Ponderosa Twins Plus One


Cleveland, 1970-4

The Ponderosa Twins were a group of two sets of twins - Alvin and Alfred Pelham, and Keith and Kirk Gardner. The "Plus One" was Ricky Spicer. The groups' sound was vocal soul, and in retrospect, they could be thought of as Cleveland's version of the Jackson Five, albeit a bit more soulful. They were all high school age perfomers when they came to the attention of the Saru label team, who noticed their talent and signed them to a Saru spinoff, Horoscope records. The group's first 45, a remake of the Sam Cooke song "You Send Me", was a huge local hit and through that they got a distribution deal with New Jersey's All Platinum Records. Apparently because of the deal the label was renamed to Astroscope records. The record took off and became a national hit. The group had another hit with their second 45 "I Remember You"/"Bound", with both sides getting airplay. A third 45 was issued in quick succession, keeping with the formula, a remake of Frankie Lymons' "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", which was not quite as successful. The label issued an LP and the group toured extensively as part of an All Platinum package, which included the Moments, the Whatnuts, and other label mates.

Unfortunately, "Why Do Fools..." was the last hit the group had and two more 45s did not get much action. The group drifed apart and all of the members seem to have retired from music.

Discography
You Send Me / Hey Girl (Horoscope 102 / Astroscope 102)
I Remember You / Bound (Astroscope 103)
Why Do Fools Fall In Love / Bitter With The Sweet (Astroscope 104)
(LP) 2+2+1 = (Horoscope 2001)