The Soul Survivors are an American,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

-based,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and R&B

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

, founded by New York natives Richie and Charlie Ingui along with Kenny Jeremiah. The Soul Survivors are known for their 1967

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

Expressway to Your Heart "Expressway to Your Heart" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and performed by the Soul Survivors. It appeared on their 1967 album, ''When the Whistle Blows Anything Goes'', which was produced by Gamble and Huff. The song reached # ...

'', which was the first hit by

Philadelphia soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

s and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Kenny Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

and

Leon Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. The Soul Survivors are still performing and recording new music and covers, most recently working with

David Uosikkinen David Uosikkinen (born February 11, 1956) is an American drummer and Internet content manager, best known for being a member of rock band The Hooters. Early life Born in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, U.S., Uosikkinen grew up in Levittown, Pennsylv ...

The Hooters The Hooters are an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band combines elements of rock, reggae, ska, and folk music to create its sound. The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid-1980 ...

and his project "In the Pocket" which is paying tribute to the vast catalog of music created in Philadelphia.

History

The Soul Survivors first played together in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

under the name The Dedications, founded by Kenny Jeremiah, who released several

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

under this name in 1962 and 1964. They adopted the name Soul Survivors in 1965. They signed to

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

Crimson Records Crimson Records was an American reissue independent record label founded by Jerry Greene in the early 1960s, and was a sister label of Lost Nite Records. Disc jockey Jerry Blavat was a co-owner of the label until the late 1960s. The label was kno ...

, who put them in touch with Gamble & Huff. ''

'' was a #1 hit regionally in Philadelphia and New York in the fall of 1967, and the tune reached #4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 nationally. ''Expressway to Your Heart'' spent 15 weeks in the

charts A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabul ...

and sold over one million copies. The follow-up was ''Explosion in Your Soul'', which was not as successful (U.S. #33); a third release, ''Impossible Mission'', also was a minor hit in 1969 (U.S. #68). They quit playing for a few years, but re-formed with a different lineup in 1972. They had one more hit, ''City of Brotherly Love'' in 1974. In the 1970s, the group lost its record contract and its manager and eventually disbanded. Charlie Ingui became a landscaper, Richie Ingui became a house painter, Paul Venturini became a restaurateur, and drummer Joe Forgione owned an auto body shop. At that time,

Steely Dan Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...

noted in their song

Hey Nineteen "Hey Nineteen" is a song by the band Steely Dan from their album ''Gaucho'' (1980). Background According to one reviewer's interpretation, the song "was about a middle-aged man's disappointment with a young lover".Layman, Will"Jazz Today: The S ...

: "It's hard times befallen the Soul Survivors". In 1987, the Inqui brothers began playing occasional gigs as the original Soul Survivors and signed a five-record contract in 1991 with

Society Hill Records A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

. As of 2006, they were playing occasional dates in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

. Chuck Trois also went on to release a solo 45 rpm single on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

in August 1969, with ''Mr. Holmes'' on one side, and ''A National Band'' on the other. Paul Venturini (b. June 10, 1945) died on April 17, 2001. Richie Ingui died of heart failure on January 13, 2017, at the age of 70. Jeremiah died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on December 4, 2020, at age 78.

Members

*Charlie Ingui - vocals - original member * *Richie Ingui - vocals (born Richard Ingui in Manhattan, New York; November 15, 1947 – January 13, 2017) - original member* *Kenny Jeremiah - vocals (born Kenneth Scott Jeremiah in

Northfield, New Jersey Northfield is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 8,624, - original member* *Joe Forgione - drums - original member* *Paul Venturini - organ - original member* *Chuck Trois - guitar *Edward Leonetti - guitar *John (Beedo) Dzubak Sr. - drums *

Sal Rota Sal Rota is an American musician, keyboard player, singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia. He was a member of R&B group The Crystal Mansion, along with David White. In his 15 years of performing keyboards, organ and vocals with the Cr ...

- keyboards * Novac Noury (Jerry Noury) - organ and bass pedals during 1966 *

Neil Larsen Neil Larsen (born August 7, 1948) is an American jazz keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and grew up in Sarasota, Florida before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles. Early life Larsen was ...

- keyboards (1974 album) * Mario Flamini-Drums * Kevin Irvine-Keyboards,Vocals * Frank Pagliante-Bass * Mike DiMartinis-Guitar,Vocals * David Kershner-Trumpet * Jim Verdeur-Saxophones

Discography

Albums

Singles

Note

The Soul Survivors are not to be confused with the 1960s

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

-based

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band, also known as

the Soul Survivors The Soul Survivors are an American, Philadelphia-based, soul and R&B group, founded by New York natives Richie and Charlie Ingui along with Kenny Jeremiah. The Soul Survivors are known for their 1967 hit single ''Expressway to Your Heart'', whi ...

. The band included Bob Raymond, who was later with

Sugarloaf A sugarloaf was the usual form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century, when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process in which dark molasses, a ri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soul Survivors, The American rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups from Philadelphia Philadelphia International Records artists