Musicians - Homer's Barbershop Quartet

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	Musicians - Homer's Barbershop Quartet

"" is the first episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It features the Be Sharps, a fictional barbershop quartet.

Synopsis

It's the day of the Springfield Swap Meet. Bart and Lisa notice an album cover showing Homer. They ask Homer when he recorded an album. Homer answers that he recorded an album in 1985. He mentions that every afternoon at Moe's, Chief Wiggum, Principal Skinner, Apu, and he would get together and sing.

The crowd liked the singing. Homer says that his group was a barbershop quartet, which was popular everywhere, even at church. The group initially started in Springfield, but quickly found national fame. Their career paralleled the Beatles in many ways. This development came after an agent, Nigel, approached them and said everyone in the group could sing, except Chief Wiggum, who was too "Village People." The group got people to audition, with Grampa (who does a swing version of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"), Groundskeeper Willie, Jasper, and Chief Wiggum (disguised as Doctor Dolittle) all making unsuccessful attempts. When the barbershop trio returned to Moe's, they heard Barney's singing in a beautiful Irish voice, and are amazed. However, after Barney is chosen as the new member, people still liked Chief Wiggum. Eventually, the audience warmed up to Barney. It is obvious that this event is a parallel to Pete Best being replaced as the drummer for the Beatles by Ringo Starr.

The group considered various names, finally calling themselves "The Be Sharps." They had decided their name should be witty initially, but should become less funny each time you heard it.

Back in modern times, leaving the swap meet, Homer says he sold a spare tire, but unfortunately, a tire on the car blows out, and Marge has to take a long walk to a gas station. Homer tells the rest of the story: he looked at ideas for a new song, and they fail, until Marge got a "Baby on Board" sign, and Homer wrote his "Baby on Board" song inspired by the fad; the group sung it in studio and put it on their first album, With the Be Sharps, a parody of The Beatles album "With the Beatles". The song became a number one hit. The group arrived in America in 1986 to perform at the centennial of the Statue of Liberty (parodying the Beatles´ presentation in 1964 at the Ed Sullivan Show). The Be Sharps also won a Grammy for "Outstanding Soul, Spoken Word, or Barbershop Album of the Year", and Homer met George Harrison. Meanwhile, Wiggum's singing career (now dead) was being mocked by numerous talk show hosts.

Homer explains that the Be Sharps were on merchandise items - such as lunch boxes, mugs, posters, etc. When Lisa pulls out a bottle of Be Sharps Funny Foam, Homer says that it was pulled off the market when it was discovered to be poisonous. He goes on to voice his disapproval of that by remarking that, "...if you ask me, if you're dumb enough to eat it you deserve to die." He turns and finds Bart spraying the bottle into his mouth.

The name of their second album was Bigger than Jesus, (the album cover parodied Beatles' Abbey Road). Unfortunately, while the Be Sharps were becoming popular, Marge had problems raising the children, and the Be Sharps also had their own problems. They had creative disputes, and Barney left the group. Barney's girlfriend was a Japanese conceptual artist similar to Yoko Ono (the two recorded a "Revolution 9"-like piece, with the Yoko-esque character reciting "Number 8" over and over atop tape loops of Barney's belches). The group lost its popularity and split up, with Principal Skinner returning to Springfield Elementary School, and Homer returned to his job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant after a chicken named Queenie took his place.

After Homer takes another look at the album, the group reunites to perform a rooftop concert at Moe's. During the concert, George Harrison pulls up in his limousine, sees them and says "It's been done," referring to the impromptu concert on the Abbey Road Studios rooftop performed by The Beatles during their Get Back recording sessions.

Trivia

This was David Crosby's second appearance on the show, and the second appearance of a Beatle on the show.
The famous Disneyland barbershop quartet, the Dapper Dans, provided the voices for the Be Sharps.
The record that Comic Book Guy had at the swap meet, "Melvin and the Squirrels" is a spoof of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Apu's new name (de Beaumarchais) is French for 'of the good market', an obscure reference to the Kwik-E-Mart.
The Take One couch gag shows OFF running into each other and shattering into pieces; this gag was reused in $pringfield and Lady Bouvier's Lover. The Take Two couch gag shows OFF running into each other again and becoming one singular blob; this gag was reused in Bart Gets Famous. The Take Three couch gag shows OFF once again colliding; this time they explode. The Take Three gag was reused in Homer the Vigilante and Secrets of a Successful Marriage. In syndication, only the Take One gag is used.
The note "B Sharp" is generally referred to as a C, which is where the humour in the name comes from.

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