The Three Degrees - Contact

The Three Degrees were formed in 1963 by Richard Barrett and signed to Swan records. They were originally Fayette Pinckney, Linda Turner, and Shirley Poole, as the vehicles for his vision of creating the next great girl group. Turner and Poole were quickly replaced by Helen Scott and Janet Harmon, and Barrett began the process of molding the trio into a regional favorite, training them extensively and booking them at record shops and talent contests throughout the Eastern United States. The group was signed by Philly-based Swan Records in the mid-60s and scored a regional hit with "Gee Baby," working with a number of great local musicians, some of whom would become the backbone of the Philadelphia soul movement of the 70s. In 1966 Scott temporarily left the group and was replaced by Sheila Ferguson, already an accomplished solo singer, with a song on Swan that was to become a Northern Soul favourite, "Heartbroken Memories", and Valerie Holiday took over Harmon's slot. They then signed to Warner Brothers and recorded this wonderful song, "Contact", that became one of the favourites at Blackpool Mecca's legendary Highland Room. After Warner Bros, the act was then signed by Roulette Records and in 1970 scored their first major national hit, a top 5 remake of the Chantels' "Maybe." They followed later that year with the popular "You're the One," and landed a brief appearance singing in the Gene Hackman hit movie The French Connection. A major career move for the Three Degrees was their signing by Gamble & Huff's up-and-coming Philadelphia International Records in 1972. They made an immediate splash with the disco hit "Dirty Ol' Man" before joining with MFSB (the Philadelphia International house band) to record the Soul Train theme song "TSOP," which became an across-the-board #1 hit. They then followed the next year with what would become their signature song, the sophisticated ballad "When Will I See You Again," one of the greatest songs ever to come from Philadelphia, and the group's biggest international hit. The Three Degrees continued with moderate success at PIR before moving over to Epic Records in 1975 and then to Ariola. During the next decade their success in the U.S. was limited but they became bigger than ever in the U.K., where they continued to score with hits such as "Giving Up, Giving In" and "Woman In Love." Prince Charles proclaimed them his favorite group (they were guests at his wedding to Princess Diana) and they were consequently labeled by the British Press as "Charlie's Angels." Helen Scott rejoined the group (replacing Pinckney) in 1976, and the lineup of Scott, Ferguson and Holiday continued for a decade, when Ferguson left the group, ultimately being replaced with Cynthia Garrison and resulting in the lineup on this video, Valerie Holiday, Helen Scott and Cynthia Garrison, the lineup that continues to this day. We were very proud to re-record "Contact" and film them for "The Strange World Of Northern Soul", thanks to their wonderful manager, the founder of Blues and Soul magazine, John Abbey.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Northern-Soul
• Philly
• Sixties-Soul
• Diva
• Girl-Groups
• Classic
• Motorcity
• Blackpool-Mecca

[CharlesBarry]

who the hell are these girls, they are not the three degrees ?

[IanLevine]

I beg your pardon, but they most certainly are. Please check your facts before spouting gibberish.

[CharlesBarry]

sorry, the only one I can see is the one on the left, thats Valeri! don't know the other two ? ? ?

[IanLevine]

Valerie and Helen are original members and own the group name officially.

[kpitt1204]

Nice song. Great vocals, but this group has given nothing but great vocals over the years.

[sai12nanohana]

add me too friend

helen is my cousin

[sierria64]

i like this sounds like a commericial for at & t

[smilersweetness]

This is fab!

[karonG1]

Cool women, I grew up on these. . .

[n2cora]

omg--they are still some very sexy sexy sextogenarians! if i look half that good in my sixties i'll be just fine!

[ytgm00]

Well Ian, as an all time fan, you should record the ladies, before they stop their show.

Thanks for your music !

Gino

[drgroove]

well im gonna tell you,when i was a kid i always though the one on the far left was the finest,check her out on SANFORD AND SON EPISODE,ROLLO WAS THIER MANAGER ON THAT ONE

[cekandrewssisters]

i love this song but were can you find it

[CharlesBarry]

to IanLevine thanks for the info, when I think of the 3 degrees, I think of the long running line up of Sheila-Valerie-Fayette, the same 3 who sang for Roulette-Phidelphia International records.each girl could sing !