finetune artist: The Trammps

This Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA-based disco outfit was formed by vocalists Earl Young and Jimmy Ellis. The duo had originally worked together in the mid-60s R&B outfit the Volcanos, who scored a local hit with their "Storm Warning" single on the Arctic label. The line-up of the Volcanos also featured Gene Faith (b. Gene Jones; vocals), Ron Kersey (b. Tyrone Garfield Kersey, 7 April 1949, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 25 January 2005, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; keyboards), John Hart (b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 11 April 2008, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; organ), Dennis Harris (guitar), Stanley Wade (bass/vocals) and Michael Thomas (drums). By the early 70s the group had evolved again, taking their name from a jibe that "all (they would) ever be is tramps." Initially the group, now comprising Young, Ellis, Stanley Wade, Harold Doc Wade and Robert Upchurch, won its reputation updating "standards" of which the Buddah Records release "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart" (1972) was a minor US and UK hit. They then followed a more individual direction on their own label, Golden Fleece, before scoring a major transatlantic hit with the excellent "Hold Back The Night" (1975). A distribution contract with Atlantic Records helped propel the following year's "That's Where The Happy People Go" into the US Top 30.

Listen to The Trammps at Finetune.

Disco Inferno
Hold Back The Night
Disco Inferno (Single Edit)
That's Where The Happy People Go
Love Epidemic

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