Come on, all you Sun Citians, you remember these golden oldies – “26 Miles,” “Big Man,” “Lazy Summer Night,” “Unchained Melody,” and “Down by the Station.”
Many of you also remember the Four Preps, who brought all these and many other Tin Pan Alley songs of the ’50s and ’60s to Sun City last year. Well, they’re back!
The Four Preps return to Sun City on September 25. (Photo provided)
Featuring original lead singer Bruce Belland, who has been singing on and off with the group and its many reincarnations for more than 50 years, the Four Preps are coming back to the Drendel Ballroom stage next Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. CAM officials say a limited number of tickets are left.
“They deserve a sell-out crowd,” said Lifestyle Assistant Coordinator Mary Hartje.
“We remember our Sun City Huntley friends very well from last year,” Belland said. “You guys are one of our favorite audiences. We always look forward to coming to Sun City and singing all the old, traditional songs that folks have enjoyed for years.”
The group will be accompanied by a three-piece instrumental group consisting of a pianist, drummer, and a guitarist.
“We add in a little pre-recorded music when it makes a particular song more effective,” Belland said.
The group tours virtually year-round and does anywhere from 75 to 120 shows annually around the world. Belland even offered a tidbit of Preps history that most of its current fans probably don’t know.
“We got shot at in Manila, the Philippines, one time in the 1970s, where there was a lot of unrest there,” he said. “Luckily, their aim was bad.”
Belland said the group is proud of its musical history and sticks to it.
“We stick to the wonderful traditional songs and styles of the ’50s and ’60s, and we let someone else sing the contemporary stuff,” he said. “We were the first and only group to be signed to a recording contract when we were just high school kids. That formula worked for us then, and fortunately, it’s working for us now.”
Unlike many other groups that formed up in their high school or college years, the original Four Preps were located in Hollywood, California, which put them close to the center of the pop music action in the ’50s. The original four – lead vocalist Belland, bassist Ed Cobb, high tenor Marv Ingram, and baritone Glen Larson, performed in a Hollywood High School talent show in 1956 and were heard by a Capitol Records executive. They were soon signed to a recording contract.
They rapidly soared to the top of the recording world. In the next 20 years, they amassed eight gold (million records sold) singles and three gold albums. Four of the five tunes mentioned above were million-selling signature hits by the group.
The group disbanded in the ’60s but was re-incarnated in the ’80s by Belland, who is now 75 years old. He has been joined now by Bob Duncan (formerly with the Diamonds and the Crew Cuts), Michael Redman, and Skip Taylor. They sing everything from doo-wop to Tin Pan Alley standards, and add a lot of comedy.
Along the way, the original four were replaced by such show biz talents as David Somerville and Don Clarke, but Belland and Cobb hung around together until 1999, when Cobb died of leukemia.
The group has made numerous television and motion picture appearances, including back-ups to teen star Ricky Nelson on “Ozzie and Harriet,” appearing with Sandra Dee in “Gidget,” and appearing in the award-winning PBS special, “Magic Moments.”
The group disbanded in 1966, when their type of music became less popular. Belland himself went on to write songs for other singers, wrote television show scripts, and eventually became a network executive through the ’70s and early ’80s. Cobb became a record producer and sound engineer and wrote the song, “Tainted Love” for Gloria Jones, which became a worldwide hit for Soft Cell in 1982. Somerville went into TV acting and did voice-overs. Larson became a TV producer, creating Battlestar Galactica and Knight Rider. Ingram became a commodities broker and died in 1999 of a heart attack. Clarke became a music teacher and director at two California high schools.
In the late ’80s, Belland, Cobb, Somerville, and Jim Pike (formerly of the Letterman) formed a new “Four Preps” group, and Belland has welcomed several other singing stars into the new group through the years. He, however, has remained the quartet’s one constant talent and leader.
