Effective period / Period of releases: 1962 - 1999

Members: Gene Cokeroft, Drayton Justus, Bob Franklin (2), Bill Cain (3), Harlan Wilson, Glenn Sudduth, Todd Wilson (10), Bill Wyatt (3), Danny Whipple (2)

The Suntones is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1961 International Champion.

First formed in 1957 in Miami, FL, the quartet originally consisted of Gene Cokeroft on tenor, Clark Bell on lead, Bill Wyatt on baritone, and Danny Whipple on bass. Bill Wyatt wrote several arrangements for them and they became known for cutting tight chords. In 1958, Danny was drafted and Glenn Sudduth replaced him as bass. Not long after that, Glenn realized he didn’t have the time to sing with the quartet and they temporarily broke up.

In late 1958, Bob Franklin replaced Clark and they began looking for a new bass. One evening, a young man fresh out of the Navy named Bill Cain walked in to a Miami chapter meeting and began singing with them. They liked the sound so much that they rehearsed nine nights in a row and entered the Dixie District Contest. They were the surprise of the weekend placing 2nd. They went on to place 24th in the 1959 International contest. That same year they won the newly formed Sunshine District. It was at that contest they met a young baritone from West Palm Beach named Harlan Wilson.

In the spring of 1960, Bill Wyatt had to leave the Suntones due to personal reasons and the Suntones asked Harlan to be their new baritone. They soon qualified for the 1960 international competition to be held in Dallas, Texas and jumped from 24th up to 8th.

In 1961, the international contest was to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Suntones went ready to win. In the quarterfinals they sang “A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet” and “You’re Nobody’s Sweetheart Now”. In the semifinals they sang “Oh How I Miss You Tonight” and “Mother Machree”. In the finals on Saturday night, they were picked to sing last. They opened with “Mighty Lak A Rose” and received a standing ovation. They closed the contest with a song that would become their trademark, “Bye Bye Blues”. They won the contest by a 343 point margin.

After their victory, the Suntones began traveling all over the country singing on several chapters and shows. They released their first album in 1962 entitled, “A Touch Of Gold.” This would be the first of ten albums that they would go on to release. The others were “Afterglow” (1966), “Watch What Happens” (1967), “Somewhere” (1971), “A Touch Of Old” (1972), “Keep America Singing” (1972), “Fiddler” (1973), “As Time Goes By” (1976), “Where Is Love?” (1978), and “My Fair Lady” (1982). They also released a compilation CD in 1992, a complete works series in 1999, and a live CD in 2003.

As the Suntones travelled, they realized that their sound was crucial to their performance, so they began hauling around their own sound equipment to bookings and began using hand-held microphones to help feature their individual voices.

Gene Cokeroft began arranging the majority of the Suntones songs such as “Watch What Happens”, “Finian’s Rainbow Medley”, “Where Is Love”, and many more. Possibly their most popular chart was Gene’s “Danny Boy.”

Walter Latzko arranged their “Monster Medley’s” such as “West Side Story”, “Fiddler On The Roof”, and “Sound Of Music.” These monster medleys were almost ten minutes long each and were show favorites by fans.

The group became semi-regulars on the Jackie Gleason Show in 1966 and sang on the show for 4 1/2 years as vocal backups. They also made an appearance on the Mike Douglas Show with Jackie Gleason and performed for countless other celebrities including President Gerald Ford. They also made appearances at other special events such as the Orange Bowl Parade.

In 1979, Bob Franklin left the group due to some vocal problems and was replaced by Drayton Justus of the Gentlemen’s Agreement. Drayton brought the Suntones a new lead sound and some new repertoire over from the Gentlemen’s Agreement. The Suntones retired in January of 1985 after 28 years of singing together.

The Suntones had several reunion performances such as their 30th anniversary performances in 1991. Bob Franklin returned to the lead spot that year to celebrate the occasion. Drayton sang his final show with the Suntones in 1993 and Bob Franklin took the lead spot back over from there.

Bill Cain fell ill with cancer in 1999 and Harlan’s son, Todd Wilson, replaced him as bass. The Suntones made their final appearance with Bill Cain on October 18, 2003 in Fairfax, VA for the Fairfax chapter’s 50th anniversary. That same show featured the Sons Of The Tones which was made up of the sons of the Suntones. Bill passed away on July 31, 2004 at the age of 71.

The Suntones sang together in 2011 in Kansas City, MO to celebrate their 50th anniversary as international champions. They sang their final scheduled performance together on May 19, 2012 in Cleveland, TN. However, they still continued to have private annual reunions with each other up until the passing of Gene Cokeroft on July 23, 2015 at the age of 79.

The Suntones sang together for the final time in February of 2017 during a special tribute to Gene Cokeroft with Gene’s son, Bruce, filling in on tenor.

Today, Bob Franklin is retired at age 90 and still lives in Florida. Harlan Wilson went on to start a vocal group with his son in 2008 called the Nashville Singers. He has since retired from active singing and is now back in Florida at age 93. Todd Wilson is still active with the Nashville Singers to this day and still resides in Nashville. Clark Bell is retired and living in Colorado. Danny Whipple is also retired and still lives in Florida. Glenn Suddith passed away on December 22, 1997 at age 74 and Bill Wyatt passed away on December 17, 2018 at age 93. Drayton Justus went on to become the Society’s international president in 2006. He remained active in the society until his health began to fail. Drayton passed away on November 11, 2021 at the age of 89 after a long battle with cancer.

The Suntones inspired thousands of singers throughout their 55 year career and still continue to this very day. Their music is still available for listening on streaming services everywhere. During their long career they sang nearly 2,000 shows and traveled nearly 2,000,000 miles.