SUPER-PHILLY-FONICS Posted by G147

Delfonics: Ready Or Not (Can't Hide From Love) Philly Groove, 1968, 7" Delfonics: Trying To Make A Fool Of Me Philly Groove, Delfonics, 1970, LP Philadelphia's the Delfonics (first known as The Four Gents) made a string of hits in the late-`60s through the mid-`70s with Thom Bell arranging strings and horns that were tailored for a falsetto style. In the `60s Rudy Cain and brothers William and Wilbert Hart played gigs at school dances with no knowledge that their efforts would trademark a Philly sound (a sound opposite of popular Stax artists at the time). Industry cats marked Bell's arrangements as monotonous, but soul enthusiasts still jock Bell's catalogue. "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" and "La-La Means I Love You" were the group's largest hits and provided smooth background music for Pam Grier and Robert Forster's classic Jackie Brown scene - you remember, right? "Ready Or Not (Can't Hide From Love)" and "Trying To Make A Fool Of Me" are two Delfonics songs that have today's teenagers bopping their heads via rap samples. In `96, the Fugees' Lauryn Hill lifted the chrous for "Ready Or Not (Can't Hide From Love)" on their version of "Ready Or Not" that was on a rappers-turn-revolutionaries tip, which put Fugees on the map. Missy Elliott sampled this song in `97 for a Timberland produced "Sock It To Me." The video for Elliott's song was ridiculous. No really, dressing Timberland and Elliott as Mega Man characters would only be suitable for psuedo-hipster costume orgies - `97 Elliot + Latex = Instant lesbian. The Heatmakerz dabbled in several predictable samples (recently, The Marvelettes "Please Mr. Postman" on Juelz Santana's "Oh Yes") that add chracter to lyrically bland Dipset rappers. Delfonic's "Trying To Make A Fool Of Me" was used for "Okay, Okay" on Santana's debut album, From Me To U. The first 13-seconds of "Trying To Make A Fool Of Me" pulls listeners off their seats only to be soothed by three falsettos that pull off a song babies are conceived to.