Walkin' In the Rain With the One I Love
Love Unlimited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJtQbajGElk
Love's Theme
Love Unlimited Orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3S6UVS2JDE&feature=related
I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN38uI2oKkA
I've Got So Much To Give
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXur958KRAQ
Can't Get Enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXvHRnGe940
You're the First, the Last, My Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS2Fve72AZg
Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4_M5PcJQmU
The Secret Garden
various artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE0WmzYjchs
All Around the World
w/Lisa Stansfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_kO6gbIMo
Practice What You Preach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbIp-KO11QE
Barry Eugene White (born Barrence Eugene Carter, September 12, 1944(1944-09-12) – July 4, 2003) was an American record producer, songwriter and singer.
A multiple Grammy Award-winner known for his deep bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring hit soul and disco songs. Worldwide, White had many gold and platinum albums and singles, with combined sales of over 100 million, according to critics Ed Hogan and Wade Kergan.
White was born in Galveston, Texas and grew up in the high-crime areas of South Central Los Angeles, where he joined a gang at the age of 10. At 17, he was jailed for four months for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.
While in prison, White listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
After his release, he left gang life and began a musical career at the dawn of the 1960s in singing groups before going out on his own in the middle of the decade.
He was responsible in 1963 for arranging "Harlem Shuffle" for Bob & Earl, which became a hit in the UK in 1969.
In August 1969, he got his break producing a girl group called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitation of the legendary Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members honed their talents with White for the next two years until they all signed contracts with 20th Century Records.
White produced, wrote and arranged the classic soul ballad "Walking in the Rain (With The One I Love)", which hit the Top 20 of the pop charts. The group would score more hits throughout the '70s and White eventually married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James.
While working on a few demos for a male singer, the record label suggested White step out in front of the microphone, to which he reluctantly agreed.
His first solo chart hit, 1973's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", rose to #1 R&B and #3 Pop. That same year, the Love Unlimited Orchestra's recording of White's composition "Love's Theme" reached #1 Pop in 1974, one of only two instrumental recordings ever to do so. Some regard "Love's Theme" as the first disco hit ever.
Other chart hits by White include "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (1974) and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974).
Although White's success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. In the 1990s, he mounted an effective comeback with the albums The Icon Is Love (1994), whose biggest hit, "Practice What You Preach" reached the top of the charts.
In addition, his music was often featured on the sitcom Ally McBeal and he appeared on the show twice.
Barry White had been ill with chronically high blood pressure for some time, which resulted in kidney failure in the autumn of 2002. He suffered a stroke in May 2003, after which he was forced to retire from public life.
On 4 July, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from renal failure. White was cremated, and his ashes were scattered by his family off the California coast.
On 20 September, 2004, he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York.
White's recordings featured a distinctive sound that combined orchestral instrumentation (string section, woodwinds, horns, harpsichords, etc.) with a steady drumbeat and as many as five electric guitars. His arrangements were influential on the emerging sound of disco music in the early 1970s.
A distinctive feature of White's music was the steamy spoken introductions and interludes that appeared in many of his songs.
Over the course of his career White occasionally did work as a voice actor.
He was featured in several episodes of The Simpsons.
White had been offered the chance to play the voice of Chef in the cartoon series South Park (who had been modeled after White), but declined; as a devout Christian, White was uncomfortable with South Park's often irreverent humor. The part was eventually played by Isaac Hayes.
(Wikipedia)
9/28/2008
Disco
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco
Disco is a genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define.
In what is considered a forerunner to disco style clubs in February 1970 New York City DJ David Mancuso opened The Loft, a members-only private dance club set in his own home.
Most agree that the first disco songs were released in 1973, though some claim Manu Dibango's 1972 Soul Makossa to be the first disco record.
The first article about disco was written in September 1973 by Vince Aletti for Rolling Stone Magazine.
In 1974 New York City's WPIX-FM premiered the first disco radio show.
Musical influences include funk, soul music, and salsa and the Latin or Hispanic musics which influenced salsa. The disco sound has a soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and prominent, syncopated electric bass line. Strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used.
Well-known late 1970s disco performers included Bee Gees, Donna Summer and The Jacksons. Summer would become the first well-known and most popular female disco artist, and also played a part in pioneering the electronic sound that later became a part of disco.
While performers and singers garnered the lion's share of public attention, the behind-the-scenes producers played an equal, if not more important role in disco, since they often wrote the songs and created the innovative sounds and production techniques that were part of the "disco sound".
Disco was very important in the development of Hip hop music (especially the subgenres of crunk, snap, and hyphy), British New Wave, and disco's direct descendants: the 1980s and 1990s dance music genres of house music and its harder-driving offshoot, techno.
(Wikipedia)
Disco is a genre of dance-oriented music whose origins are hard to define.
In what is considered a forerunner to disco style clubs in February 1970 New York City DJ David Mancuso opened The Loft, a members-only private dance club set in his own home.
Most agree that the first disco songs were released in 1973, though some claim Manu Dibango's 1972 Soul Makossa to be the first disco record.
The first article about disco was written in September 1973 by Vince Aletti for Rolling Stone Magazine.
In 1974 New York City's WPIX-FM premiered the first disco radio show.
Musical influences include funk, soul music, and salsa and the Latin or Hispanic musics which influenced salsa. The disco sound has a soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or sixteenth note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and prominent, syncopated electric bass line. Strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used.
Well-known late 1970s disco performers included Bee Gees, Donna Summer and The Jacksons. Summer would become the first well-known and most popular female disco artist, and also played a part in pioneering the electronic sound that later became a part of disco.
While performers and singers garnered the lion's share of public attention, the behind-the-scenes producers played an equal, if not more important role in disco, since they often wrote the songs and created the innovative sounds and production techniques that were part of the "disco sound".
Disco was very important in the development of Hip hop music (especially the subgenres of crunk, snap, and hyphy), British New Wave, and disco's direct descendants: the 1980s and 1990s dance music genres of house music and its harder-driving offshoot, techno.
(Wikipedia)
9/17/2008
More 70s Soul Singers
DONNY HATHAWAY
Song For You (live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnkl-YQ-XWU&feature=related
This Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJO_kdkrj1g
Someday We'll All Be Free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t__T_b3_ro
Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul musician. He signed with Atlantic Records in 1969, and with his first single "The Ghetto, Part I" (1970), Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."
His collaborations with Roberta Flack took him to the top of the charts and won him the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the duet "Where Is the Love" in 1973.
On January 13, 1979, his body was found outside the luxury hotel Essex House in New York City; his death was ruled a suicide.
CURTIS MAYFIELD
Move On Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTY6Nbl12ek
Freddie's Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCbogJVKyo8
Superfly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSYnn5B0C68
Give Me Your Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxOCoJeqB-Q
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly. From these works and others, he was highly regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music. He was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums.
BOBBY WOMACK
Woman's Gotta Have It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF_TRdqTij8
That's The Way I Feel About 'Cha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYNWSyti6o
Across 110th Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOg_8hCC4u4&feature=related
If You Think You're Lonely Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naRIH5F9sz0
Bobby Womack (born Robert Dwayne Womack, March 4, 1944, in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Working in the soul and R&B genres, he achieved his greatest success in the 1970s and 1980s.
Taking after their father, who sang gospel music, Bobby Womack and his brothers formed their own group. Sam Cooke took an interest in the Womack Brothers, and they recorded for Cooke's SAR record label in the early 1960s. Renamed the Valentinos, and encouraged by Cooke to go in a more secular and commercial direction, they scored a hit with Womack's "It's All Over Now" in 1964; the Rolling Stones' version of the song became a major hit, earning Womack generous royalty payments.
He was a session guitarist in the 60s and began to record a string of classic soul-music singles all of which featured his elegant, understated rhythm-guitar work and his impassioned vocals. During this period he became known as a songwriter, contributing many songs to the repertoire of Wilson Pickett.
After moving to the United Artists label in the early '70s, he introduced his song "Breezin'," which later became a hit for George Benson. He also became known for his interesting taste in cover versions, including James Taylor's "Fire and Rain'" and "California Dreamin'."
Among his most well-known works from this period, his appearance as guitarist on Sly & the Family Stone's 1971 There's a Riot Goin' On and on Janis Joplin's Pearl, which features a song by Womack and poet Michael McClure, Trust Me.
He continued to have hits into the '70s; all are excellent examples of burnished yet gritty 1970s soul music, and reveal a pop-music sensibility akin to that of Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield.
Bobby Womack's 1981 album The Poet was a surprise hit and contained the hit single "If You Think You're Lonely Now."
Film director Quentin Tarantino used Across 110th Street (which, in a different version, had been the title song of the 1972 movie) in the opening and closing sequences of his 1997 film Jackie Brown. His work has been used in several other popular films including Meet the Parents (2000), Ali (2001) and American Gangster (2007).
A 2003 Saab commercial used Womack’s interpretation of "California Dreamin'".
As of 2006, Womack continues to record and to make live appearances.
(Wikipedia)
Song For You (live)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnkl-YQ-XWU&feature=related
This Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJO_kdkrj1g
Someday We'll All Be Free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t__T_b3_ro
Donny Hathaway (October 1, 1945 – January 13, 1979) was an American soul musician. He signed with Atlantic Records in 1969, and with his first single "The Ghetto, Part I" (1970), Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."
His collaborations with Roberta Flack took him to the top of the charts and won him the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the duet "Where Is the Love" in 1973.
On January 13, 1979, his body was found outside the luxury hotel Essex House in New York City; his death was ruled a suicide.
CURTIS MAYFIELD
Move On Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTY6Nbl12ek
Freddie's Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCbogJVKyo8
Superfly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSYnn5B0C68
Give Me Your Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxOCoJeqB-Q
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions and composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly. From these works and others, he was highly regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music. He was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums.
BOBBY WOMACK
Woman's Gotta Have It
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF_TRdqTij8
That's The Way I Feel About 'Cha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLYNWSyti6o
Across 110th Street
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOg_8hCC4u4&feature=related
If You Think You're Lonely Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naRIH5F9sz0
Bobby Womack (born Robert Dwayne Womack, March 4, 1944, in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Working in the soul and R&B genres, he achieved his greatest success in the 1970s and 1980s.
Taking after their father, who sang gospel music, Bobby Womack and his brothers formed their own group. Sam Cooke took an interest in the Womack Brothers, and they recorded for Cooke's SAR record label in the early 1960s. Renamed the Valentinos, and encouraged by Cooke to go in a more secular and commercial direction, they scored a hit with Womack's "It's All Over Now" in 1964; the Rolling Stones' version of the song became a major hit, earning Womack generous royalty payments.
He was a session guitarist in the 60s and began to record a string of classic soul-music singles all of which featured his elegant, understated rhythm-guitar work and his impassioned vocals. During this period he became known as a songwriter, contributing many songs to the repertoire of Wilson Pickett.
After moving to the United Artists label in the early '70s, he introduced his song "Breezin'," which later became a hit for George Benson. He also became known for his interesting taste in cover versions, including James Taylor's "Fire and Rain'" and "California Dreamin'."
Among his most well-known works from this period, his appearance as guitarist on Sly & the Family Stone's 1971 There's a Riot Goin' On and on Janis Joplin's Pearl, which features a song by Womack and poet Michael McClure, Trust Me.
He continued to have hits into the '70s; all are excellent examples of burnished yet gritty 1970s soul music, and reveal a pop-music sensibility akin to that of Marvin Gaye or Curtis Mayfield.
Bobby Womack's 1981 album The Poet was a surprise hit and contained the hit single "If You Think You're Lonely Now."
Film director Quentin Tarantino used Across 110th Street (which, in a different version, had been the title song of the 1972 movie) in the opening and closing sequences of his 1997 film Jackie Brown. His work has been used in several other popular films including Meet the Parents (2000), Ali (2001) and American Gangster (2007).
A 2003 Saab commercial used Womack’s interpretation of "California Dreamin'".
As of 2006, Womack continues to record and to make live appearances.
(Wikipedia)
9/10/2008
More 70s Soul Groups
THE DELFONICS
La La Means I Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaUX_D1UZtY
Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZtHehptprc
Hey Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXt47-XRB5I
The Delfonics are a Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La (Means I Love You)", "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)".
Their songs are written by lead vocalist and founder William Hart and have been used extensively in numerous film soundtracks, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino's movie, "Jackie Brown" in which their music ("La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind") are used as a pivotal part of the plot to underscore the relationship between Robert De Niro, Pam Grier & Robert Forster. The film helped create a border-line cult following for the songs and this group.
Their songs have been sampled extensively by various Hip-Hop & Rap artists including: The Fugees (Ready Or Not), Lauryn Hill (for which she won a '97 Grammy), Nas, Boyz II Men, Missy Elliott and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
William Hart songs have been recorded by numerous performers including: Aretha Franklin, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, New Kids on the Block, Todd Rundgren, Prince and Manhattan Transfer, among others.
THE CHI-LITES
Oh Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCT0VHdlc5g
Have You Seen Her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTKRTO1BSeQ
The Chi-Lites (pronounced "SHY-lights") are a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal group, best known for their early 1970s hits, "Oh Girl" and "Have You Seen Her".
The Chi-Lites were from Chicago, a town better known for its gritty urban blues and driving R&B.
Led by vocalist Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites had a lush, creamy sound distinguished by their four-part harmonies and layered productions. During the early 1970s, they racked up 11 Top Ten R&B singles. All the songs featured Record's warm, pleading tenor and falsetto, and the majority of the group's hits were written by Record, often in collaboration with other songwriters like Barbara Acklin.
The Chi-Lites were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.
BLUE MAGIC
Sideshow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtwe8iU-Jo
Spell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZx4yrkAl-s
Stop to Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KP0cFHwdU8
Blue Magic is an American R&B soul vocal quintet best known for their 1974 hit song, "Sideshow."
Blue Magic was formed in Philadelphia in 1972 when former member of The Delfonics, Randy Cain brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing with the Philly-based WMOT production company.
The Group became popular in 1974 with their first million-selling US Top 10 hit single Sideshow, co-written by guitarist Bobby Eli. They became known mostly for their smooth ballads.
With the rise of disco and the group making the mistake of changing their style for the Halloween-oriented album 'Mystic Dragons', which was centered around the single 'Freak-N-Stein,' the group became less popular.
THE MAIN INGREDIENT
Everybody Plays The Fool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dvHogknHyI
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYpmB2dPlq4
The Main Ingredient is an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song, "Everybody Plays the Fool".
The group was formed in Harlem, NY in 1964 as a trio called the Poets. After a couple of singles, they changed their name once again in 1966, this time permanently to the Main Ingredient.
Nothing much happened until the Main Ingredient hooked up with producer Bert DeCoteaux, who had an excellent sense of the lush, orchestrated direction soul music would take in the early '70s. Under his direction, the Main Ingredient reached the R&B Top 30 for the first time in 1970 with "You've Been My Inspiration." Things grew steadily from there; a cover of the Impressions' "I'm So Proud" broke the Top 20, and "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)" went Top Ten. They scored again with the Donald McPherson-penned black power anthem "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," but tragedy struck in 1971: McPherson, who had suddenly taken ill with leukemia, died unexpectedly. Stunned, Silvester and Simmons regrouped with new lead singer Cuba Gooding, Sr., who'd served as a backing vocalist on some of their previous recordings and had filled in on tour during McPherson's brief illness.
The Gooding era began auspiciously enough with the million-selling smash "Everybody Plays the Fool," which hit number two R&B and number three pop to become the group's biggest hit ever.
They peaked at number eight on the R&B chart in 1974 with "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely," which sold over a million copies and also reached number ten on the pop chart.
Gooding's son is, of course, Cuba Gooding, Jr., the actor best known for his Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire.
THE MANHATTANS
Kiss and Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1e6RK4aMWI
Shining Star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_VpjSv_4QM&feature=related
The Manhattans are a popular R&B vocal group with a string of hit records over three decades, but best known for their million-selling songs "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and "Shining Star" in 1976 and 1980, respectively.
The Manhattans, originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 1962.
They hit it big in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye". The song, with an impassioned vocal by Gerald Alston and a memorable opening rap by Winfred Lovett, quickly became a #1 chart-topper on both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. It also became only the second single ever to go platinum.
The group hit it big again in March of 1980, with the release of "Shining Star", which reached #5 on the Billboard pop charts and #4 on the R&B chart; it received a Grammy award the following year.
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES
If You Don't Know Me by Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Kf1ATjl9A
The Love I Lost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2axbXDjYqA
I Miss You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh8fZLjt5Uc
Hope That We Can Be Together Soon
w/Sharon Paige
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4E-k09o2eg
Don't Leave Me This Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5tqAIY-TzA
Wake Up Everybody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVVKP3Gh8CI
Bad Luck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR8KfMTmPRQ
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976. Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the success years at Philadelphia International.
The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954.
In 1970, the group recruited drummer Teddy Pendergrass as the drummer for their backing band. Pendergrass had been a former member of The Cadillacs, and was promoted to lead singer.
Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (1972, their breakout single), "I Miss You" (1972), "The Love I Lost" (1973), and "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1975), and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck" (both 1975).
"Bad Luck" holds the record for longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: eleven weeks.
A 1976 cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; both it and the Blue Notes' originals are considered defining recordings of the disco era.
While at the top of their success in 1976, Pendergrass quit the Blue Notes, after unsuccessfully lobbying to have Melvin rename the act "Teddy Pendergrass & the Blue Notes".
Pendergrass went on to a successful solo career, cut short by a paralyzing 1982 car accident, although he made a brief comeback at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes are arguably the most-covered Philly soul group in history: many of their hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including Simply Red, David Ruffin, Jimmy Somerville and Sybil, while dance music DJ Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time.
For his album This Note's for You, singer Neil Young named his back-up band The Blue Notes without permission from name rights holder Harold Melvin. Melvin took legal action against Young over use of the Blue Notes name, forcing the singer to change the name of the back-up band to "Ten Men Workin'" during the balance of the tour that promoted the This Note's for You album.
(Wikipedia)
La La Means I Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaUX_D1UZtY
Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZtHehptprc
Hey Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXt47-XRB5I
The Delfonics are a Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include "La-La (Means I Love You)", "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," "Break Your Promise," "I'm Sorry," and "Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)".
Their songs are written by lead vocalist and founder William Hart and have been used extensively in numerous film soundtracks, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino's movie, "Jackie Brown" in which their music ("La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind") are used as a pivotal part of the plot to underscore the relationship between Robert De Niro, Pam Grier & Robert Forster. The film helped create a border-line cult following for the songs and this group.
Their songs have been sampled extensively by various Hip-Hop & Rap artists including: The Fugees (Ready Or Not), Lauryn Hill (for which she won a '97 Grammy), Nas, Boyz II Men, Missy Elliott and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
William Hart songs have been recorded by numerous performers including: Aretha Franklin, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, New Kids on the Block, Todd Rundgren, Prince and Manhattan Transfer, among others.
THE CHI-LITES
Oh Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCT0VHdlc5g
Have You Seen Her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTKRTO1BSeQ
The Chi-Lites (pronounced "SHY-lights") are a Chicago-based smooth soul vocal group, best known for their early 1970s hits, "Oh Girl" and "Have You Seen Her".
The Chi-Lites were from Chicago, a town better known for its gritty urban blues and driving R&B.
Led by vocalist Eugene Record, the Chi-Lites had a lush, creamy sound distinguished by their four-part harmonies and layered productions. During the early 1970s, they racked up 11 Top Ten R&B singles. All the songs featured Record's warm, pleading tenor and falsetto, and the majority of the group's hits were written by Record, often in collaboration with other songwriters like Barbara Acklin.
The Chi-Lites were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005.
BLUE MAGIC
Sideshow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERtwe8iU-Jo
Spell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZx4yrkAl-s
Stop to Start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KP0cFHwdU8
Blue Magic is an American R&B soul vocal quintet best known for their 1974 hit song, "Sideshow."
Blue Magic was formed in Philadelphia in 1972 when former member of The Delfonics, Randy Cain brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing with the Philly-based WMOT production company.
The Group became popular in 1974 with their first million-selling US Top 10 hit single Sideshow, co-written by guitarist Bobby Eli. They became known mostly for their smooth ballads.
With the rise of disco and the group making the mistake of changing their style for the Halloween-oriented album 'Mystic Dragons', which was centered around the single 'Freak-N-Stein,' the group became less popular.
THE MAIN INGREDIENT
Everybody Plays The Fool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dvHogknHyI
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYpmB2dPlq4
The Main Ingredient is an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song, "Everybody Plays the Fool".
The group was formed in Harlem, NY in 1964 as a trio called the Poets. After a couple of singles, they changed their name once again in 1966, this time permanently to the Main Ingredient.
Nothing much happened until the Main Ingredient hooked up with producer Bert DeCoteaux, who had an excellent sense of the lush, orchestrated direction soul music would take in the early '70s. Under his direction, the Main Ingredient reached the R&B Top 30 for the first time in 1970 with "You've Been My Inspiration." Things grew steadily from there; a cover of the Impressions' "I'm So Proud" broke the Top 20, and "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)" went Top Ten. They scored again with the Donald McPherson-penned black power anthem "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," but tragedy struck in 1971: McPherson, who had suddenly taken ill with leukemia, died unexpectedly. Stunned, Silvester and Simmons regrouped with new lead singer Cuba Gooding, Sr., who'd served as a backing vocalist on some of their previous recordings and had filled in on tour during McPherson's brief illness.
The Gooding era began auspiciously enough with the million-selling smash "Everybody Plays the Fool," which hit number two R&B and number three pop to become the group's biggest hit ever.
They peaked at number eight on the R&B chart in 1974 with "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely," which sold over a million copies and also reached number ten on the pop chart.
Gooding's son is, of course, Cuba Gooding, Jr., the actor best known for his Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire.
THE MANHATTANS
Kiss and Say Goodbye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1e6RK4aMWI
Shining Star
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_VpjSv_4QM&feature=related
The Manhattans are a popular R&B vocal group with a string of hit records over three decades, but best known for their million-selling songs "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and "Shining Star" in 1976 and 1980, respectively.
The Manhattans, originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, formed in 1962.
They hit it big in 1976 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye". The song, with an impassioned vocal by Gerald Alston and a memorable opening rap by Winfred Lovett, quickly became a #1 chart-topper on both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. It also became only the second single ever to go platinum.
The group hit it big again in March of 1980, with the release of "Shining Star", which reached #5 on the Billboard pop charts and #4 on the R&B chart; it received a Grammy award the following year.
HAROLD MELVIN & THE BLUE NOTES
If You Don't Know Me by Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Kf1ATjl9A
The Love I Lost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2axbXDjYqA
I Miss You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hh8fZLjt5Uc
Hope That We Can Be Together Soon
w/Sharon Paige
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4E-k09o2eg
Don't Leave Me This Way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5tqAIY-TzA
Wake Up Everybody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVVKP3Gh8CI
Bad Luck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR8KfMTmPRQ
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976. Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the success years at Philadelphia International.
The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954.
In 1970, the group recruited drummer Teddy Pendergrass as the drummer for their backing band. Pendergrass had been a former member of The Cadillacs, and was promoted to lead singer.
Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (1972, their breakout single), "I Miss You" (1972), "The Love I Lost" (1973), and "Don't Leave Me This Way" (1975), and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" and "Bad Luck" (both 1975).
"Bad Luck" holds the record for longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: eleven weeks.
A 1976 cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; both it and the Blue Notes' originals are considered defining recordings of the disco era.
While at the top of their success in 1976, Pendergrass quit the Blue Notes, after unsuccessfully lobbying to have Melvin rename the act "Teddy Pendergrass & the Blue Notes".
Pendergrass went on to a successful solo career, cut short by a paralyzing 1982 car accident, although he made a brief comeback at the historic Live Aid concert in 1985.
Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes are arguably the most-covered Philly soul group in history: many of their hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including Simply Red, David Ruffin, Jimmy Somerville and Sybil, while dance music DJ Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time.
For his album This Note's for You, singer Neil Young named his back-up band The Blue Notes without permission from name rights holder Harold Melvin. Melvin took legal action against Young over use of the Blue Notes name, forcing the singer to change the name of the back-up band to "Ten Men Workin'" during the balance of the tour that promoted the This Note's for You album.
(Wikipedia)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
