chose the wrong name!” he professes. In the late 50’s, when The Lettermen were seeking to break into the biz, band names were very different. In fact, most vocal groups had school type names – there was Danny & the Juniors, The Four Freshmen, and The Four Preps. While the letter sweaters kept the “ivy league feel”, the name was admittedly a good deal of risk.

By the early sixties, the name had become the band’s saving grace, and the letter sweaters, which were already passé by then, were hidden away in some closet. At around this time, The Lettermen had already become a household name and a huge success as a band.

The group consisted of three soloists - Tony Butala, Jim Pike and Bob Engemann – who were each powerful performers in their own right. Together, however, they were dynamite. Their first singles, signed to Warner Brothers Records, were: “Their Hearts Were Full of Spring”, “When”, and “The Magic Sound”.

In 1961, Nic Venet, a new, young, creative A&R man with Capitol Records, heard the group for the first time. Impressed by the band’s unique sound and natural close harmonic blend, Venet was convinced that the group had unlimited and untapped potential. Eager to produce a hit record with The Lettermen, he wasted no time in signing them with Capitol Records, a contract that would turn out to last over twenty-five years.

Capitol Records produced The Lettermen’s first single under the company label in the summer of 1961 and decided to put a ballad on the B-side of “That’s My Desire,” the band’s doo-wop single. The way the company figured it, DJs would have no choice but to play the record’s A-side because the B-side was so slow.
That B-side was “The Way You Look Tonight.” It was a soft, melodic and romantic tune, quite different from the popular rock ‘n’ roll that filled the airwaves then. The uniqueness of it had listeners calling in for it day and night, and it quickly became a must-play for any DJ worth his salt. In no time at all, the song shot to No. 13 on the Billboard chart.

“When I Fall In Love”, The Lettermen’s second single that year, did even better. Just like the first song, it was another soft, slow ballad, and this one hit No. 7 on the Billboard chart, firmly establishing The Lettermen as one of the most romantic singing groups the sixties had ever seen.

After their initial success, there was no stopping them. The Lettermen have sung and recorded in over fourteen languages, enjoying international recognition and a fanbase any band would be proud to have. In their heyday, the group toured Japan, the Philippines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany, France, South America, Canada, Mexico and even Saudi Arabia.

Not bad at all for a band that started out in such geeky threads, not bad at all.