The Delicates

Girl group with Alder Ray Black, Priscilla Kennedy, Freddi Poole, and Patsy Seates These Delicates recorded on Challenge, Soultown, and Pulsar Records. They signed their first contract while in junior high school after wowing 'em at Friday night Sock Hops, or Canteens as they were called in some areas. Ex-Robin writer and producer H. B. Barnum acted as the liaison for their initial studio sessions. Bobby Sanders took over from Barnum and played a major role in the production of their recordings and subsequent deal with Challenge, a label that initially (1957-1958) was owned in part by TV cowboy Gene Autry; Autry sold his interest in 1958. Berry Gordy was also interested and had Frank Wilson and Hal Davis cut a demo on them entitled "Crying," written by Davis and Vincente Love, but Motown only wanted Poole and the deal never materialized. They debuted on Challenge late in 1964 as the Delicates with "I've Been Hurt" (written by Love) b/w "C'mon Everybody." 1965 saw two final releases on Challenge: "I Want to Get Married," a Bobby Sanders/Darlene Walton song, and "Stop Shovin' Me Around" b/w "Comin' Down With Love." Nothing sold outside of Watts, so they left to kick off Sanders' Soultown label with He Gave Me Love backed with a re release of "Stop Shovin' Me Around" as "Stop Shoving Me Around." A final single on Pulsar Records, Sanders and Jerry Flanagan's "I've Got a Crush on You" undersided by "You Said You Love Me," ended the Delicates career as front-line recording artists, but opened the door for lucrative careers as session singers, particularly, Brenda Joyce and Billie Rae Calvin, who sang on the Four Tops', Diana Ross', and Edwin Starr's recordings. It's been said that Bobby Taylor reintroduced Joyce and Calvin to Motown, but it was Norman Whitfield who put the two in the spotlight by grouping them with Joe Harris (Moroccos, Peps, and Ohio Players) to form Undisputed Truth's original lineup, the one that glossed with "Smiling Faces Sometimes." But success was fleeting, after a couple of albums, the Magictones, an unsuccessful Detroit vocal group, replaced the soft singing femmes, and with Whitfield's tinkering, changed the sound into an amalgamation of psychedelic/soul/and metal-rock. In 2001, Freddie Poole was still singing with Sherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence as the Former Ladies of the Supremes.