The Ivy League were an English vocal trio, formed in 1964, who enjoyed two top 10 hit singles on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1965. The group's sound was characterised by rich, three-part vocal

harmonies In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

Career

The Ivy League was formed in August 1964 by three session

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

s with an extensive vocal range, John Carter, Ken Lewis (both previous members of

Carter-Lewis and the Southerners Carter-Lewis and the Southerners were an early-1960s rock band, formed by the Birmingham-born musicians Ken Lewis (guitarist, singer, songwriter) and John Carter (producer, singer, songwriter).Larkin C 'Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music' (Muz ...

) plus

Perry Ford Perry Ford (born Brian Joseph Pugh, 30 December 1933 – 29 April 1999) was an English pop singer, songwriter, producer and session musician, best known as a member of the Ivy League. Life and career Born in Lincoln, he moved to London in the ...

. They were first heard doing background vocals for

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

on their hit single " I Can't Explain" in November 1964 but after that, the Who's producers entrusted John Entwistle and

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

with the backing vocals. Their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "What More Do You Want" generated little interest but the second release, "Funny How Love Can Be" made the UK chart's Top 10. Further hits followed, including "That's Why I'm Crying" and UK chart number 3 "Tossing and Turning". The original trio released just one

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, 1965's ''This is the Ivy League'' – panned in the music press as disappointing, with its excessively wide spread of musical styles and material – before both Carter and Lewis left the group. Carter departed in January 1966, with Lewis leaving about one year later. The duo then set up a production company called Sunny Records.

Tony Burrows Anthony Burrows (born 14 April 1942) is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in the production of numerous transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of wh ...

and

Neil Landon Neil Landon (born Patrick Cahill, 26 July 1941 – 26 March 2020) was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattress, ...

replaced Carter and Lewis and the Ivy League released a couple of albums, ''Sounds of the Ivy League'' (1967) and ''Tomorrow is Another Day'' (1969). Several more singles followed, including the minor hits, "Willow Tree" and "My World Fell Down". A

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the latter song provided the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

band Sagittarius with a number 70 chart placing in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1967. Success for the Ivy League in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

was slight, only "Tossing and Turning" appearing in the '' Billboard''

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 tab ...

, reaching number 83 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Carter and Lewis next masterminded

The Flower Pot Men The Flower Pot Men were an English pop group created in 1967 as a result of the single, "Let's Go to San Francisco", recorded by session musicians, becoming a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe hit in the autumn of 1967. The group's sound ...

, hitting number 4 in the UK with "Let's Go To San Francisco". Carter and Lewis then fulfilled the role of

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Burrows and Landon left The Ivy League to join the touring version of The Flower Pot Men. Two further "front men" were with the band during this period (Robert Young and Mike Curtis), leaving Perry Ford to carry on with new personnel until he stopped using the name in 1975. In the 1990s, a number of compilations were released, including ''Major League: the Collectors' Ivy League'' (1998). The Ivy League continued to perform, although none of the three members of the band, Jon Brennan (vocals and bass guitar), David Buckley (vocals and drums) and Michael Brice (vocals and lead guitar), are from the original 1960s line-up. Robert Macleod joined in 1968-69 but had immigration problems similar to those that befell the Bee Gees and had to leave the country. Buckley joined the band in the late 1960s with Perry Ford still involved in the group. Brennan then later joined Buckley, and with Ford's blessing, kept the Ivy League going through the 1970s and beyond. Having worked with the Ivy League on several occasions throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Brice joined the band permanently in 1990 replacing Les Litwinenko-Jones who had previously played with Ian Kewley in Samson. Following the conclusion of the Sensational 60's Experience tour during late 2016 and early 2017, The Ivy League performed a handful of their own shows in the UK. On 9 July 2017, The Ivy League performed their last show at the

Pontins Pontins is a British company operating holiday parks in the UK, founded in 1946 by Fred Pontin. Since 2011, it has been owned by Britannia Hotels. Pontins specialises in offering half-board and self-catering holidays featuring entertainment ...

holiday resort in

Pakefield Pakefield is a suburb of the town of Lowestoft in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around south of the centre of the town. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1774. Pakefield has boundaries with Carlton Colville and ...

. After decades of touring, Buckley, Brennan and Brice have now retired from the industry.

Personnel

* John Carter – vocals * Ken Lewis – vocals, guitar *

– vocals * Colin Reeves - vocals *

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

– drums * Mick O'Nell – organ * Dave Winter – bass * Mickey Keene – lead guitar * Bill Clarke – bass *

– vocals *

– vocals, guitar * Robert Young (born Robert Parkes, 1953, Stockport) – vocals * David Lund – drums * Nigel Menday - drums

Discography

Albums

* ''This Is the Ivy League'' (1965) * ''Tossing and Turning'' (1965; US album) * ''Sounds of the Ivy League'' (1967) * ''Tomorrow Is Another Day'' (1969) *''The Best Of'' (1988) *''The Best of the Ivy League'' (1991) *''Major League – The Collectors' Ivy League'' (1997)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivy League, The English pop music groups English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1964 Musical groups disestablished in 1975 Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands British musical trios Pye Records artists