It doesn't sound very cool, but D.A. Wallach and Maxwell Drummey, the Harvard alums who make up harmony-loving pop duo Chester French, owe their success to solid study habits. "We got deep into the canon of classic rock in the summer between our freshman and sophomore years," says Wallach, 22, whose ghostly pallor, goofy grin, and scarlet hair make him resemble a modern-day Archie.

Bobby Ray Simmons was an early bloomer. At an age when most kids are still mastering the finer points of tag, the man who would later be known as B.O.B. was mapping his future.