The Tridels are a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Doo Wop group, originally consisting of Marc Snader, Larry Chassen , and Mike Bove’.The group was formed in 1963 when the trio were 19 years of age. Their first recordings "Land of Love" and "The Image of My Love" were produced and written in 1964 by future radio and TV star Gene Arnold, under the name of Rick Roman,and recorded at San-Dee Worldwide Limited Records in Philadelphia at the 212 N 12th St. studios. The group recorded over 35 original compositions during their nine year career , and wrote and recorded for commercials and two documentary films in the 1960s.
Career
editMike Bove’ and Marc Snader began creating the group while attending their senior year at Yeadon High School in Yeadon, PA. When Bove’ and Snader went to Temple University, they added Larry Chassen from Havertown, PA. and the group began to rehearse and polish their vocal harmonies in 1963 with appearances at the University and at dances and parties throughout the the Philadelphia area. It is at one of these performances that The Tridels were approached by two young record producers from the new Philadelphia recording label, San-Dee Worldwide Limited Records. Rick Roman, who became The Tridels’ personal manager, and Alan Lee were developing a small, but unique pool of talented Philadelphia performers for the label including The Good Guys, with Artie Ross, and The Stylettes. With the release of their first single, “Land of Love” in August of 1964, The Tridels began a whirlwind touring schedule of record hops, interviews, radio shows and appearances in the Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware tri-state area. Cashbox Magazine (August 15, 1964) liked both sides of the release rating “Land of Love” with a B+ calling it “an inviting lindy with old R&R sound”, and the flipside, “Image of My Love”, a B, calling it an “uptempo ditty”.(1 As Robert Bosco stated in his December 2011article about The Tridels for Echoes of the Past magazine, “ a B+ rating for an untested new act was nothing short of sensational”. (2) Philadelphia area radio stations began playing “Land of Love” exclusively and The Tridels were appearing at Philadelphia’s AM giant, WIBG’s record hops throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania three to four times a week for popular WIBBAGE deejays, Hy Lit, Joe Niagara, Jerry Stevens, Larry Justice, and Don L. Brink. On the August 24, 1964 issue of the WIBG Top 99 Survey, The Tridels and “Land of Love” were listed as the WIBBAGE Sureshot of the Week.(3) Bosco added “superstation WIBG, the AM giant in the area, juiced the cause by having stalwart jocks …pound their rising WIBBAGE Sureshot day after night”. (4) When the record broke in the Midwest, the group joined the "Caravan of Stars" tour in the summer of 1964 and toured four states and Canada promoting the release. The Beatles explosion in 1964 dampened prospects for most American releases that year, but the Tridels continued to perform until 1965, when Larry was drafted. Helene Goldberg joined the Tridels in 1965 and they continued to entertain in clubs and events throughout the tri-state area for six more years concentrating on recording original material.
The Tridels humorously recorded a jingle for the Quickie Mop Company, the distributors of replaceable mop heads as a lark. The company loved it and Philadelphia WCAU radio and television personality Bill Hart was hired to record the commercial spot with them. The Tridels also wrote and recorded a musical commercial for the Atlantic City Race Course titled "Love in the Afternoon."
In 1970 Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Martin Spinelli asked the group to write a song for a film he was finishing on Eagleville Hospital caring for patients with alcohol and substance abuse. The song "No Man Is So Lost" was featured in the film Eagleville: You’re Not Alone. A vocal and instrumental track was created for another documentary on Philadelphia International Airport titled Portrait of An Airport.
The Tridels disbanded in 1971. Today, "Land of Love" and "Image of My Love" are featured in several compilation albums and CDs being sold on the internet by British and German companies. The song became a cult classic in northern England and in Germany and several European Doo Wop sites on the internet, like Whitedoowopcollector.com and doowop.blogg.org feature The Tridels on their site. In 2010, the original members re-united for the first time in 47 years. As a tribute to the group’s musical legacy, a double CD, Back to Life , an anthology of the Tridels’ music and memories, was released in August of 2011, the 47th anniversary of the release of "Land of Love." (5) The Tridels were featured in a six-page article in the December 2011 issue of Echoes of the Past magazine which is published in Massachusetts. The original trio are going back into the studio to record a new single written by Marc Snader titled "50 Years" for release in 2012 and a new album with that release and previously unheard compositions by The Tridels is also planned for 2012.
Discography
edit- 1964 “Land of Love”, “Image of My Love”
- 1965 “I'am Coming Back To Your Heart”, “Nancy”, “For Your Love”, "Teardrops","IFeel Fine"
- 1966 “A Kind of Beauty”, “Forbidden Fruit”, “Softly As I Leave You”
- 1967 “Thank You Friend”, “Autumn Wind”
- 1968 “Sheriff Man”, “Poor Little Girl” “Light My Fire”
- 1969 “Never Meant To Be”, “A Stranger To Me”, “Accept The Facts”, "What Is Love"
- 1970 “Time”, “The Costume Ball”, “All You Can Do Is Smile”, “No Man Is So Lost”,"This House", "Love in the Afternoon"
- 1971 “Let’s Go Dancing'”, “Let's Put it All Together”
- 2011 Back To Life, An Anthology
References
edit1. ^ Cashbox Magazine (1964). Record Review August 15, 1964 2. ^ ^ Bosco, Robert (2011). “Return to Love Land” Echoes of the Past”Issue No. 98 December 2011 3. ^ WIBG Top 99 Survey (1964) Wibbage Sureshot 4. ^ Bosco, Robert (2011). “Return to Love Land” Echoes of the Past”Issue No. 98 5. ^ Griban, Dr. Robert / Schiff, Dr. Matthew (2000) “The Complete Book of Doo Wop”; see Sonography page 474.
External links
edit- The Tridels Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Tridels/219314001439186.
- An interview with Mike Bove’ for Sounds of Philly Internet magazine in December 2009 http://phillysounds.weebly.com/
- http://phillysounds.weebly.com/
- http://doo-wop.blogg.org/themes-_tridels-354123.html
- http://whitedoowopcollector.blogspot.com/2010/11/tridelsland-of-loveimage-of-my-love.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Arnold