Pittsburghers

The Pittsburghers is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1948 International Quartet Champion. First organized in 1938 as the “Allen Club Four” with Harry “Chum” Conte on tenor, Tom Palamone on lead, Anthony “Zebo” DiPerro on baritone, and Turp Marcanello on bass. In 1946, they joined the Pittsburgh barbershop chapter and met their future coach Maurice “Molly” Regan who began coaching. They placed 6th in the 1946 SPEBSQSA International contest. Following that contest, Zebo was replaced by John “Jiggs” Ward as baritone. Turp moved to New Jersey not long after that and was replaced by Bill Conway as bass. In 1948, they changed their name to the Pittsburghers and won the international championship in Oklahoma City. The quartet continued to sing regularly but soon personnel changes would hit them again. In 1953, Harry Conte left the group so he could return to teaching. Tom Palamone switched to tenor and Tom O’Malley joined as lead. In 1956, Bill Conway left the quartet due to complications of throat cancer and was replaced by Herman “Dutch” Miller as bass, he would also become the quartet’s main arranger. In 1963, Dutch left and was replaced by Nick Kason. The name Pittsburghers was retired in 1965 when Jiggs had to drop out and the group changed their name to the Pittsburgh Four. Jack Elder of the Town & Country Four joined them as baritone and Dutch Miller returned to the bass slot. They remained active until January of 1983 when Tom O’Malley passed away. The championship version of the Pittsburghers reunited for the 1982 SPEBSQSA International convention in their hometown of Pittsburgh. Harry Conte died in 1985, Jiggs Ward died in 1988, Bill Conway died in 1993, and Tom Palamone died in 2011. Palamone sang with Joker’s Wild on the 1998 AIC show celebrating the Pittsburghers 50th anniversary as the sole surviving member.