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Back around 1990, a couple of the founding members of the coed Microtones decided that they wanted to form a men's a cappella group at Microsoft so that they could sing the charts from their college groups. The original quartet consisted John Rae-Grant, bass and musical director, Bill Pope, baritone, Bob Gunderson, 2nd tenor, and David Olsen, 1st tenor. True to their profession, the group’s chosen name, The Baudboys, referred to the method by which modem speeds were rated. The group performed only a few times in its first years of existence, doing lunch time gigs on the Microsoft campus.
As members left Microsoft over the years, they would also leave the Baudboys, prompting natural turnover in the membership. During the 1990’s, the group expanded it’s membership, aiming to have two full quartets within the group. Since that time, the group has remained at 7-9 members, but the expanded membership has allowed the group to sing more complex arrangements than the 4-part charts that the founders envisioned.
During Microsoft's anti-trust battles and the blitz of Department of Justice publicity, a national network news organization did a story on Microsoft which included an approximately 8-second clip of The Baudboys in concert, giving the group its first (and only) national exposure, and prompting the use of the “As seen on TV” logo on group publicity for several years. Despite this burgeoning national fame, The Baudboys have performed locally at Mariners, Storm, and Thunderbirds games, at Northwest Folklife, at local schools, churches, prisons, Baudboy weddings, and senior centers, and anywhere else we can find a willing audience.
The group also competed in the Northwest Regional Harmony Sweepstakes the last five years, claiming the top spot in 2008.
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