Fat Larry's Band Biography
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‘Fat’ Larry James (2 August 1949, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 5 December 1987; drums) formed this funk/disco outfit in Philadelphia following his spell as a back-up musician for the Delfonics and Blue Magic. The group comprised Art Capehart (trumpet, flute), Jimmy Lee (trombone, saxophone), Doug Jones (saxophone), Erskine Williams (keyboards), Ted Cohen (guitar), Larry LaBes (bass), Darryl Grant (percussion). James found success easier in the UK than in his homeland, having a Top 40 hit with ‘Center City’ in 1977, and in 1979 achieving a Top 50 with ‘Boogie Town’ under the title of FLB. That same year, one of James’ other projects, the studio group Slick, had two UK hit singles with ‘Space Bass’ and ‘Sexy Cream’. These two releases established them with the disco market. However, it was not until 1982 that the group secured a major national hit, with a recording of the Commodores’ song ‘Zoom’ taking them to number 2 in the UK charts, although it only managed to scrape into the US soul chart at 89. It proved, however, to be their last success of any note, and hope of a regeneration was cut short on their founder’s death in 1987.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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