Tico & The Triumphs

Tico & The Triumphs (1) (Queens, N.Y.)

Personnel :

Paul Simon "Jerry Landis" (lead)

Marty Cooper « Tico » (lead)

Mickey Borack

Howie Beck

Discography :

Tico & The Triumphs  (1)

Singles:
1961 - Motorcycle / I Don't Believe Then  (Madison 169/ Amy 835)
1962 - Wild Flower / Express Train (Amy 845)
1962 - Cry, Little Boy, Cry / Get Up And Do The Wobble (Amy 860)
Unreleased :
1962 - She'll Be The One Who's Crying (Amy)
1962 - Here Comes The Garbage Man (Amy)
1962 - The Biggest Lie I Ever Told (Amy)
1962 - My Little Girl  (Amy)
1962 - Say What You Got To Say (Amy)

Jerry Landis bb The Triumphs (1) (uncredited)
1961 - I’m Lonely / I Wish I Weren't In Love (Canadian American 130)
1962 - The Lone Teen Ranger / Lisa (Amy 875)

Tico bb The Triumphs  (1) (uncredited)
1962 - Cards Of Love / Noise (Amy 876 / Jackson scott 14)

Biography :

The story begins in the summer of 1961 when a guy by the name of Jerry Landis aka Paul Simon (that Paul Simon) was already a singer with quite a reputation. Between 1957 and 1961, Simon wrote, recorded, and released many songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles. Simon already had a few songs under his belt and was working with Amy Records producing music. His path would cross a group of young kids hanging out in the Kew Garden Hills area of Flushing, New York. Original member Marty Cooper had moved from Brooklyn and started attending Parsons Jr. High School. He met Mickey Borack at school. Marty and Mickey would hang out on the street corner near the Honeycomb Luncheonette and sing.

  
Paul Simon "Jerry Landis"                                                                                                             

There, they met up with Howie Beck . They also had a female member - Gail Lynn who didn't continue with the group when they later started recording. They started performing together (Marty, Mickey and Gail) and later won a local talent contest at their school - Parsons Jr. High School, Flushing, New York. The group performed some more gigs and wound up one night at Forest Hills Jewish Centre.  Simon was in the audience that night and caught their show. Looking for new talent to produce, he approached the group about doing some work with him. He started grooming them to record. 

Simon used the group to back him on a recording for Canadian American Records in October 1961. They released I Wish I Weren't In Love under the name of "Jerry Landis." Following the Canadian American release, the group joined with Howie Beck and recorded two songs for Madison Records - Motorcycle and I Don't Believe Them. On some of the Tico and the Triumphs' records, Simon can be heard singing lead and on others it is Cooper. Madison later went bankrupt and sold the master for "Motorcycle" to Amy Records.

     
                                                                     Paul Simon "Jerry Landis" 

Amy released it again and in November 1961 the record did well hitting around 99 on the charts thanks to being featured on Murray the K's show in WINS. The song was the "pick of the week."Following the release of Motorcycle, the group did a lot of record hops. But Simon never performed with the group. It was always just Cooper, Borack and Beck.  So, while Paul Simon certainly was a big part of the group's success and sound, it was really these three guys that were Tico and Triumphs. It was Marty Cooper that sang lead on all of the group's live performances. The group's next two Amy releases did not do as well.

The group (credited only as Tico) without Simon went on to release Cards of Love b/w Noise in December 1962. Cooper took the lead on those. It was a return to the doo-wop sound that the group always loved. At that point, Simon had moved on to running Amy and later Bell records and he turned his attention to other artists. The group backed Simon on The Lone Teen Ranger b/w Lisa (Amy 865 - 1962) and after that the group split up. Simon had been partners with a guy named Bobby Susser. Cooper teamed up with Susser and start writing and producing records.
http://rthimel.free.fr/Paul-Simon-nouvelle-version/fs-sg-titre-album-tom-jerry-meet-tico-triumphs.htm


Songs :
(updated by Hans-Joachim) 
 

Tico & The Triumphs  (1)

     
Motorcycle                       I Don't Believe Then                Express Train

     
Cry, Little Boy, Cry   Get Up And Do The Wobble    She'll Be The One Who's Crying

     
Here Comes The Garbage Man    The Biggest Lie I Ever Told           My Little Girl


Say What You Got To Say


Jerry Landis bb The Triumphs (1) (uncredited)

     
I’m Lonely                   I Wish I Weren't In Love             The Lone Teen Ranger


Lisa


Tico bb The Triumphs (1) (uncredited)

  
Cards Of Love                             Noise

….