Richard Anthony Sterban (born April 24, 1943) is an American singer. He was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

. In 1973, he joined the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

quartet

The Oak Ridge Boys The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The group was founded in the 1940s as the Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was change ...

, in which he sings bass.

Personal life

Born in

, Sterban grew up in

Collingswood, New Jersey Collingswood is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, located east of Center City Philadelphia. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 13,926,Collingswood High School Collingswood High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Collingswood in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of Colling ...

, Sterban attended Trenton State College (now

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

Career

Prior to joining The Oak Ridge Boys, Sterban toured with

J. D. Sumner John Daniel Sumner (November 19, 1924 – November 16, 1998) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, and music promoter noted for his bass voice, and his innovation in the Christian and Gospel music fields. Sumner sang in five quartets and wa ...

and the Stamps Quartet, who were singing backup for

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

at that time. Sterban ultimately became best known for his "oom-pa-pa-oom-pa-pa-mow-mow" bass solo in the Oak Ridge Boys' 1981 single "

Elvira Elvira is a female given name. First recorded in medieval Spain, it is likely of Germanic (Gothic) origin. Elvira may refer to: People Nobility * Elvira Menéndez (died 921), daughter of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and wife of Ordoño II of Leó ...

" and sang lead vocals on a select few of the group's songs, including a cover of The Righteous Brothers' hit " Dream On", which was a top-ten hit. Sterban has recorded

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

s for

NOAA Weather Radio NOAA Weather Radio NWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is an automated 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States (U.S.) that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Servi ...

. He served as the voice of ''

The Roadhouse ''The Roadhouse'' was a Classic Country radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 62, XM Satellite Radio channel 10 and DISH Network channel 6062. As of February 9, 2010, Direct TV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American mult ...

'', the

classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

. Sterban was a minority owner of the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

minor league baseball team from 1978 to 2008, along with entrepreneur

Larry Schmittou Larry Schmittou (born July 19, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and former baseball executive and coach. He owns S&S Family Entertainment LLC, which operates a chain of bowling centers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. From 1968 to 1978 ...

and other country music stars, such as

Conway Twitty Harold Lloyd Jenkins (September 1, 1933 – June 5, 1993), better known by his stage name Conway Twitty, was an American singer and songwriter. Initially a part of the 1950s rockabilly scene, Twitty was best known as a country music performer. ...

Larry Gatlin Larry Wayne Gatlin (born May 2, 1948) is an American country and Southern gospel singer and songwriter. As part of a trio with his younger brothers Steve and Rudy, he achieved considerable success within the country music genre, performing on 3 ...

, and

Cal Smith Calvin Grant Shofner (April 7, 1932 – October 10, 2013), known professionally as Cal Smith, was an American country musician, most famous for his 1974 hits " Country Bumpkin" and " It's Time to Pay the Fiddler". Career Calvin Grant Shofner wa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterban, Richard 1943 births American basses American country singer-songwriters Collingswood High School alumni Living people Musicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Collingswood, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey The College of New Jersey alumni The Oak Ridge Boys members Country musicians from New Jersey American male singer-songwriters