1970s The history of the Trammps grew from the 1960s group the Volcanos, who later became the Moods. Members of the Philadelphia recording band
MFSB played with the group on records and on tour in the 1970s with singer Robert Upchurch joining later. The group was produced by the Philadelphia team of Ronnie Baker, Norman Harris and Young, all MFSB mainstays who played on the recording sessions and contributed songs. Their debut
chart entry came via an upbeat
cover version of the standard "
Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", Their first few recordings were released on
Buddah Records, including "Hold Back the Night", Other major hits included "Hold Back the Night" (1975) (
UK No. 5) and "That's Where the Happy People Go" (1976). In late 1977, the Trammps released the song "The Night the Lights Went Out" to commemorate the electrical
blackout that affected New York City on
July 13–14, 1977. Their signature song "Disco Inferno" has been
covered by
Tina Turner and
Cyndi Lauper. In addition,
Graham Parker covered "Hold Back the Night" on "The Pink Parker EP" in 1977, and reached No. 24 in the
UK Singles Chart, and top 60 in the US. In 2021, "Disco Inferno" was certified Silver by the
British Phonographic Industry, together with "Can We Come Together" (from the album
Where the Happy People Go).
Dissolution and aftermath On September 19, 2005, the group's "Disco Inferno" was inducted into the
Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York City. The song was part-written by Ron Kersey, a producer-arranger and a member of MFSB, who also played with the Trammps in the 1970s for a time. During the ceremony, the original band members performed together for the first time in 25 years. Disco Inferno has also had a resurgence and has garnered new fans with the
2016 presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders in the US due to the song's refrain of
burn, baby, burn (slightly altered to "Bern, baby, Bern"). By 2007, two versions of the group, with differing line-ups, toured the nostalgia circuit. On March 8, 2012, lead singer Jimmy Ellis died at a nursing home in
Rock Hill, South Carolina (where he was born on November 15, 1937), at the age of 74. The cause of death was not immediately known but he suffered from
Alzheimer's disease. On June 30, 2019, the Trammps appeared on HBO's
Big Little Lies, Season 2, episode 4 entitled "She Knows". Stan Wade died in January 2021. ==Band members==