It all began in 1951...

The Brown Jabberwocks, an all-male a cappella group, were rehearsing for an upcoming talent show at the University. Quite intent on winning first place, they embarked on a crazy rehearsal schedule day in and day out. Well, each of the Jabberwocks had a girlfriend, and as you can probably imagine, these lovely ladies were quite annoyed that their boyfriends were more concerned with rehearsing than spending time with them. The girlfriends commiserated with each other, and decided to take matters into their own hands... (more)

They formed their own a cappella group called The Chattertocks (a spoof on "The Jabberwocks," of course), rehearsed their own song for the talent show, and ended up winning FIRST PLACE!!! Over the years, the group has continued to grow and evolve with the changing times. The Chattertocks started recording early on with a number of vinyl albums, some of which included guitar and percussion back-up, both common for a cappella groups at the time. And at one point, the Chattertocks even sported a whole back-up band complete with male members! As Anna Fromer Seidman '79 recalls, "The band kept the group alive during a time when a cappella was dying. People were not attending our concerts. The band and the music we could perform gave us new life, brought crowds to our concerts at The Gate and other local sites. We still performed many of our a cappella numbers, but showed our versatility in being able to broaden our repertoire."

As the years passed, a cappella became more popular on campus and the Tocks were soon able to get the crowd going with the power of their voices alone. In the 58 years that the Chattertocks have been in existence, over two hundred fabulous women have lent their voices to the Chattertocks and helped to make us who we are — you can see a list of all of our alumni here. Although our members have come and gone and our repertoire has expanded to incorporate all sorts of songs, we continue to perform crowd-pleasers that appeal to audience members young and old. No matter what song we perform, the Tocks' musicality, spirit, and love of singing will shine through. Each song is guaranteed to knock your socks off!

But we're still going strong today!

The Chattertocks are currently one of the most recognized female a cappella groups in the country. They have recorded several CDs in the last couple of years and have competed successfully in the National Championship of College A Cappella since the competition's inception in 1996. In fact, in 1998 the Chattertocks made it to the NCCA finals, which were held in New York's famous Carnegie Hall! In more recent years, the Chattertocks have maintained their rich tradition of excellence, taking home "Best Album" and "Best Song" in the 2004 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards, and have gone on tour all across the eastern seaboard, from Kentucky to Hanover, NH. (more)

You don't need to find us on tour to see what we're all about, though. This website has a list of our current repertoire of songs and you can even hear a few of our songs right here on this computer from our media page. If you'd like to contact us for more information or for booking a performance with us, you can do so using our contact page. But most importantly, sign our guestbook to let us know what you think and check out the calendar above to see when our next performance is — we hope to see you there!!