Larry Chance and the Earls
Encyclopedia
Larry Chance and the Earls were a popular
recording group
from the 1960s formed in The Bronx
, New York
. In 1962, their single
"Remember Then" was a hit
, and "Life Is But a Dream," "Never" and "I Believe
" also charted
. As the oldies revival scene started a strong run in the early 1970s and 1980s, the Earls became one of the most requested groups in the doo-wop
genre. They are still actively performing and remain on the oldies circuit.
Other recordings
included "Looking For My Baby" and "Kissing." Album
s included Remember Me Baby,
The Earls: Today, The Earls - Live, Earl Change, and Streets of the Bronx.
Larry Chance was the driving force behind the group's formation and success. Larry grew up in Philadelphia and attended high school with Chubby Checker
, Frankie Avalon
, and Danny Rapp
of Danny and the Juniors. But it was not until 1957 that he moved with his parents to the Bronx after high school, that his musical career took off.
Chance formed a group at the Tecumsa Social Club, known as the Hi-Hatters. The group was Chance, Bob Del Din, Eddie Harder, Larry Palombo and John Wray. In the fall of 1959 they were singing in front of a subway station when Johnny Powers, who had a fledging record label
, Rome Records, heard them. Powers took them into the recording studio
. They paid to record four tracks as the Hi-Hatters.
About this same time, Chance picked the name the Earls at random out of a dictionary. Later, in 1959, the Earls lost their original member Larry Palombo in an army
skydiving accident when his parachute failed to open during an exercise. In 1961, Rome released the Earls' first record
– "Life is But a Dream" (Rome 101 – 1961) b/w "Lost Love" (and later released with "Whoever You Are" as the B-side
). The group then performed with Murray the K
and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand
show. They released another record that year, "Looking For My Baby" (Rome 102) b/w "Cross My Heart".
In 1962, the group hooked up with Stan Vincent and recorded "Remember Then" for Old Town Records (Old Town 1130) b/w "Let's Waddle". It was a hit
, peaking at #24 on the US
Billboard
Hot 100
chart
in 1963. Chance co-wrote the group's next single
"Never" b/w "I Keep A-Tellin You" (Old Town 1133–1963). The group scored another hit in 1963 on Old Town with "Eyes" b/w "Look My Way" (Old Town 1141). Later, a demo
"I Believe
" was released (Old Town 1149–1963) b/w "Don’t Forget".
Chance later had a brief solo career, recording "Let Them Talk". He returned to the Earls who, at that time, had two new members – Bob Moricco and Ronnie Calabrese. The group started playing their own instruments
and, in 1967, recorded "If I Could Do It Over" b/w "Papa" (Mr. G 801 – 1967), and a track for ABC Records
, "Its Been a Long Time Coming" b/w "In My Lonely Room" (ABC 11109–1967).
The group continued performing into the 1970s and, in 1977, they released a dance
version of The Velvets
' "Tonight (Could Be the Night)
." By 1983, the group's personnel were Chance, Ronnie Calabrese, Colon Rello, Bobby Tribuzio and Tony Obert, and they recorded Larry Chance and the Earls – Today.
Former member Art Loria died October 23, 2010. He performed and recorded with the group for 8 years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was the writer of the groups tribute to Elvis song, "He's Alive. The song is also on LARRY CHANCE SINGS COUNTRY, a new album by Chance
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
recording group
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from the 1960s formed in The Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1962, their single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Remember Then" was a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, and "Life Is But a Dream," "Never" and "I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...
" also charted
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
. As the oldies revival scene started a strong run in the early 1970s and 1980s, the Earls became one of the most requested groups in the doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
genre. They are still actively performing and remain on the oldies circuit.
Other recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
included "Looking For My Baby" and "Kissing." Album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s included Remember Me Baby,
The Earls: Today, The Earls - Live, Earl Change, and Streets of the Bronx.
Biography
The Earls are one of the New York City doo-wop success stories. Discovered singing on the street corner in front of subway station, the Earls took the original black doo-wop street corner harmony sound, and refined and expanded it for new audiences.Larry Chance was the driving force behind the group's formation and success. Larry grew up in Philadelphia and attended high school with Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon
Frankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
, and Danny Rapp
Danny Rapp
Daniel Joseph "Danny" Rapp was an American musician and the frontman for the group Danny & the Juniors. The group is best known for their 1957 hit "At the Hop".He was born in Philadelphia, Pa , the youngest of seven siblings...
of Danny and the Juniors. But it was not until 1957 that he moved with his parents to the Bronx after high school, that his musical career took off.
Chance formed a group at the Tecumsa Social Club, known as the Hi-Hatters. The group was Chance, Bob Del Din, Eddie Harder, Larry Palombo and John Wray. In the fall of 1959 they were singing in front of a subway station when Johnny Powers, who had a fledging record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, Rome Records, heard them. Powers took them into the recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
. They paid to record four tracks as the Hi-Hatters.
About this same time, Chance picked the name the Earls at random out of a dictionary. Later, in 1959, the Earls lost their original member Larry Palombo in an army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
skydiving accident when his parachute failed to open during an exercise. In 1961, Rome released the Earls' first record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
– "Life is But a Dream" (Rome 101 – 1961) b/w "Lost Love" (and later released with "Whoever You Are" as the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
). The group then performed with Murray the K
Murray the K
Murray Kaufman , professionally known as Murray the K, was an influential rock and roll impresario and disc jockey of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s...
and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
show. They released another record that year, "Looking For My Baby" (Rome 102) b/w "Cross My Heart".
In 1962, the group hooked up with Stan Vincent and recorded "Remember Then" for Old Town Records (Old Town 1130) b/w "Let's Waddle". It was a hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, peaking at #24 on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1963. Chance co-wrote the group's next single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Never" b/w "I Keep A-Tellin You" (Old Town 1133–1963). The group scored another hit in 1963 on Old Town with "Eyes" b/w "Look My Way" (Old Town 1141). Later, a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
"I Believe
I Believe (1953 song)
"I Believe" is the name of a popular song written by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl and Al Stillman in 1953.I Believe was commissioned and introduced by Jane Froman on her television show, and became the first hit song ever introduced on TV...
" was released (Old Town 1149–1963) b/w "Don’t Forget".
Chance later had a brief solo career, recording "Let Them Talk". He returned to the Earls who, at that time, had two new members – Bob Moricco and Ronnie Calabrese. The group started playing their own instruments
Musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...
and, in 1967, recorded "If I Could Do It Over" b/w "Papa" (Mr. G 801 – 1967), and a track for ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
, "Its Been a Long Time Coming" b/w "In My Lonely Room" (ABC 11109–1967).
The group continued performing into the 1970s and, in 1977, they released a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
version of The Velvets
The Velvets
The Velvets were an American doo wop group from Odessa in Ector County in west Texas. The African American quintet was formed in 1959 by Virgil Johnson, a high school English teacher, with four of his students. Roy Orbison heard the group and signed them to Monument Records in 1960. Their first...
' "Tonight (Could Be the Night)
Tonight (Could Be the Night)
"Tonight " is a 1961 rock and roll song by the quintet called The Velvets. Virgil Johnson, now a deejay at Radio KDAV in Lubbock, Texas, is the lead tenor singer, with backup from Mark Prince , Clarence Rigsby , Robert Thursby , and William Solomon...
." By 1983, the group's personnel were Chance, Ronnie Calabrese, Colon Rello, Bobby Tribuzio and Tony Obert, and they recorded Larry Chance and the Earls – Today.
Former member Art Loria died October 23, 2010. He performed and recorded with the group for 8 years in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was the writer of the groups tribute to Elvis song, "He's Alive. The song is also on LARRY CHANCE SINGS COUNTRY, a new album by Chance