Hart's vocals led classic Billboard Hot 100 hits like 'La - La - Means I Love You,' 'Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)' and 'Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love).'
Hart co-founded the Delfonics in Philadelphia with his brother Wilbert, eventually fleshing out the group’s classic lineup with Randy Cain and Major Harris. They signed with famed local label Cameo-Parkway, where they first linked up with Bell, though they were shuffled over to Philly Groove Records shortly after Cameo-Parkway folded in 1967. Debut album La La Means I Love You was released in 1968, spawning a trio of hits in the title track, “I’m Sorry” and “Break Your Promise” .
As the group’s lead singer, Hart’s falsetto-heavy vocals were an immediate difference maker, both entrancing and powerful — and the way he leaned into certain words with his signature sharpness made them unforgettable on first listen.
The Delfonics’ popularity continued throughout the early ’70s, likely peaking with their self-titled album in 1970, their highest-charting entry on the Billboard 200 albums chart , with the album’s “Didn’t I” even winning a Grammy for best R&B vocal performance by a duo or group in 1971. But with the rise of higher-energy Philly soul in the decade’s middle , the group sputtered commercially and splintered in two in 1975, following Harris’ solo breakthrough with the Hot 100 No.
The legacy of The Delfonics was secured in the mid-’90s, however, as the group’s hits were revived by a generation of rappers: The Fugees reinvented the hook to the group’s 1968 hit “Ready or Not Here I Come ” for their own smash “Ready or Not” in 1996, while Missy Elliott sampled the song’s regal horn intro for her “Sock It 2 Me” single a year later.
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