The early seventies were a great time for soul music. Motown was still going strong and the sophisticated sounds of Philly Soul were starting to fill the radio airwaves. The R&B charts were dominated by male vocal groups, many survivors from the doo-wop era, finding their way into a new era with mellow harmonies, snappy dance moves, and very groovy outfits.
The Presidents were one such group. They were three singers (Tony Boyd, Archie Powell, and Billy Shorter) who hailed from Washington, D.C. (That’s why they called themselves the Presidents, although they could have just as easily called themselves the Senators or the Congressmen or the Lobbyists.) They hooked up with producer Van McCoy (who’d come up through the Motown ranks and later had a hit of his own with the disco classic, “The Hustle“) and produced a single hit for Sussex Records. That song was “5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love,” and it’s today’s classic song of the day.
“5-10-15-20 (25-30 Years of Love)” was written by group members Tony Boyd and Archie Powell. Released as a single in September of 1970, this smooth soul track went all the way to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #5 on Billboard’s R&B chart.
The Presidents released a few more singles after this one but all of them failed to chart. They later changed their name to Trilogy, then to Anacostia (after a housing project in their home town), and continued to record into the mid-1980s, when they finally called it quits. They were, indeed, a true one-hit wonder.
