Russell Thompkins, Jr. & The New Stylistics, The Dramatics & The Jones Girls Set for NJPAC
By: A.A. Cristi Oct. 20, 2016
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents an evening with Russell Thompkins, Jr. & The New Stylistics, The Dramatics featuring LJ Reynolds, The Jones Girls featuring Shirley Jones, Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, Ted Mills - the voice of Blue Magic - and more! Only NJ appearance of this '70s soul band extravaganza! Friday, November 25, 2016 8:00 PM at Prudential Hall. Tickets Available Now at NJPAC.org or 888.GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722).
Born in Philadelphia, Thompkins was introduced to music by his father and started singing formally in school. During high school, Thompkins was a member of a local vocal group called the Monarchs who defeated another group called the Percussions in a talent show at Benjamin Franklin High School. Both groups disbanded shortly thereafter. Their remaining members, Thompkins, James Smith, and Airrion Love from The Monarchs, and James Dunn and Herbie Murrell from the Percussions, joined together to form a New Group called The Stylistics in 1968. ABOUT THE STYLISTICS:
The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of singers Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the soaring falsetto voice of Russell Thompkins, Jr. and the lush productions of Thom Bell, which helped make the Stylistics one of the most successful soul groups of the first half of the 1970s." During the early 1970s, the group had twelve consecutive U.S. R&B top ten hits, including "Stop, Look, Listen", "You Are Everything", "Betcha by Golly, Wow", "People Make the World Go Round", "I'm Stone in Love with You", "Break Up to Make Up", and "You Make Me Feel Brand New".
The Jones Girls is a R&B trio of sisters from Detroit, Michigan. They first recorded for GM Records in 1968, then recorded for Philadelphia International Records with Gamble & Huff.The group consisted of sisters Brenda, Valorie and Shirley Jones. They served as backup singers for Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass, Aretha Franklin, and Le Pamplemousse. They worked with Diana Ross from 1975-78 and were the backup singers on Linda Clifford's 1978 album If My Friends Could See Me Now and on Tower of Power's lowly rated 1979 album Back on the Streets. Their biggest hit was "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else". The song broke the Billboard Magazine Top 40 at #38 in May 1979. The song was also a Top 5 R&B hit. It became a gold record. An additional hit followed in 1980, with the single "I Just Love The Man", charting at #9 in January 1981.
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