Straight No Chaser – Songs of the Decade: Holiday Edition

On the heels of two successful PBS specials and sold-out tour dates all over the country, the 10-man a cappella sensation Straight No Chaser returns to public television with an all-new special, Straight No Chaser – Songs of the Decade: Holiday Edition, airing Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 8:30 p.m. on Eight, Arizona PBS.

If the phrase “male a cappella group” conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties and khakis singing traditional college songs on Ivied campuses … think again. The members of Straight No Chaser (SNC) — Randy Stine, Jerome Collins, Michael Luginbill, David Roberts, Charlie Mechling, Walter Chase, Don Nottingham, Ryan Ahlwardt, Seggie Isho and Tyler Trepp — are neither straitlaced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsch. As original member Stine comments, “We take the music very seriously; we just don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Straight No Chaser – Songs of the Decade: Holiday Edition, filmed live during the group’s sold-out engagement at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, NJ, is a follow-up to SNC’s hit program, Live in New York, which premiered on PBS to great success in 2009. The material in this new special is a journey through the decades of the pop songbook, including nods to everyone from Little Anthony and the Imperials (“Tears on My Pillow”), Elvis Presley (“Heartbreak Hotel,” Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock”), Buddy Holly (“That’ll Be the Day”), The Four Seasons (“Walk Like a Man,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry”), Stevie Wonder (“Superstition”), the BeeGees (“Stayin’ Alive”), Michael Jackson (“Billie Jean”), Madonna (“Like a Prayer,” backed by a sensational gospel choir) and Boyz II Men (“End of the Road,” which includes a surprise appearance by a very special guest) to a moving rendition of Coldplay’s “Fix You” )… all featuring SNC’s trademark harmonies and unique wit and charm. The evening is full of innovative musical mashups, clever costuming touches, sharp choreography and unexpected pleasures. For this holiday edition, the guys also add some popular Yuletide favorites, including a side-splitting arrangement of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and their trademark “The 12 Days of Christmas.”