Who would of thought that four actor friends, getting together in the back of a Toronto delicatessen to sing in late 1978, would be the beginning of one of the most enduring and important groups in the contemporary a cappella field? The four friends were Paul Cooper, Marc Connors, Claude Morrison and Dennis Simpson. By April 1979 the group graduated form singing for fun to the beginning of their professional career, but Dennis Simpson had gotten a gig in a musical and left the group. Ralph Cole, also a veteran of musical theater, became the bass singer. The interviews of the time provide this self-description of their music as a blend, "25 per cent Rayon (Marc Connors), 25 per cent Darvon (Ralph Cole), 25 per cent Fabulon (Claude Morrison) and 25 per cent Come on."

The rest of 1979 saw the group singing in clubs with great success and rave reviews. For example they had an unheard of 17 week run at a club called Basin Street. In the fall they made their debut on television which stimulated the formality of choosing a name. Marc and Paul came up with the Nylons in memory of the synthetic groups of the past such as the Orlons and the Chiffons. The group continued with increasing success, yet Ralph Cole retired and was replaced by Arnold Robinson who had sung and arranged for the Platters. This was the winning combination. They signed a deal with Attic Records and hit the big time with their first album which went gold in Canada in just two months! Big radio play hits from that one were "Up The Ladder To The Roof" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Their second album, One Size Fits All, was distributed in the U.S. and became the foundation for their increasing fan base in this country.

In the overall history of a cappella