The Delfonics is the quintessential sweet-soul group formed in the mid-’60s, lead by vocalist and songwriter William Hart who sadly passed away in July of 2022. Between 1968 and 1974, they had twenty charting singles and won a Grammy for their hit “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” Out of those 20 hits, William Hart wrote or cowrote eighteen of those, with thirteen written with collaborator Thom Bell: “La-La Means I Love You,” “He Don’t Really Love You,” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).”
Hart collaborated with Adrian Younge on what was envisioned as a modern-day Delfonics album. Skillfully writing his vocals around Younge’s drum-heavy productions, Hart’s poignant songwriting has remained a constant. “I write songs for everybody to enjoy,” he says. “Your Grandmother can listen to it, your children can listen to it, and this is the way you should think when you’re writing.”
“The Delfonics represents that classic soul era from the ’60s and ’70s that our older generation has grown up listening to,” comments DJ Rhettmatic of the Beat Junkies. “The Delfonics is definitely important,” says A-Plus from legendary Oakland hip-hop crew Souls of Mischief. “They have been heavily sampled by the hip-hop community. Many of us grew up listening to them from our parents.”
While The Delfonics stayed in America’s musical consciousness for generations, getting perpetual spins on oldies stations, the 1990s saw a definitive rediscovery for the Philly group and William Hart in particular. Not only did countless hip-hop producers borrow their riffs for beats, but, in 1996, The Fugees famously interpolated “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)” for their hit single off the multiplatinum smash record The Score. That same year, William provided guest vocals to Ghostface Killah’s “After the Smoke Is Clear” off his debut album. Things were coming full circle for Hart, whose new Delfonics track “Enemies” was sampled for the upcoming Adrian Younge–produced Ghostface Killah album, Twelve Reasons to Die.
“It means everything to me in my career,” says William Hart of the album. “This is my top moment. Everything to me at this point in my life is showing me that I can do it over and over again, if given the chance. I respect Adrian for seeking me out and Wax Poetics for taking me on, because there are a lot of people that couldn’t see the science we used for this.”
“That guy is a genius,” Younge says of William. “I learned a lot from him. It was just one of the best feelings of my life as far as music is concerned. The first time I heard his voice on one of my songs, I was just totally mesmerized. Because I know his voice so well, so to hear him on something that I created was just crazy.”
“This album that I’ve done with the great Adrian Younge is the beginning of the rest of my life in music,” Hart says. “I just want to carry the legacy of the Delfonics.”
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Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics is quintessential sweet-soul from The Delfonics lead vocalist Wiliam Hart produced by Adrian Younge. From the very beginning, it was Younge’s intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective.There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. Recorded and mixed by Adrian Younge at Linear Labs, the preeminent analog studio of Los Angeles,CA.
The Delfonics is the quintessential sweet-soul group. Hailing from Philadelphia, the crew formed in the mid-’60s, with the definitive original lineup as lead vocalist and songwriter William Hart, his brother Wilbert Hart, and mutual high-school friend Randy Cain (later replaced by Major Harris). With the help of producer/arranger Thom Bell—and with William’s signature falsetto—the Delfonics set the tone for all other sweet-soul groups that would follow.
Between 1968 and 1974, the Delfonics had twenty charting singles and won a Grammy for their massive hit “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” Out of their twenty hits, William Hart wrote or co-wrote eighteen of them, thirteen with collaborator Thom Bell, like “La-La Means I Love You,” “He Don’t Really Love You,” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).”After five albums, the Delfonics would break up for good in 1975. Brothers William and Wilbert parted ways and over the years often toured separately with different forms of the group. But over forty years after writing his first hit, lead singer and songwriter William Hart has put his unmistakable falsetto back on analog tape and reinvented the Delfonics brand for a new generation.
Los Angeles producer/composer Adrian Younge envisioned a modern-day Delfonics album and pitched the idea to William Hart, who hopped a plane from Philly to L.A. and began work on a new album. Younge helped to reshape the Delfonics by bringing on board two excellent young vocalists, Loren Oden and Saudia Mills—as well as Om’Mas Keith on the single “Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)”—to work alongside William. Adrian Younge is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who traded in his MPC sampler for a carefully curated studio of authentic gear. Younge rocketed to international recognition after composing the original score for the film Black Dynamite and has since release ground-breaking projects including The Souls of Mischief’s “There Is Only Now” and Ghostface Killah’s “Twelve Reasons to Die” concept albums.
From the very beginning, it was Younge’s intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. “I want people to expect something classic but not expect to hear the same thing rehashed,” Younge says. “I want to push it forward. William and I strived to push this forward.
Younge now makes this breath-taking musical outing available in a never before issued instrumental edition on his own Linear Labs imprint.
Tracks from Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics have been sampled by Schoolboy Q, DJ Premier (and many more) and have been heard in Netflix monster hit Marvel’s Luke Cage!
The Delfonics is the quintessential sweet-soul group. Hailing from Philadelphia, the crew formed in the mid-’60s, with the definitive original lineup as lead vocalist and songwriter William Hart, his brother Wilbert Hart, and mutual high-school friend Randy Cain (later replaced by Major Harris). With the help of producer/arranger Thom Bell—and with William’s signature falsetto—the Delfonics set the tone for all other sweet-soul groups that would follow.
Between 1968 and 1974, the Delfonics had twenty charting singles and won a Grammy for their massive hit “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time).” Out of their twenty hits, William Hart wrote or co-wrote eighteen of them, thirteen with collaborator Thom Bell, like “La-La Means I Love You,” “He Don’t Really Love You,” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).”After five albums, the Delfonics would break up for good in 1975. Brothers William and Wilbert parted ways and over the years often toured separately with different forms of the group. But over forty years after writing his first hit, lead singer and songwriter William Hart has put his unmistakable falsetto back on analog tape and reinvented the Delfonics brand for a new generation.
Los Angeles producer/composer Adrian Younge envisioned a modern-day Delfonics album and pitched the idea to William Hart, who hopped a plane from Philly to L.A. and began work on a new album. Younge helped to reshape the Delfonics by bringing on board two excellent young vocalists, Loren Oden and Saudia Mills—as well as Om’Mas Keith on the single “Stop and Look (And You Have Found Love)”—to work alongside William. Adrian Younge is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist who traded in his MPC sampler for a carefully curated studio of authentic gear. Younge rocketed to international recognition after composing the original score for the film Black Dynamite and has since release ground-breaking projects including The Souls of Mischief’s “There Is Only Now” and Ghostface Killah’s “Twelve Reasons to Die” concept albums.
From the very beginning, it was Younge’s intention to create an old-school Delfonics vibe but offer a very hip-hop-informed perspective. There are distinguishing musical elements that Delfonics fans will recognize, like the electric sitar guitar, the French horn, string arrangements, and the tympani. “I want people to expect something classic but not expect to hear the same thing rehashed,” Younge says. “I want to push it forward. William and I strived to push this forward.
Tracklist:
Side A: Stop And Look (And You Have Found Love)
Side B: I Can’t Cry No More
Featuring songs from upcoming releases produced by Younge, including 12 Reasons To Die II (with Ghostface Killah, Raekwon & RZA); Something About April II; and The Midnight Hour (with Ali Shaheed Muhammad); alongside Younge catalog classics dating back to 2000. LP format features bonus track: “Sirens II,” from upcoming Bilal album.
In less than a year’s time, Adrian Younge’s Linear Labs imprint has made a very firm impression on fans of forward-thinking, analog-based music from multiple genres. One notable fan, among many, is DJ Premier, who produced his late 2014 PRhyme album exclusively using samples drawn from Younge’s catalog. To give fans a chance to revel in Younge’s range and – just as importantly – give followers a sneak-peek at four impressive 2015 albums already slated for release, Younge is proud to release the compilation album, Los Angeles.
On Los Angeles, many hip-hop fanatics will impatiently skip forward to the graceful, galloping and appropriately dramatic “Return Of The Savage,” from the upcoming Younge-helmed 12 Reasons To Die II. The song features Ghostface Killah alongside Raekwon and RZA. But track-skippers will soon head back to the album’s opener: the dusky, Baroque soul of “Memories Of War,” from the upcoming Something About April II, with vocals by Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier.
Also on the upcoming tip: a track from the Adrian Younge / Ali Shaheed Muhammad concept album The Midnight Hour, entitled “Feel Alive,” with silky vocals by Karolina, alongside longtime Younge collaborator Loren Oden.
Other highlights amongst the album’s ten tracks include:
“1969 Organ” – From Adrian Younge’s first release, 2000’s Adrian Younge Presents Venice Dawn
“Panic (Ali Shaheed Muhammad Remix)” – From the 2014 Souls of Mischief / Ali Shaheed Muhammad album, There Is Only Now Remix
“The Sure Shot Parts 1 & 2” – An instrumental originally rhymed over by the inimitable Ghostface Killah, on 2013’s 12 Reasons To Die
“To Be Your One” – Taken from 2013’s Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics
“Chicago Wind” – From the 2009 album, Original Score To The Motion Picture: Black Dynamite