This girl group from the Great North is in no danger of displacing The Guess Who, The Band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Neil Young & Crazy Horse or Rush on the short list of Canadian bands most Americans can count on one hand. Still, the young ladies have established a regional reputation in their native Ontario.

The quartet of Canucks are longtime friends from formative years spent at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School, and the alumnae still manage to reunite to add to their repertory of Doo-Wop covers (although their arrangement of “O Canada” is apparently their most requested tune). For the time being, a hit is something the 4Qs get on their fan page or YouTube, but they appeared on a compilation CD of Doo-Wop artists from around the world. Their version of “Sh-Boom” comes bundled at the end of a medley. The execution is earnest and wants to please but the sound is a bit thin and doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to be more daring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7qA72LhMO0&list=RDk7qA72LhMO0

James Keyes, Claude Feaster, Carl Feaster, Floyd F. (“Buddy”) McRae, and James Edwards shared credit for writing the early Doo-Wop classic “Sh-Boom.” Collectively, they were members of the Bronx-based R&B vocal group The Chords, who had their only hit with the song in 1954.

“Sh-Boom” appeared on Billboard’s R&B and Pop charts (reaching the #2 and #5 spots, respectively), a rare crossover phenomenon in that era.  That same year, “Sh-Boom,” in a paler pop arrangement, was a #1 hit for The Crew-Cuts, a Canadian quartet, backed by Dave Carroll’s Orchestra.

Some people consider “Sh-Boom” to be one of the first “Rock and Roll” songs (although references to “rocking” can be found as early as 1947). I simply think of “Sh-Boom” as one of my favorite songs. Lately, I have been wondering how well “Sh-Boom” has been holding up to the test of time.

My survey begins on the Left Coast in Los Angeles with Street Corner Renaissance, a five-man a cappella group, all of whom quit their day jobs to pursue their musical muses. Their debut album, appropriately enough titled Life Could Be a Dream, came out in 2011. When last heard from, SCR was playing to big crowds in Dubai. These cats made a smooth cover which I thoroughly enjoyed.

The trajectory of my NCAA tournament picks year over year is pretty much the same, and this explains why I haven’t put up a stake for a pool in the past 15 years. I am a purist, and I play the Full Bracket (none of this Bayesian round-by-round fluff). Beginning with the greatest of expectations, my picks, more right than wrong at the start, soon regress to chance or worse. The hardest part is that I can see the train wreck coming and I am powerless to do anything about it.

Only halfway through the First Round, the proverbial writing is on the wall. Because the points accrued are weighted, and subsequent rounds are worth more points, my mistakes in the early going have grim repercussions down the road. Georgia State’s upset of Baylor will sting as far as the Sweet Sixteen and UCLA’s upset of Iowa State will haunt my bracket all the way into the Elite Eight.

I begin the tournament every year believing that this is the year the astronomical odds Gods will shine on my humble bracket and that outrageous fortunes will follow from my auspicious acumen for picking winners and losers. It has been suggested, however, that for mere mortals brackets are made to be busted so that we may commiserate with one another. The empirical evidence is that misery loves miserable company.

The heartbreak of defeat can be redoubled when my alma mater is involved. I know I should not choose them to keep winning until they reach the  Final Four. Yet, I am helpless when it comes to betting against them, dear old Virginia.

Hark! I hear that train a comin’!