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THE STYLISTICS

Any soul music lover who was born before the 1970s, will tell you about The Stylistics. The Stylistics came from the tradition of Philly soul music and were one of the smoothest and sweetest soul music groups.  The group was formed from two groups : The Percussions and The Monarch. The three members of The Stylistics : Russell Tompkins, James Smith, and Airron Love came from the Monarch.  On the other hand, Murrel and James Dunn came from the Percussions. In 1970, the dynamic group recorded “You are a Big Girl Now,” a song that their manager Marty Bryant co-wrote with Roberts Douglas. The song became a major hit for Sebring Records. This proved a huge success to the group. In 1971, the group was signed by Avco Records, and their single eventually climbed to number (7) seven on the US Billboard R&B chart.

After being signed by the then hugely popular record label, the sky was the limit for them. Their record label approached producer Thom Bell, who by then had produced a series of hits for The Delfonics. The label wanted the producer to work with the group. This forced Bell to personally audition the group. Unfortunately, he was not impressed. However, because Thom Bell believed in the lead singer’s voice for the group, Russell Tomkins, he agreed to produce for the group. Thereafter, Avco gave Bell complete control over the group and he proceeded to focus on the group’s sound.
 
On his first assignment with the group, Bell, together with his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed recorded Stop, Look, Listen among others. On these hits, Bell borrowed some of the techniques he had previously perfected with the The Delfonics. Together with Thomkin’s falsetto, the arrangements worked perfectly well. Additionally, the sweet lyrics from Creed were a major key factor that created memorable music.  Some of the hits produced by The Stylistics include: “Betcha By Golly Wow,” “I’m Stone in Love With You,” and “Break Up to Make Up.”  Following their huge success in the music industry, The Stylistics’ smooth sounding music found it very easy to transition onto the adult contemporary music airwaves than most other soul music artists.

THE DRAMATICS

The Dramatics are a soul music group made up of five singers. This vocal group has been one of the most entertaining groups that have been in existence for the last three decades. Throughout their entire career of hard work, hits and musical tours, The Dramatics still continue to release great music. The group has had various old school music compositions which have helped them sustain their recording careers. In 2008, The Dramatics were presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Soul Tracks Readers Choice Awards. The group continues to stay busy and is working on an album which should be released in the near future.

 

THE CHI LITES

 Chi Lites had been around for some ten years before they made a hit in the late 60s. Singer Eugene Record, Clarence Johnson and Robert Lester formed the Chanteurs in the late 50s and released on single in 1959.

The Classic Chi Lites

The Chi-Lites were formed in Chicago in 1959. The original classic group was made up of Eugene Record, born on 23 December 1940 in Chicago, who was the group’s primary songwriter.  Robert Lester, known as Squirrel, was born on August 16, 1942 and was on vocals as second tenor. Creadel Jones was born on 26 September 1940 and was the bass singer while Marshall Thompson was born on August 24, 1942 and was a baritone. 

Known first as the Hi Lites, it was in 1964 that they changed their name to Marshall & the Chi-Lites. In 1969, after they signed with Brunswick, their ‘Give It Away’ became their first USA national hit single in the R&B charts.  A series of releases such as ‘You Did That To Me’ saw the quartet becoming known as the Chi-Lites. Later Eugene Record formed a songwriting partnership with Barbara Acklin, and this led to many of the group’s best songs such as ‘Give It Away’.  Working with Barbara, Rekord also came up with the ballad “Have You Seen Her,” which was the smash hit followed by “Oh Girl.”