The 4 Renegades

The Four Renegades is the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 1965 International Champion. They first organized in 1955 as the Up-N-Atoms quartet when two college quartets that had competed in the Illinois District contest merged. The quartet consisted of Joe Sullivan on tenor, Jim Mahar on lead, Thom Hine on baritone, and Tom Felgen on bass. When Thom Hine left the group soon after, Warren “Buzz” Haeger, tenor of the 1955 bronze medalist quartet, the Four Tissimos, joined them as their new baritone. The quartet would soon search out coaching from legendary society coach, Lyle Pilcher. Lyle decided to switch the top three parts of the quartet switching Buzz to tenor, Joe to lead, and Jim to baritone. This new configuration renamed themselves “The Four Renegades”. These steps proved successful as they placed 10th in their first international contest in 1957 and won the Illinois District Championship that fall. Unfortunately, Buzz was rostered to go work for his father’s overhead crane company and had to leave the quartet. The quartet then asked Clair DeFrew, who had sung in several Illinois District quartets, to join them as their new tenor. They competed in the 1958 international contest in Columbus, Ohio placing 13th. Following that contest, Jim went to work for a law firm in Chicago and the quartet decided to take a hiatus. Fortunately, by mid 1959, Buzz left his father’s crane business and wanted to get the Renegades back together. Joe and Tom agreed but they needed a new baritone. Lyle Pilcher soon introduced them to a barbershopper from Gary, Indiana named Jim Foley. Jim joined the quartet and it was an instant click. The quartet began a climb through the international contest ladder placing 9th in 1960 in Dallas, 7th in 1961 in Philadelphia, 3rd place bronze in Kansas City, and 4th in 1963 in Toronto, Canada. They soon became a very popular show quartet as well with show packages such as their World War I set with “They were all out of step but Jim”. In late 1963, Joe Sullivan announced that he would have to leave the quartet for personal reasons. The quartet soon met a guy by the name of Ben Williams. Ben was originally from Connecticut and had done little quartet work in his 10 years as a barbershopper. When they auditioned him they asked him his vocal range in which he replied: “About 200 yards”. The quartet learned several new songs and soon had a full show schedule again. In 1964 in San Antonio, TX, the quartet was awarded with 2nd place silver medals. This was a huge accomplishment seeing as they now had a new lead and a whole new routine. It was soon after this that they released their first album in which they called, “Command Performance”. This album featured many of their popular show tunes including their now famous “Old Folks”. In 1965, the quartet began rehearsing twice a week for contest while still keeping up with a full show schedule. When the international contest in Boston came around, they were more than ready. Their contest songs included songs such as “Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone”, “This Is All I Ask”, and “Cohan Medley”. They earned the highest scores that had ever been given by the society since it had began back in 1939 placing 429 points ahead of the 2nd place quartet. Following their championship, they began traveling the country once again. They recording their second album shorty after which was a learning track album done for the Barbershop Society. They began making several special appearances including 2 appearances on the Mike Douglas Show, a television appearance with Patty Page, singing at Disneyland with the Dapper Dans, and even appearing onstage at Carnegie Hall. In 1968, they traveled on a USO tour of Vietnam with Bob Hope entertaining troops there, particularly sick or wounded troops in hospitals. In 1969, they released their 3rd and final album entitled, “Curtain Call”. This album featured many more fan favorites including their popular “Last Night Was The End Of The World” and Buzz Haeger’s famous “Lost In The Stars”. The Four Renegades officially retired in 1972 after nearly 17 years of singing together. Ben and Jim went on to form another quartet called “Saturday’s Heroes” soon after and were 2 time international finalists. Tom Felgen went on to win his second gold medal in 1981 as the bass of the Chicago News. Buzz Haeger continued to arrange music and sing in many more successful quartets. The quartet returned to the show circuit for a few years in the late 80’s with Ray Henders of the Chicago News on tenor and Buzz switching to bass. The championship foursome reunited for the final time in 1990 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their championship. The quartet was inducted to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Hall of Fame in 2016. Today, Tom Felgen is the last surviving member of the Four Renegades and resides in York, PA with his wife, Jane. He remains semi active as a tour guide of Gettysburg and sings bass in “Last Resort Quartet”. Ben Williams continued to sing for the rest of his life and later retired to Elkhorn, Wisconsin. He passed away on January 6, 1993 from a heart attack at the age of 64. Jim Foley went on to win a senior international gold medal as the baritone of “The New and Improved Industrial Strength Mini Chorus”. He lived out the rest of his days in Illinois before passing away on July 6, 2003 at the age of 82. Buzz Haeger won his seniors gold in 1994 with Jim and continued to arrange music for several quartets over the years. He was inducted to the Barbershop Harmony Society Hall of Fame in 2006. Buzz passed away on November 3, 2007 at the age of 82. The Four Renegades were ahead of their time and were pioneers in the barbershop world. They set high standards that few quartets could follow and are still seen today as one of the best barbershop quartets ever.