Larry
Chance and The Earls
Larry
Chance and The Earls represent the music that helped to define
rock ‘n roll - the original Doo-Wop era that put the street-corner
society onto the national charts. Larry Chance and The Earls can
trace their roots right back to the first era of rock n' roll.
Born in south Philadelphia, Larry attended school with the likes
of Fabian Forte, Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker. At that time,
Philadelphia was one of the most happening places in America;
for one thing, it was the home of "American Bandstand"
and it's where Chance first "sang on the corner". When
his family moved to the Gun Hill Road area of the Bronx, the teenage
Chance realized that vocal groups were to be found on almost every
street corner and he lost no time developing one of his own. Founded
in 1957, The Earls consisted of Larry and five of his friends
from Evander Childs High School. Through the years, as original
members moved on to other things, The Earls' current line-up developed
with drummer/2nd tenor Bobby "Tee" Tribuzio joining
in 1963, bassist/1st tenor Bob Coleman, keyboardist/bass vocalist,
Danny Girlando and guitarist/baritone, Chuck Mearizo.
Larry explains that
a lot of fifties' vocal music resulted from the simple fact that,
"Although times were prosperous, our parents weren't ready
to buy guitars or other instruments, so we had to make music with
our voices. The Earls, above all, did that in terms of musical
arrangements. We tried to make ourselves sound like a guitar or
horn accompaniment." Of course, by the time personnel changes
began to occur, The Earls realized that musicians who could play
instruments as well as sing would be a key to ensuring longevity
and the group evolved accordingly.
Larry recalls that The Earls were discovered by a man named Trade
Martin, who heard them singing on the corner, and handed them
his card. "We gave him a call about two weeks later, went
into a studio and did our first recording session, which included
"Life is But A Dream".
At that time, disc jockey Murray the "K", whose "Swingin'
Soiree" on WINS was one of New York's most popular radio
shows, gave The Earls their first major break. As a result of
overwhelming phone-in votes on Murray's "champ Record of
the Night" and "Boss Record of the Week" contests,
The Earls' single, "Life Is But A Dream" drowned the
competition - including and Elvis disc! "We had at least
a thousand kids in the Bronx with pockets full of dimes,"
remembers Larry fondly, thinking of how determined The Earls were
to become successful. It worked. By winning the poll, "Life
Is But A Dream" became one of the station's pick hits and
went on to be a smash. It was followed by "Remember Then",
and enough other super hits to give The Earls FIVE songs on WCBS-FM's
list of the 500 greatest records of all time!
When films like "American Graffiti" and TV shows such
as "Happy Days" started to dominate our thoughts, people
began to recall how much rock's original unpretentious era meant
to them. "Some acts have fans. We have family," says
with feeling. So, wether or not you "Remember Then",
the time to tune into Larry Chance and The Earls is right now!
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