The Tremeloes

It is easy to buy their material on album still and they quite often play concerts and are part of the pop revival shows that tour the UK. On December 15, 1943, at age 39, Waller died aboard an eastbound train in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri, following a west coast engagement. Their Me And My Life was a hit in 1974 but they had caused themselves problems by a quote that insulted some of their buying public and had no hits after that. This song, a searing treatment of racism, black and white, calls into question the accusations of "shallow entertainment" levelled at both Armstrong and Waller. They include: Cat Stevens's Here Comes My Baby, Suddenly You Love Me, Hello World and My Little Lady. With Razaf he wrote "What Did I Do (To Be So Black and Blue)?" 1929 which became a hit for Louis Armstrong. These songs were popular with younger music fans and parents rather than rock music fans. He also appeared in several feature films and short subject films, most notably "Stormy Weather" in 1943.

A couple of years after Brian Poole left the group they came into their own with regular hits and appearances on BBC's Top Of The Pops TV show. Waller also made a successful tour of the British Isles in the late 1930's, and appeared in one of the earliest BBC Television broadcasts. It is well known that they had been given a record contract by Decca Records while The Beatles had been rejected as unsuitable by the label's executives. His weight and drinking are believed to have contributed to his death. They had formed in 1958, and first had hits as Brian Poole And The Tremeloes; (Do You Love Me?, I Can Dance, (1963), etc.). His nickname came about because he weighed nearly 300 pounds (136 kg). The Tremeloes were a British pop group from Dagenham, Essex. He collaborated with the Tin Pan Alley lyricist Andy Razaf and had a commercially successful career, which according to some music critics eclipsed his great musical talent.

Among his songs are "Squeeze Me" 1919, "Ain't Misbehavin'" 1929, "Blue Turning Grey Over You" 1930, "Honeysuckle Rose" 1929, "I've Got a Feeling I'm Falling" 1929, and "Jitterbug Waltz" 1942. Before his solo career, he played with many performers, from Erskine Tate to Bessie Smith, but his greatest success came with his own five- or six-piece combo, "Fats Waller and his Rhythm". He was an excellent pianist--now usually considered one of the very best who ever played in the stride style--but his songwriting and his lovable, roguish stage personality ("One never knows, do one?") overshadowed his playing. Johnson introduced Waller to the world of rent parties (a party with a piano player, designed to help pay the rent by charging the guests), and soon he developed a performing career.

Johnson. Waller studied classical piano and organ before apprenticing himself to legendary Harlem stride pianist James P. He was born Thomas Wright Waller in New York City. Fats Waller (May 21, 1904 - December 15, 1943) was an African-American jazz pianist, organist, composer and comedic entertainer.

Download sample of "It's a Sin to Tell a Lie" by Fats Waller.