Ready Or Not: The Delfonics



Today I'm going to highlight a group that is known more for their sweet soul sounding music than for sampleable breaks and rhythms. This group is The Delfonics. The Delfonics are a trio made up of two brothers, William and Wilbert Hart, and friend Randy Cain. They were the group that started the "Philly Sound." When they first began as a group they mostly garnered small regional success within the Philadelphia area. The little attention they recieved was enough to get Thom Bell the owner of Philly Groove to sign them. They released their classic hit "La La means I love you" in 1968, which birthed their careers, became an undisputable classic, and introduced the world to the sounds of Philly.

The Philly sound was actually quite different from what was happening in soul music at the time. It was much more smooth, melodic, and the arrangements were more simple and sparse sounding. This made soul music a little more accessible to the mainstream. In fact, The Delfonics break out hit "La La Means I love you" became a hit for many more artists from different genres throughout the 70's. By The mid 70's the band's success began to die down. Randy Cain left the group and was replaced by Major Harris. With Harris in the group they had a few more minor hits, but Harris soon left to pursue a solo career. At that point the group was dismantled.

Today, you can still hear The Delfonics influence especially in Hip Hop. They have been sampled by Timbaland for Missy Elliot's music, as well as their lyrics being interpolated by Lauryn Hill on the Fugees classic softmore album The Score on the opening track "Ready Or Not." If you like good soul music that will make you feel good, and is suitable for everyone to listen to, pick up some Delfonics.

I've Included 3 Delfonics' MP3's that I'm currently feeling. Also join The Low End Theory Forums for more free shit and more contributions.

Ready Or Not Here I Come
Trying To Make A Fool Of Me
Going Out Of My Head