9
The Soul Children waxed a #3 R&B seller for Stax in 1973 with
I’ll Be The Other
Woman
before switching to Epic to work with producer Don Davis midway
through the decade. By then they were a trio, Shelbra having exited. After
returning to a revitalized Stax for one last hit in ’78, the group broke up. J.
Blackfoot registered his own #4 R&B smash for the Sound Town logo in 1984
with
Taxi
and rode the chitlin’ circuit until he died November 30, 2011.
3. The Stylistics
Betcha By Golly, Wow
(Thom Bell-Linda Creed)
Avco 4591
Of all the sweet-singing soul groups dominating
the early ‘70s airwaves, none boasted a creamier
sky-high lead tenor than The Stylistics. Born March 21,
1951, Russell Thompkins, Jr. was the Philadelphia quintet’s not-so-secret
weapon, giving them a major edge that they rode during a streak of 13 Top
Ten entries between 1971 and ’75. Nearly all were dreamy ballads.
The Stylistics were the result of a 1968 merger of two groups competing at a
talent show at Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin High School. The Monarchs
