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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = The Delfonics| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , United States|U.S. | genre = Rhythm and blues|R& B Soul music|Soul | years_active = 1965–present| label = Philly Groove Records | associated_acts =| website =| current_members = William Hart Wilbert Hart Greg Hill Joe Branch Garfield Flemming Freddy Ingleton Dr. Salaam Love| past_members = Randy Cain Major Harris (singer)|Major Harris Eban Brown The Delfonics are a pioneering 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 hit single|hit songs were all written by songwriter and record producer|producer Thom Bell and lead vocalist and founder William Hart.
Their songs have been used extensively in film soundtracks, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino 's 1997 movie Jackie Brown (film)|Jackie Brown , in which "La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" underscore the pivotal relationship between Pam Grier and Robert Forster . The film helped create a borderline cult following for the group and their songs.
Their songs have been sampling (music)|sampled extensively by various hip hop music|hip-hop and rap music|rap artists including: The Wu-Tang Clan , The Notorious B.I.G. , Nas , Boyz II Men , Missy Elliott and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince .
In addition, their songs have been cover version|covered by numerous other performers, including Aretha Franklin , The Jackson 5 , Patti LaBelle , New Kids on the Block , Todd Rundgren , Prince (musician)|Prince , Swing Out Sister and The Manhattan Transfer .
Career
Original group members were William and Wilbert Hart, Samuel Edlightoon, Ritchie Daniels, Merfhab Isvardsoon and Randy Cain whom they met at Overbrook High School (Philadelphia)|Overbrook High School in the 1960s. Their first recording, "He Don't Really Love You", was for Moon Shot in 1966. Daniels was drafted and left for the service in 1968 and Edlightoon and Merfhab left the group a few weeks later. At Cameo, producer Stan Watson introduced them to producer Thom Bell , then working with Chubby Checker . With Cameo they recorded a popular tune called "You've Been Untrue". The group's La La Means I Love You (album)|first album , released on Watson's own Philly Groove record label , featured the smash hit "La-La (Means I Love You)" in 1968. The single sold over one million copies, and was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc .cite book | first= Joseph | last= Murrells | year= 1978 | title= The Book of Golden Discs | edition= 2nd | publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd | location= London | page= 238 & 278 | isbn= 0-214-20512-6 Four more Bell-produced albums appeared in the next few years: The Sound of Sexy Soul , The Delfonics Super Hits , The Delfonics (album)|The Delfonics and Tell Me This Is a Dream . Among the Delfonics' popular hits were the Grammy -winning "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", "(For The Love) I Gave To You", "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)", and "Hey Love". Prior to the release of "La-La (Means I Love You)", they had a hit with "He Don't Really Love You" on the small Moonshot record label in 1966. The Delfonics and Bell had to work with a basic budget on the first creation as Thom explained "When I took them into the studio we didn't have any money to pay for string players and an orchestra so I played most of the instruments myself!" - a far cry from the full classical productions from 1968 to the beginning of the seventies. http://www.souljonespresents.com/heroes_thom.html Heroes & Villains - Exclusive Interview with Thom Bell on Soul Jones Presents "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" also sold a million copies and by March 1970 received a gold disc from the R.I.A.A. .
Randy Cain left the group in 1971, and in 1973 had a hand in formulating Blue Magic , best known for their classic "Sideshow," when he brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing for W.M.O.T. (We Men Of Talent), and the remaining future members of Blue Magic came in for an audition. Cain was replaced by Major Harris (singer)|Major Harris ; by then, however, Thom Bell had moved on to produce The Stylistics and later, The Spinners (American band)|The Spinners , all artists in the mold of the Delfonics. The Delfonics swiftly produced another album, Alive & Kicking (Delfonics album)|Alive & Kicking , produced by Stan Watson. However, in the absence of Thom Bell, the Delfonics' career declined sharply, and with the exception of the aforementioned "Hey Love" and the minor hits "When You Get Right Down to It", "I Don't Want To Make You Wait" and "I Told You So", success eluded them after 1975. ("(For The Love) I Gave To You", although popular, was never released as a single (music)|single .) Most of their songs at this point were written by lead singer William Hart.
Split
The group split around 1975; one group featured Major and Wilbert, with new member Frank Washington , formerly of the Futures. (Major Harris also had major success with the solo recording "Love Won't Let Me Wait".) The other group featured William with new members. Lineups would become confusing as members shifted between groups and multiple groups toured. Major Harris moved to William's group around 1980, with their third member being the returning Randy Cain. Frank Washington also switched from Wilbert's group, joining in 1985.
While the main recording lineup of the group was William Hart, Major Harris, and Frank Washington, they would tour as two separate trios with additional members added. One group was William, Randy Cain, and Garfield Fleming, and the other was Frank, Major, and Freddy Ingleton. William also toured with another two members, Johnny ("JJ") Johnson and Pat Palmer, http://faac.us/adf/messages/136955/140404.html? 1175465336 Soulful Detroit: The Delfonics and toured in Japan at least one time with Ingleton and Dr. Salaam Love. http://music8.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/randb/1116769553/l50 ?La?The Delfonics ????????La?
1980s and on
Through the 1980s and the 1990s, the Delfonics groups continued to perform. The William Hart/Major Harris/Frank Washington group made several recordings, including backing singer|backing vocals on the track "After the Smoke has Cleared", on the 1996 hip hop album Ironman (album)|Ironman by Ghostface Killah . Their works continued to be sampled. Rapper The Notorious B.I.G. Sampling (music)|sampled "Hey Love" in his song "Playa Hata", released in 1996, and that same year rapper Nas sampled their "Walk Right Up To the Sun" for his hit "If I Ruled the World." Rapper Missy Elliott sampled "Ready Or Not Here I Come" in her hit "Sock it 2 Me." Eazy-E , Gang Starr , and Ed OG have sampled "Trying To Make a Fool of Me."
The groups reorganized in the late 1990s. William Hart started touring with Johnny Johnson and Garfield Fleming; this group recorded as the Delfonics. Major Harris toured with Frank Washington and Pat Palmer. http://www.actoneentertainment.net/band_01.html Bands: The Delfonics Wilbert also led a Delfonics group; members in the 1990s included Dr. Salaam Love (formerly in William's group) and Eban Brown (falsetto). http://www.utopiaartists.com/bio_delphonics.htm Wil Hart & The Delphonics - Utopia Artists They were replaced by Greg Hill (former bassist for Teddy Riley & New Edition) and Van Fields (now member of the Stylistics). One year after Greg joined the group, A good friend of Will told him about a talented first tenor named Joe Branch. Joe sang with a number of local groups including The Dynamics along with (Lillo Thomas). Will then asked Greg to bring Joe down to one of the rehearsals and the rest was history& #33; Joe eventually replaced Van Fields as the new lead vocalist.
The William/Johnny/Garfield lineup of the group was featured in concert on the DVD 's The Big Show and '''70's Soul Jam,'' whereas Wilbert Hart's group with Greg Hill and Joe Branch are featured on the DVD Old School Soul Party Live! , which was part of the PBS My Music series. Harris is also featured on the re-released DVD Blue Magic/Margie Joseph/Major Harris Live! , which was recorded in 1975.
Recent times
Garfield Fleming left the group, and a 2006 album, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007RTB8S Best of Delfonics , featured William, Johnny, and Major Harris. Johnny Johnson left shortly thereafter and joined http://www.thefonics.com/ The Fonics. William now leads a group with two new members. Frank Washington left around 2003 to join The Spinners (American band)|The Spinners as lead. His place was taken by Johnney Smalls, and this group (Major Harris/Pat Palmer/Johnney Smalls) also continues to tour. http://www.entrcon.com/events/delfonics/ Entertainment Consultants Presents A Tribute To The Delfonics
Wilbert also continues to tour with his Delfonics group (Joe Branch & Salaam Love) sometimes called "The Delphonics", "The New Delfonics" or simply billed as "Wilbert Hart". In more recent times, they have come to be known as "The Delfonics Revue feat. Wil hart". Wilbert's group released a CD in 2005 with Joe Branch and Greg Hill, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A2H8GW Fonic Zone. Wilbert Hart, Joe Branch and Salaam Have been touring together for the past fifteen years. Along with touring, the trio (Wilbert, Joe and Greg Hill) recorded a single with platinum hip hop recording artist Rick Ross entitled "Here For U". This trio is currently part of the "70s soul Party Tour" while William "poogie" Harts group periodicly performs on the "70s Soul Jam Tour"
Members
Formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , in 1965 and originally known as The Four Gents, The Delfonics classic line-up featured:
William Hart (born January 17, 1945, Washington, D.C. )
Wilbert Hart (born October 19, 1947, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania )
Randy Cain (born Rudy Cain May 2, 1945, Philadelphia; died April 9, 2009, Maple Shade Township, New Jersey cite news|url= http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/Delfonics_singer_Randy_Cain_dies_at_63.html|last=Gross|first=Dan|date=April 11, 2009|publisher=Philadelphia Daily News|pages=1|accessdate=2009-04-11) (until 1971).
Major Harris (singer)|Major Harris (born Major Harris III, February 9, 1947, Richmond, Virginia ) (from 1971 to 1974)
Discography
Studio albums
Year
Album
url=Allmusic
Record label
US
US R& B
1968
La La Means I Love You (album)
100
15
Philly Groove Records
1969
Sound of Sexy Soul
155
8
1970
The Delfonics (album)
61
4
1972
Tell Me This Is a Dream
123
15
1974
Alive & Kicking (Delfonics album)
205
34
1999
Forever New
& mdash;
& mdash;
Stax Records
"—" denotes the album failed to chart
Compilation albums
Year
Album
Chart positions
Record label
US
US R& B
1969
Super Hits
111
7
Philly Groove Records
1990
Golden Classics
& mdash;
& mdash;
Collectables Records
1997
La-La Means I Love You: The Definitive Collection
& mdash;
& mdash;
Arista Records
1999
The Very Best of the Delfonics
& mdash;
& mdash;
Audiophile
2003
Platinum & Gold Collection
& mdash;
& mdash;
Arista
2005
Love Songs
& mdash;
& mdash;
Legacy Recordings
"—" denotes the album failed to chart
Singles
Year
Single
url=Allmusic
US
US R& B
UK
1966
"He Don't Really Love You"
& mdash;
& mdash;
& mdash;
1967
"You've Been Untrue"
& mdash;
& mdash;
& mdash;
1968
" La-La (Means I Love You) "
4
2
19
"I'm Sorry"
42
15
& mdash;
"He Don't Really Love You" (re-release)
92
33
& mdash;
"Break Your Promise"
35
12
& mdash;
" Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love) " (A-side)
35
14
41
1969
"Somebody Loves You" (B-side)
72
41
& mdash;
"Funny Feeling"
94
48
& mdash;
"You Got Yours and I'll Get Mine"
40
6
& mdash;
1970
" Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) "
10
3
22
"Trying to Make a Fool of Me"
40
8
& mdash;
"When You Get Right Down to It"
53
12
& mdash;
1971
"Hey& #33; Love" (A-side)
52
17
& mdash;
"Over and Over" (B-side)
58
9
& mdash;
"Walk Right Up to the Sun"
81
13
& mdash;
1972
"Tell Me This Is a Dream"
86
15
& mdash;
1973
"Think It Over"
101
47
& mdash;
"I Don't Want to Make You Wait"
91
22
& mdash;
" Alfie (song)
& mdash;
88
& mdash;
1974
"I Told You So"
101
26
& mdash;
"Lying to Myself"
& mdash;
60
& mdash;
"—" denotes the single failed to chart
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.aaeg.com/delfonics Official Delfonics
myspace|id=delfonicsworldwide|name=The Delfonics
http://www.phillysoulclassics.com/artists/the-delfonics The Delfonics at Philly Soul Classics
http://www.soultracks.com/node/1197 The Delfonics at Soul Tracks
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p4067
DEFAULTSORT:Delfonics, The Category:American soul musical groups Category:American vocal groups Category:Bell Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musical groups from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
