Get ready, gumshoes. The most notorious a cappella group in the world is on the loose, and sources say it will soon be stopping near you.

Rockapella was made famous in the early 1990s by the PBS game show “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and Spike Lee’s film “Spike & Co.: Do It A Cappella,” and was one of the most influential in the genre, largely because of its constant publicity.

One way Rockapella changed the a cappella industry was through the introduction of full-time vocal percussionist Jeff Thacher.

At the time, Thacher was one of only two professional vocal percussionists in existence, and Rockapella was the first to add such a role.

“Within two or three years, everybody wanted one,” Thacher says. “Now you can’t imagine one without it. It’s become a part of contemporary a cappella.”

For those unfamiliar with the art of vocal percussion, it is a term invented a little over 10 years ago to describe the act of “being a drummer, but using your mouth,” as Thacher puts it.

Rockapella has more than proved itself in terms of longevity, having been around for 17 years. Thacher attributes Rockapella’s success to the broad audience it reaches.

“We weren’t a kids’ act when the group got Carmen Sandiego, and we aren’t now, but we appeal to broad demographics,” Thacher says. “We appeal to college kids who were kids when Carmen was on, we appeal to their moms, we appeal to their little brothers.”

Although this is a good position to be in for a long career, Thacher says it’s not good for record sales, since record labels don’t know how to market to such a wide fanbase. But despite relatively low sales, Rockapella continues to put out album after album.

The newest change in Rockapella’s lineup has been the addition of bass singer George Baldi in 2002. For Baldi, joining a respectable touring group is especially rewarding, after missing his first chance for fame years ago.

“George was in a group called Unique Attraction that went on to get a record deal and become Boyz II Men,” Thacher says. “When the time came to decide whether to go on to college or to take a chance with the group, his parents told him to college.”

Fortunately for Baldi, his time has come, and Rockapella has welcomed him.

Although Rockapella was responsible for the daily soundtrack of many a childhood, Thacher says they aren’t recognized in public because of the show.

“I don’t get recognized because I’m just a white guy,” Thacher says with a laugh. “Time has passed. Hair styles have improved.”

The group members have grown up more, each having at least one child of his own now, but for many of their fans, they’ll always be remembered for their television role.

“We definitely don’t play every song that was on the show or talk about the show all the time, but we do acknowledge it,” Thacher says. “Van Halen still plays ‘Panama.’ I’m sure Prince still does ‘Let’s Go Crazy.’ We should all be so lucky to be that famous.”

In case you’re wondering, Thacher says Rockapella does sing the theme song at its concerts.

With seven albums under their belt since “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego,” a following in Japan and two Folgers coffee commercials featuring the band on-camera, the members of Rockapella are coming ever-nearer to hearing those famous words shouted by legions of fans in Ames: “Do it, Rockapella!”

“[College students] could be listening to the hardest-edged stuff on MTV or elsewhere, and they’ll be like, ‘And I love Rockapella!,'” Thacher says. “And that blows my mind, but hey, bring it on!”

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