Lenny Williams & William Poogie Hart - of The Delfonics on Branded After Dark

April 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Early life and career

Williams moved to Oakland, California at a young age. Learning to play the trumpet in elementary school fueled his interest in music; his skills as a vocalist were first nurtured by singing in gospel choirs and groups around the Bay Area. He worked with several notable artists, such as Sly Stone, Andraé Crouch, Billy Preston and members of the Hawkins family, Edwin, Walter and Tramaine.

Professional recordings

After winning several local talent contests, Williams signed his first recording contract with Fantasy Records. He cut two singles for the label including "Lisa’s Gone" and "Feelin Blue", written by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. In 1972, Williams joined the emerging funk band Tower of Power. A string of hits followed, including "So Very Hard To Go", "Don't Change Horses (In The Middle Of The Stream)" and "Luvin You", written by Williams and Johnny "Guitar" Watson. During his two years with the group, Williams participated in three albums: Back To Oakland, Urban Renewal and the gold LP Tower Of Power. Williams and Tower of Power toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Solo works

At the end of 1975, Williams returned to his solo projects. Initially signing with Motown Records in 1975, he later moved to ABC Records in 1977 (which was then purchased by MCA Records in 1979). Over the next four years. He scored ten chart hits, including “Shoo Doo FuFu Ooh”, "Choosing You”, “You Got Me Running”, “Love Hurt Me Love Healed Me”, and “Midnight Girl”. Williams recorded four more albums from 1977 to 1980: Choosing You, his first gold LP; Spark Of Love (contains Cause I Love You); Love Current; and Let’s Do It Today.

His 1978 hit song "Cause I Love You" was sampled by Havoc of Mobb Deep for the track"Nothing Like Home", and by Kanye West for the songs "Overnight Celebrity" by Twista and "I Got A Love" by Jin. The track was sampled a fourth time in 2007 by Scarface for his single "Girl You Know" featuring Trey Songz & Young Jeezy sampled "Lets Talk It Over" for his single "I Do" featuring Jay-Z and Andre 3000
According to lennywilliams.com, over the past few years, Lenny has continued his solo career, touring the US, Europe and South Africa. He has recently shared stages with Aretha Franklin, The Whispers, Rick James, Boney James, Bobby Womack, Ohio Players, Al Green, Usher, K-Ci and JoJo, Alicia Keyes, Anthony Hamilton and Frankie Beverly and Maze. Lenny has also expanded his multi-dimensional career to include acting, starring in several stages plays "Love On Lay Away" starring Deborah Cox, actor Mel Jackson and Martha Wash. He also appeared in "What Men Don't Tell" starring Kenny Latimore, Shante Moore and Dottie Peoples the hit stage play "When A Woman's Fed Up". As an icon of the past and the present, Lenny Williams continues to expand his musical prowess and flex his newly found acting skills. He is sure to continue wowing his fans in the United States and beyond for decades to come. Lenny Williams is continuing to inspire the younger generation.

Guest  Lenny Williams and The Delfonics Live & No Commercials
Saturday  4/14/12 8pmPST 9pmMT 10pmCT 11pmEST
(347)-215-8653
http://www.nexxlegacy.com/
Follow on Twitter Guest  Lenny Williams and The Delfonics Host @iamBranded Station @VMTR @RahgeezySlowJam

The Delfonics are a pioneering Philadelphia soul singing group, 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 all written by songwriter and producer Thom Bell and lead vocalist and founder William Hart.
Their songs have been used extensively in film soundtracks, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino's 1997 movie Jackie Brown, in which "La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" underscore the pivotal relationship between Pam Grier and Robert Forster. The film helped create a borderline cult following for the group and their songs.Their songs have been sampled extensively by various hip-hop and rap artists including: The Wu-Tang Clan, Fugees, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Boyz II Men, Missy Elliott and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.In addition, their songs have been covered by numerous other performers, including Aretha Franklin, The Jackson 5, Patti LaBelle, New Kids on the Block, Fugees, Todd Rundgren

Career

Original group members were William and Wilbert Hart, Samuel Edlightoon, Ritchie Daniels, Merfhab Isvardsoon and Randy Cain whom they met at Overbrook High School in the 1960s. Their first recording, "He Don't Really Love You", was for Moon Shot in 1966. Daniels was drafted and left for the service in 1968 and Edlightoon and Merfhab left the group a few weeks later. At Cameo, producer Stan Watson introduced them to producer Thom Bell, then working with Chubby Checker. With Cameo they recorded a popular tune called "You've Been Untrue". The group's first album, released on Watson's own Philly Groove record label, featured the smash hit "La-La (Means I Love You)" in 1968. The single sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.Four more Bell-produced albums appeared in the next few years: The Sound of Sexy Soul, The Delfonics Super Hits, The Delfonics and Tell Me This Is a Dream. Among the Delfonics' popular hits were the Grammy-winning "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", "(For The Love) I Gave To You", "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)", and "Hey Love". Prior to the release of "La-La (Means I Love You)", they had a hit with "He Don't Really Love You" on the small Moonshot record label in 1966. The Delfonics and Bell had to work with a basic budget on the first creation as Thom explained "When I took them into the studio we didn't have any money to pay for string players and an orchestra so I played most of the instruments myself!" - a far cry from the full classical productions from 1968 to the beginning of the seventies. "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" also sold a million copies and by March 1970 received a gold disc from the R.I.A.A..
Randy Cain left the group in 1971, and in 1973 had a hand in formulating Blue Magic, best known for their classic "Sideshow," when he brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing for W.M.O.T. (We Men Of Talent), and the remaining future members of Blue Magic came in for an audition. Cain was replaced by Major Harris; by then, however, Thom Bell had moved on to produce The Stylistics and later, The Spinners, all artists in the mold of the Delfonics. The Delfonics swiftly produced another album, Alive & Kicking, produced by Stan Watson. However, in the absence of Thom Bell, the Delfonics' career declined sharply, and with the exception of the aforementioned "Hey Love" and the minor hits "When You Get Right Down to It", "I Don't Want To Make You Wait" and "I Told You So", success eluded them after 1975. ("(For The Love) I Gave To You", although popular, was never released as a single.) Most of their songs at this point were written by lead singer William Hart.

Guest  Lenny Williams and The Delfonics Live & No Commercials
Saturday  4/14/12 8pmPST 9pmMT 10pmCT 11pmEST
(347)-215-8653
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/vmtr
Follow on Twitter Guest  Lenny Williams and The Delfonics Host @iamBranded Station @VMTR @RahgeezySlowJam

This station is home to the slow jams, R&B and music to end the weekend, and begin the week in a calm fashion. We play music (Slow Jams) from established, and up & coming artists. Also entertainment interviews from the best in entertainment.  Also topics may include relationship topics to sexual topics and more. All callers are welcome to call in and voice their opinion on all music and topic related subjects.

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