The Trade Winds was an American pop group formed in

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Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. The group's members were singer-songwriter and record producer Peter Anders (né Peter Andreoli) (April 28, 1941 – March 24, 2016) and

Vini Poncia Vincent "Vini" Poncia Jr. (born April 29, 1942) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Life and career The 1960s In the 1960s, Poncia formed a songwriting team with Peter Anders (née Peter Andreoli). An album of songs co-writt ...

, who previously had a hit single (with a third member, Norman Marzano) under the name "The Videls" with a song titled "Mr. Lonely", which hit #73 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in 1960. After a few further single releases, The Videls folded, and Anders and Poncia began writing tunes with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

for groups such as

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and

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at Allmusic.com Recording under the name "The Trade Winds" in 1965, they released several singles and scored two more U.S. hits, "New York's a Lonely Town" (#32, 1965) and the psychedelic-tinged "Mind Excursion" (#51, 1966), along with two other songs that bubbled under the U.S. charts, "The Girl From Greenwich Village" at number 129, and "Catch Me in the Meadow" at number 132. In 1966 they changed their name to "The Innocence", recorded a full-length eponymous album, and had two further hit singles, "There's Got to Be a Word!" (U.S. #34, 1966) and "

Mairzy Doats “Mairzy Doats” is a novelty song written and composed in 1943 by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston. It contains lyrics that make no sense as written, but are near homophones of meaningful phrases. The song's title, for example, ...

" (U.S. #75, 1967). Following the LP release the duo released another album under the name

Anders & Poncia The Trade Winds was an American pop group formed in Providence, Rhode Island. The group's members were singer-songwriter and record producer Peter Anders (né Peter Andreoli) (April 28, 1941 – March 24, 2016) and Vini Poncia, who previously had ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 1969, and shortly after broke up. Poncia later went on to produce material for artists such as

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, and

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. The group was mentioned in the ''

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'' Season 5 episode "

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" where Harry accidentally signed them instead of

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for a

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commercial.AV Club
/ref> Anders died at Kent Hospital in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, the third largest city in the state with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located approximately south of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, sout ...

, on March 24, 2016, at age 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trade Winds, The Musical groups from Rhode Island Kama Sutra Records artists