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The Trammps are an United States disco and soul music musical ensemble, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands.
The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disco track they released was "Love Epidemic" in 1973. However, they are best known for their song "Disco Inferno" which was included on the Grammy-winning Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. When originally released in 1976, "Disco Inferno" became a UK pop hit and US R&B and Dance hit topping the Dance chart for 6 weeks in early 1977. After inclusion on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, the song was re-released in 1978 and became a US pop hit peaking at number 11.
Their debut record chart entry came via an upbeat cover version of the standard "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", featuring Young's bass voice, which became a top 20 US R&B chart hit record in 1972.
Their first few recordings were released on Buddah Records, including "Hold Back the Night", which was a hit on the Billboard R&B chart in 1973, before a re-release saw it climb in the UK two years later. Several R&B hits followed during a stay with Philadelphia International subsidiary Golden Fleece (run by Baker-Harris-Young) before they signed to Atlantic Records.
Their single "Disco Inferno" (1976), which was included on the Grammy Award-winning in 1977, reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1978.
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 Power outage that affected New York City on July 13–14, 1977.
Their signature song "Disco Inferno" has been Cover version by Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper. In addition, Graham Parker cover version "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).
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.
The music journalism Ron Wynn noted: "the Trammps' prowess can't be measured by chart popularity; Ellis' booming, joyous vocals brilliantly championed the celebratory fervor and atmosphere that made disco both loved and hated among music fans."
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.
Stan & Doc Wade & Robert Upchurch Trammps (original) current touring group
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