'Convention time is not a time for logic; it is a form of musical madness, with no one getting much sleep. Barbershoppers go on a harmony binge; they soak it up as though it were going out of style, rushing around lobbies to hear this quartet or that, stopping on sidewalks and street corners to listen to swipe or tag; they are like demented bees, charging from flower to flower, simply overcome by it all, and a bit afraid that there won't be any more.'
Just about a year ago in Kansas City's midsummer heat 7,000 four-part harmony fanatics put on their fancy clothes and raised the temperature even higher with their non-stop melodies.
This is a look at the hosts in general and four men in particular. Narrator HUMPHREY LYTTELTON
Written and directed by PHILIP LEWIS