Today’s classic Philly Soul song of the day is “Betcha By Golly Wow” by the Stylistics. This sweet soul track, released in February of 1972, peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart. Billboard ranked this one as the #18 song for all of 1972.
“Betcha By Golly Wow” was written by Philly songwriter/producer extraordinaire Thom Bell and his writing partner Linda Creed. It was originally recorded by Connie Stevens, believe it or not, under the title of “Keep Going Strong,” in 1970, but it didn’t go anywhere. The cover by the Stylistics was the much bigger hit; they had the magic mojo to make it a true classic.
The Stylistics, formed in 1968, consisted of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. That falsetto lead was Mr. Thompkins doing his distinctive thing. After initially signing with a smaller label, the group moved to Avco Records in 1971, hooked up with Thom Bell as their producer, and the hits started coming. Their mainstream hits included “You Are Everything” (#9 in 1971), “I’m Stone in Love With You” (#10, 1972), “Break Up to Make Up” (#5, 1973), and “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (#2, 1974). They continued to have moderate success on the R&B charts through the mid-80s, and even had a couple of minor hits in the early ’90s.
Dunn and Smith left the group in 1980 and 1981, respectively. Lead singer Thompkins stayed around until 2000. New singers were recruited to keep the name alive, and Love, Murrell, and various replacement Stylistics are still performing on the oldies circuit today; Thompkins is also performing with a group he calls the New Stylistics.
And here’s your bonus video of the day: The Stylistics lip-synching “Betcha By Golly Wow” on Soul Train, complete with fancy dance moves. Think they learned a step or two from the Temptations?
