Bruce Belland born October 22nd, 1936

Bruce Belland (born October 22nd, 1936) is best known for being the lead singer and co-founder of the Four Preps who accumulated record sales in excess of 100 million, including 29 hit singles, 15 gold albums, and 13 Grammies.

Bruce Gerald Belland was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 22nd, 1936, the second son of Rev. Stanley G. Belland, a Fundamentalist minister and his wife Hertha, a Gospel radio singer. He sang his first solo in church at age four. It was greeted with enthusiastic “Amens” from the congregation and his proud parent’s praise. And with that, his dream was born. He wanted to be a singer. His dream drew closer when his father became minister of the West Hollywood Community Church just off the Sunset Strip and immediately adjacent to up-scale Beverly Hills. During his adolescent years, he developed his vocal skills singing at the countless funerals conducted by his father. As a starstruck 15-year-old, he delivered newspapers “across the tracks” in Beverly Hills and had one-on-one encounters with Oscar-winning stars and the A-list of old Hollywood’s entertainment community. He attended Emerson Junior High in West L.A. with a student body drawn from affluent Bel Air and Brentwood.

While he developed and refined his harmonic instincts inspired by another group he idolized – The Four Freshmen—his father had him composing personalized songs for church events. In 1952, Bruce enrolled at Hollywood High. It was here in 1954 that Bruce convinced Glen Larson, a friend since grammar school, to co-found a vocal group for that year’s student talent show. Bruce, Glen and two pals from the school choir, stole the show with the Crew Cuts’ “Sh-Boom.” Convinced they were on to something special, Bruce and Glen enlisted two classmates—Bruce’s friend 6’4” bass and high school football star Ed Cobb, and high tenor and former boy soprano in the famed Mitchell Boys Choir, Marv Ingram—to permanently fill the other two slots. And The Four Preps were born.

Bruce Belland sang lead tenor, Glen Larson, baritone, Marvin Inabnett (later changed to Ingram), high tenor, and Ed Cobb, bass. Their friend, Lincoln Mayorga, was an unofficial fifth Prep. The four original members were signed to a recording contract by Capitol Records, after one of Capitol's executives saw them at a talent show at the Hollywood High school in 1956. They had a minor chart hit that year with "Dreamy Eyes". Between 1956 and 1964, the Preps reached the Billboard pop charts with 13 different songs. In 1957 they appeared with Lindsay Crosby, Bing Crosby's son, in the television special The Edsel Show. Their biggest hit was "26 Miles (Santa Catalina)," which was written by Belland and Larson in 1957 and reached number two early the following year. The record sold over one million copies, earning a gold disc. Around this time, Ricky Nelson appeared with them at a Hamilton High School lunch hour assembly singing "Blue Moon of Kentucky".

                                   

Belland and Larson also wrote "Big Man", which reached number three in 1958. In the United Kingdom, it peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart, thus becoming the group's biggest hit there. The pair also composed new lyrics for the older tune "Down by the Station", which peaked at number 13 in 1960. Cobb wrote a handful of songs for the group, though not any of their chart hits; Cobb later became a noted writer and/or producer of hit material for other artists, especially The Standells' "Dirty Water", Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts" and Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love," later recorded by Soft Cell. Many Four Preps records were arranged by their high school friend and collaborative pianist Lincoln Mayorga who became known as the fifth Prep.

Don Clarke replaced Ingram in 1958 with the Album “The Things we did last summer,” and continued with them for over a year. In 1959, the group appeared as themselves in the film Gidget. Don was in a car accident on July 22, 1959 and was not able to continue with the Four Preps. Ingram finished college at UCLA, and rejoined the group in 1960. The group was known for its family-friendly comedic humour in live performances. In 1960, they recorded a parody single, "More Money for You and Me," which included single parody verses of several popular songs by The Fleetwoods, The Hollywood Argyles, The Platters, The Four Freshmen, The Kingston Trio and Dion and the Belmonts. In 1962, they released "The Big Draft", another novelty record in which they mockingly suggested that several American music groups be drafted into the military, parodying their songs to make the point.

The group last appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1964, when "A Letter to The Beatles" charted for a total of three weeks beginning March 21, peaking at number 85 before being pulled from sale. The arrival of The Beatles, along with the rest of the British Invasion, coincided with the decline of popularity of the Four Preps and most other folk revival groups. In 1966, David Somerville, formerly of The Diamonds, joined the group, replacing Cobb. In 1969, the group disbanded, as their type of music had become less popular. Belland and Somerville occasionally performed as a duo after the breakup.

Belland continued writing songs for other singers, as well as writing television show scripts, eventually becoming a network executive. He was also a producer on several game shows in the 1970s for Ralph Edwards Productions. Cobb became a record producer and sound engineer. Somerville went into television acting and providing voice-overs. Larson became a television producer/writer/director, creating Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider and variety television series.Clarke became a music teacher. In the 1980s, Belland, Cobb, Somerville, and Jim Pike (formerly of the Lettermen) eventually formed a new "Four Preps" group and went on to perform. Jim Yester, formerly of The Association, replaced Pike in 1993, and the group became the "New Four Preps".

In March 1999, Ingram died of a heart attack and Cobb died of leukemia in Honolulu, Hawaii later the same year. Yester, Belland and Somerville then recorded and toured for a short time as “Triple Gold – The Three Tenors of Pop” and then moved on to pursue individual opportunities. In 2004 PBS asked Bruce to put together a one shot version of the Four Preps for “Magic Moments”, a PBS Special saluting the hit makers of the 1950s. Bruce, Glen Larson, Jim Yester and David Somerville performed on that show as The Four Preps and the program has become one of public television's biggest fund raisers. That appearance resulted in a groundswell of demand for a Preps’ tour and in 2007 the group were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Bruce, the last original member still performing, formed a new version of the group and averaged 35 concerts a year until 2020 when the global health crisis put a halt to their touring. Sadly Somerville died on July 14, 2015.

Beyond his music career, Bruce has worked as a screenwriter, television executive, and author, releasing his memoir Icons, Idols and Idiots of Hollywood in 2023. He also continues to publish regular updates and newsletters for fans. Bruce, his wife Simone Alexander, a prominent fashion designer now on the faculty of Fashion Institute of Design in Los Angeles live in Woodland Hills, California.

(Edited from Wikipedia & Bruce Beland.com web site)