The Tuneful Trolley

Just when you think every collector has discovered every album in the Capitol records catalog, then out of nowhere pops up something that was overlooked somehow. An example of this would be the album by The Tuneful Trolley, “Island In The Sky” originally released on Capitol records (1968). The Tuneful Trolley were six high school kids from Suffolk County, Long Island who went from playing dances and restaurant gigs to a brush with the big time when they were discovered by Sandy Yaguda of Jay & The Americans fame. Yaguda took the band under his wing, gave them their name (they had been “The Mark of Quality” when Yaguda first heard them), got them a deal with Capitol Records, and produced their first and only album, 1969′s Island In The Sky. After the record Island In The Sky sank in the marketplace, the Tuneful Trolley split up, and most of the members did little or nothing in music afterward, which is surprising when you hear the album — Island In The Sky is hardly a masterpiece, but given the group’s age and inexperience(all of which were under 18 years of age at the time), it’s impressive stuff, full of engaging pop tunes (most written by the group), solid vocal harmonies, tasteful arrangements well-executed by the band, which are of professional quality!