Trammps
Earl
Young and Jimmy Ellis formed this Philadelphia-based group, two former members
of the Volcanoes, who scored a local R&B hit with their ‘Storm Warning’
single. The duo was joined by Dennis Harris (guitar), Ron Kersey (keyboards),
John Hart (organ), Stanley Wade (bass) and Michael Thompson (drums), taking
their name from a jibe that ‘all (they would) ever be is tramps.’
Initially the group won its reputation updating ‘standards’ of which ‘Zing
Went The Strings Of My Heart (1972) was a minor hit. They then followed a more
individual direction on their own label, Golden Fleece, before scoring a major
UK hit with the excellent ‘Hold Back The Night’ (1975). Two years later
the Trammps completed their tour de
Force, ‘Disco Inferno’, which featured in the film Saturday
Night Fever, and irrevocably linked their name to the dancefloor. By this
point the line-up had undergone several changes. The group’s instigators,
Young and Ellis, remained at the helm, alongside Stan and Harold Wade and
baritone Robert Upchurch. There changes could not, however, halt the Trammps’
commercial slide when the disco bubble burst and their 80s’ releases made
little impression on either the soul or pop charts.
Albums: The Legendary Zing Album (1975), Trammps (1975), where The Happy People Go (1976), Disco Inferno (1977), Trammps III (1977), The Whole World’s Dancing (1979), Mixin’ It Up (1980), Slipping Out (1981). Compilation: The Best Of The Trammps (1978).