About
The Stylistics was formed in Philadelphia, PA in 1966 from two groups, “The Percussions” and “The Monarchs”. When members from each group were drafted or went on to further their education, the remaining members under the guidance of their English teacher Beverly Hamilton joined forces and changed the name to “The Stylistics”.
The Stylistics
After working locally for a number of years, the group was approached by Bill Perry who asked if they would be
interested in recording. Their first song “You’re a Big Girl Now” was recorded at Virtue Recording Studio, a local
studio in Philadelphia. This song was written by the group guitarist at the time, Robert “Doc” Douglas and Road
Manager, Marty Bryant. The sessions cost Bill Perry a little over $500.00 to produce and was released locally. It
was soon picked up in the tri-state area and before long, it became a number 1 hit in Philadelphia and a few other
cities.
Bill was interested it promoting the record nationally but didn’t have the resources. He decided to contact Avco
Records and made a deal. Rumor has it, Bill received over $10,000.00 from Avco of which the group never saw a
dime.
After the success of “You’re A Big Girl Now”, Avco wanted to naturally follow up with an album release. Hit veteran
producer Tom Bell was contacted and was hired to produce the group’s first album. The album was entitled “The Stylistics” and from that album came “Stop, Look, Listen to your Heart”, “You Are Everything” and “Betcha By Golly
Wow”. The success of the first album was phenomenal for that time along with an unheard release of six singles in
total.
The ball continued to roll with the release of their second album entitled “Round Two“. The Stylistics were
becoming known as the Philly group with the sweet love songs. Herbert Murrell and Airrion Love are the remaining original members of The Stylistics. Friends since
junior high school, Herb and Airrion have managed to keep their institution of 70’s music alive. It was thought to be
the end of the Stylistics following the departure of their original lead singer, but as in life “THE SHOW MUST GO
ON”