The one change Tony Butala, original founding member of The Lettermen, would have made in the 40-year career of one of the most popular vocal groups in history is a surprising one.

"We chose the wrong name!" he exclaims. "If you want to get noticed today, you dye your hair purple and pierce your tongue.

"In the late '50's, there were groups called the Four Freshmen, the Four Preps - so we called ourselves The Lettermen and wore letter sweaters. By the time it was cornball, we were a success and our record company didn't want to try to market a new name.

"But we did pack away the sweaters. Fortunately, our fans have gotten past our name."

The name, The Lettermen, first appeared in 1958 on the marquee of the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, where Butala, Mike Barnett and Talmadge Russell played the part of the Rhythm Boys in the revue, "Newcomers of 1928," which starred Paul Whiteman, silent film comic Buster Keaton, singers Rudy Vallee and Harry Richmond, film star Fifi D'Orsay and the sneezing comedian Billy Gilbert.

Butala played the part of Bing Crosby in the male trio that toured with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra.

"My vision for The Lettermen," says Butala, "was of three very strong soloists who also had the discipline for group singing. The sound I was looking for was something between big band - I sounded like Mel Torme, The Velvet Fog, so I called myself The Velvet Smog - and the rock of groups like The Flamingos and The Platters."

Butala's breathy vocals were the lead on all of The Lettermen hits except "Theme From 'A Summer Place.'"

He began singing at age eight in Pittsburgh, and within a few years, moved to California to become a member of the famed Mitchell Boys Choir. With that group, he appeared in films such as White Christmas, Peter Pan, and War of the Worlds.

In 1954, while still in high school, Butala formed The Fourmost, a vocal group of three Mitchell Boys Choir friends and a female classmate, Concetta Ingolia. A few years later, she exited to be cast in a new TV series, "Hawaiian Eye," and took a new name, Connie Stevens.

In 1960, The Lettermen - now Butala, Jim Pike (whose falsetto pre-dated Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons) and Bob Engemann - were signed to Warner Brothers and released their first singles: "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" b/w "When" and "The Magic Sound" b/w "Two Hearts."

They then convinced Capitol Records' executive Nick Venet (who produced the Beach Boys) to sign them to his label.

For their Capitol debut in summer 1961, they decided to put a ballad on the B-side of "That's My Desire," their doo-wop single, "figuring DJs would have to play the A-side because the B-side was so slow."

That B-side was "The Way You Look Tonight." Soft, melodic and romantic, the tune was a departure from the rock 'n' roll of the day and listener requests made it a must for DJ playlists nationwide; the song shot to No. 13 on the Billboard chart. The group's second single that year did even better, "When I Fall In Love," hit No. 7.

The next year, "Come Back Silly Girl" reached No.17 and The Lettermen's debut album, A Song for Young Love, hit the Top 10, their first of 10 Top 40 Albums.

In almost every poll, The Lettermen were named Best New Group or Best Vocal Group as two more albums followed in 1962 - Once Upon A Time and Jim, Tony and Bob, the latter an effort to segue away from The Lettermen name.

Their fourth album was supposed to make the break complete but Capitol advised against it - and The Lettermen remained.

The '60's and early '70's saw The Lettermen score 20 charting hit singles, including "Theme From 'A Summer Place'" (No. 16, 1965, from the Sandra Dee/Troy Donahue film), "Goin' Out of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You" (No. 7, 1968, the first hit record ever to completely integrate two songs as one) and "Hurt So Bad (No. 12, 1969).

Their signature sound made romantic favorites of songs such as "Smile," "Put Your Head On My Shoulder," "Shangri-La," "Love" and on and on.

Among their 32 consecutive albums whch charted in the Top 100, four were certified gold: The Lettermen!!!...And "Live" (1967), Goin' Out of My Head (1968). Best of The Lettermen (1969) and Hurt So Bad (1970).

The Lettermen toured with George Burns, Jack Benny and Bob Hope; performed on bills with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra. Bill Cosby, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Sam Cooke, and Sammy Davis, Jr.; appeared several times on television's "The Ed Sullivan Show," and were regulars on "The Red Skelton Show."

Butala estimates the group made some 200 appearances on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" series. Performances on talk shows with Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, and Dinah Shore, among others, particularly in the late '70's, cultivated a new crop of fans.

The Lettermen have also enjoyed international appeal, touring Japan, the Philippines, China, Thailand, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, France, South America, Canada and even Saudi Arabia.

Their All-American, clean-cut, no-drugs image was a drawback in the rock era but The Lettermen stood by it. Says Butala, "I never thought people who did drugs were hip."

Even as the British Invasion dimmed record sales, television and concert appearances sustained The Lettermen. The group has been that rarity that can perform from college campues to the Waldorf Astoria to the New York State Fair to Las Vegas.

"Our one rule," says Butala, "is to never have the audience dress better than us." They don jeans for colleges, tuxedoes for hotels and glitzier garb for showrooms.

The Lettermen have also appeared in most of the major sports arenas in the U.S. with their touching a cappella rendition of the National Anthem. People Magazine honored their version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by voting the group "one of the best 'anthem-singing' groups in baseball."

They have continued to record, too, forming their own Alpha Omega Records in 1979. Their newest album, their 70th, is The Lettermen At The Movies, released in January 2000. Other labels, including Capitol, also continue to have success with periodic "best of" collections.

Over its 40 years, the trio has gone through personnel changes. Engemann left in 1966, replaced by Jim Pike's younger brother, Gary. The following year, Jim's even younger brother, Donnie, took over for Jim.

Since then, Mark Preston, Ernie Pontiere, Bobby Poynton, Don Campeau, Chad Nichols, Doug Curran, Paul Walters, David Saber and Harry Clewley have been part of The Lettermen.

Donovan Tea joined in1984 and his tenure has been the second longest other than Butala's/

Tea was born in Houston, Texas, and started singing professionally at 17 when he won an international vocal competition in Guilford, England. After touring Europe, he returned home to sing at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Master Chorale and then became a lead singer for The Young Americans, opening for the likes of Sammy Davis, Jr., Rich Little and Tony Bennett, and performing for President Gerald Ford in Washington, D.C.

While with The Young Americans, he guest-starred on NBC's holiday special "Merry Christmas, Fred, From The Crosbys," performing a tap dance with Fred Astaire and singing backup for Bing Crosby on "White Christmas."

At 22, Tea went solo, performing in nightclubs before he was featured in two main room extravaganzas at The Dunes and Stardust hotels in Las Vegas, where he first crossed paths with The Lettermen."

The most recent member is Darren Dowler, who joined the group in 1995 and added to the group a renowned ability to impersonate a multitude of musical celebrities from Michael Bolton to Louis Armstrong.

Dowler started performing professionally in nightclubs and theatres right out of high school. A role in a soap opera, "As the World Turns," led to more prominent ones in the series, "The Swamp Thing," and "The Adventures of Superboy," and character parts on MTV.

He was also one of the hottest nighclub acts in the country, headlining Club R in Orlando, Florida.

Dowler's theatrical credits include "Elvis, A Musical Celebration on Broadway" as well as "Of Mice and Men," "Grease," "Oklahoma!" and "The Deadly Game." He's also starred in several productions in Reno, and his voice has been heard starring in the animated children's series, "The Reppies."

In 1998, after decades of acting as an unofficial clearing house for information about vocal groups, Butala fulfilled a long-held dream with the opening of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, in Sharon, Pennsylvania.

The non-profit organization honors vocal groups in barbershops, country and folk, R&B and blues, big band and jazz, and pop. Its second class, including The Supremes and the Four Seasons, was inducted in the fall of 1999.

Among the other members are The 5th Dimension, The Coasters, Sha Na Na, The Association, and dozens of others - including a group by the name of The Lettermen.