Acapella All-Stars Find Harmony in Their Music and Their Careers

“We love singing harmonies, we love performing and we love audience participation,” says Dexter Dickerson of the Acapella All-Stars. “We’ll say, ‘To show you how easy it is to sing a cappella, we’re bringing some of you up on stage.’ It ends up like a big party, and it’s usually pretty comical.”

Dickerson and fellow All-Stars Derick McGloughlin and Charles Lovett, all San Fernando Valley residents, will bring their brand of feel-good doo-wop to California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Their appearance is a departure from the school’s customary musical fare.

“Usually we might have chamber music or piano or choirs,” said Ron Kragthorpe, dean for student affairs who booked the a cappella group. “But in January it’s a different deal. A lot of people go on travel courses and some students come in from other campuses. So we have lighter entertainment.”

The All-Stars have been making a name for themselves lately, climbing the ladder from restaurant and private party appearances to nightclub bookings, including sets at the eclectic and popular King King Club in Hollywood. At times they appear with instrumental backup as part of the eight-member King Cotton and the Cool Cats. That group, along with the All-Stars, has a song in the Paul Newman movie, “Blaze,” although actors appear in the film and lip-synch the words.

The All-Stars have also been recording with Rick Vito, guitarist with Fleetwood Mac, and hope to have an album soon. They are considering a name change to the Metropolitans for their record debut.

“Rick’s produced five songs with us,” said Dickerson, who learned his doo-wop on the streets of Patterson, N.J. “They have a background that’s a touch of doo-wop harmony, but it’s a contemporary sound.”

The All-Stars are working to become more than an oldies act. However, rich renderings of ‘50s tunes are the foundation of this trio that once backed Bo Diddley. The group and their a cappella oldies are regular Sunday brunch entertainment at the Rose City Diner in Pasadena, which is where Vito discovered them. It was through Vito that the group got its manager, Norman Harris, owner of Norman’s Rare Guitars in Reseda.

“My wife knows I love ‘50s music: doo-wop and a cappella singing,” Harris said, “and Rick told her she should hire them for a surprise party she was giving me. I came into that party and they walked down a staircase singing and it blew me away. It’s a gorgeous, complex sound.”

The Acapella All-Stars; 8 p.m. Wednesday; Preus-Brandt Forum, California Lutheran University; 60 West Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks; free to students with Cal Lutheran or Moorpark College identification, others $5; for information telephone 805-493-3151.