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Medley Midi
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This Philadelphia-based group was formed by Earl Young and Jimmy Ellis, 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.
SUGGESTED DISCOGRAPHY
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Disco
Inferno by The Trampps 1977- The long version is available on LP
Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (Rhino Records 1977). This well know track is on most 70'
compilations : Disco Inferno, The Spirit of '76 Original Soundtrack (Rhino, 1991)
