RON'S WORLD MUSIC TO REMEMBER: April 2013

After the Spinners and the O'Jays, the Stylistics were the leading Philly soul group produced by Thom Bell. During the early '70s, the band had 12 straight Top Ten hits, including "You Are Everything," "Betcha by Golly, Wow," "I'm Stone in Love With You," "Break Up to Make Up," and "You Make Me Feel Brand New." Of all their peers, the Stylistics were one of the smoothest and sweetest soul groups of their era. All of their hits were ballads, graced by the soaring falsetto of Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the lush yet graceful productions of Bell, which helped make the Stylistics one of the most successful soul groups of the first half of the '70s.

The Stylistics - Betcha By Golly Wow 1975

The Stylistics was formed in Philadelphia, PA in 1966 from two groups, "The Percussions" and "The Monarchs". Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith, and Airron Love came from the Monarchs, and James Dunn and Herbie Murrell came from the Percussions. When members from each group were drafted or went on to further their education, the remaining members under the guidance of their English teacher Beverly Hamilton joined forces and changed the name to "The Stylistics". After working locally for a number of years, the group was approached by Bill Perry who asked if they would be interested in recording. Their first song "You're a Big Girl Now" was recorded at Virtue Recording Studio, a local studio in Philadelphia. This song was written by the group guitarist at the time, Robert "Doc" Douglas and Road Manager, Marty Bryant. The sessions cost Bill Perry a little over $500.00 to produce and was released locally. It was soon picked up in the tri-state area and before long, it became a number 1 hit in Philadelphia and a few other cities. Bill was interested it promoting the record national but didn't have the resources. He decided to contact Avco Records and made a deal. Rumor has it, Bill received over $10,000.00 from Avco of which the group never saw a dime.

After the success of "You're A Big Girl Now", Avco wanted to naturally follow up with an album release. Hit veteran producer Tom Bell was contacted and was hired to produce the group's first album. The first song recorded with Bell and his collaborator, lyricist Linda Creed, was the lush "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)". Bell imported techniques he had perfected with The Delfonics and his arrangements worked perfectly with Thompkins' falsetto. The bittersweet lyrics from Creed were a key factor in creating memorable music. The album was entitled "The Stylistics" and from that album came "Stop, Look, Listen to your Heart", "You Are Everything" and "Betcha By Golly Wow".

The success of the first album was phenomenal for that time along with an unheard release of six singles in total. The ball continued to roll with the release of their second album entitled "Round Two". The Stylistics were becoming known as the Philly group with the sweet love songs. (Check out Discography for the full list of album releases.) Herbert Murrell and Airrion Love are the remaining original members of The Stylistics. Friends since junior high school, Herb and Airrion have managed to keep their institution of 70's music alive. It was thought to be the end of the Stylistics following the departure of their original lead singer, but as in life "THE SHOW MUST GO ON"

During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive U.S. R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)", "People Make The World Go Round", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up", and "You Make Me Feel Brand New".