The DQ was originally formed in 1927 as a double quartet culled from the Amherst College Glee Club. These eight men would sing a few selections during the Glee Club concerts, and as the years progressed and their fame spread, they began to hold shows of their own and tour the East Coast, spreading their smooth jazz and barbershop sound as far as their voices could carry.

Throughout the thirties, forties, and fifties, the DQ enjoyed campus- and region-wide success. They recorded numerous albums and accrued great acclaim by dint of their effervescent vocal calisthenics. Soon that would change. The exact circumstances of the group's disintigration, however, have never been quite clear...

Until recent developments came to light, the original theory on the demise of the original Double Quartet was that the group had merged in the late sixties with the Zumbyes, then a young upstart of an a cappella group, due to the college's failure to attract enough singers to fill two a cappella groups. However, it has since been revealed that the group actually disbanded in the spring of '66, when its two most active members dropped out of school. The other six members were left blind and helpless; unable to fend for themselves in such a cruel and hostile world without the aid of their leaders...

That was, until, in 1985, the DQ emerged from the ashes when a new group of young upstarts formed an a cappella group and, either because of a love of the Double Quartet of old, or because of a lamentable lack of originality, adopted the DQ namesake. It was a tougher DQ, a stronger DQ, a fresher DQ. (A DQ with no arrangements, as fate would have it.) This group quickly became known all over the East Coast for its highly original, jazz-inflected arrangements and its quirky, madcap, out-of-left-field humor.

Ten years and three albums later, the DQ had re-established its place in the a cappella pantheon. Still, there was something missing, a certain je ne sais rien pas, if you will.

In the fall of 1995, on the heels of an exhilarating co-ed collaboration with the Bluestockings, the DQ collectively devised an intricate scheme that would forever change the sound of a cappella at Amherst. In February 1996, the previously all-male DQ would make way for its new, better half in order to become the only secular, coed a cappella group on campus. In light of the 20th anniversary of women at Amherst, it seemed high time that the College's a cappella scene should reflect its contemporary population. With a veritable groovucopia of new arrangements, the DQ seeks to lead the "Singing College" into a glorious new era!