The Delfonics

The Delfonics were an American R&B/soul vocal group from Philadelphia. The Delfonics were 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 songs were primarily written by lead vocalist and founding member William "Poogie" Hart, and arranger and producer Thom Bell. Wilbert Hart is the last surviving founding member.Their songs have been used in film soundtracks, including Quentin Tarantino's 1997 movie Jackie Brown, in which "La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" underscore the pivotal relationship between the characters played by Pam Grier and Robert Forster. Their songs "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" and "Funny Feeling" were used in the video game Grand Theft Auto V on the fictional radio station The Lowdown 91.1.Prior to forming the Delfonics, William "Poogie" Hart sang in a variety of groups including Little Hart and The Everglows, the Veltones, the Four Guys, and the Four Gents. Members of some of these early groups included brothers William and Wilbert Hart, Ritchie Daniels, Randy Cain, and Jimmy Wroten, Stan Lathan, and Donald Cannon, friends who met at Overbrook High School in the 1960s.Circa 1964, William "Poogie" Hart and his brother, Wilbert Hart, formed a group called The Orphonics, consisting of themselves plus Randy Cain and Richie Daniels. After Daniels joined the armed services, they used Ricky Johnson. Randy Cain later rejoined, and the original trio of William Hart, Wilbert Hart, and Randy Cain became The Orphonics. The name came from a stereophonic machine the Harts had in their basement.In 1965, William Hart was working in a barbershop in Philadelphia. A man named Stan Watson came into the barbershop one day, where Hart, who had written quite a few songs by this point, would sing while playing his guitar. Watson told Hart that he knew a young arranger/producer for Cameo-Parkway Records named Thom Bell, who was at the time working with Chubby Checker. Watson thereafter introduced the group to Bell. Hart recalls that the first song he presented to Bell was an original composition of his entitled "He Don't Really Love You". Bell immediately produced the music arrangement to that song and it was released on Moon Shot, which later became Cameo-Parkway Records.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.