Biography
Leroy Bell, handling drums and guitar, first crossed paths with multi-instrumentalist Casey James, whose credits include guitar, bass, and keyboards, inside Philadelphia’s Special Blend. When that group folded, the two launched a songwriting alliance. Bell’s uncle Thom Bell, a central Philly soul architect at Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records, placed the duo under contract with Mighty Three Music, the publishing company he co-owned with Gamble & Huff. Their material later reached Elton John, whose gold-certified “Mama Can't Buy Me Love” climbed to number nine pop and number thirty-six R&B, plus MFSB, LTD, the O’Jays, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Freda Payne, and Pockets. One composition also surfaced in the 1979 basketball film The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. Around the same time A&M Records granted them a recording deal. Their opening single “Livin It Up (Friday Night)” struck gold, reaching number seven R&B and number fifteen pop in spring 1979. That track and the follow-up truthful ditty “Never Know What You’ve Got” both appeared on the debut album Bell and James. A second LP, Only Make Believe, produced the R&B-charting singles “Shakedown” and “Only Make Believe.” “Livin It Up (Friday Night)” later resurfaced on Soul Hits of the ’70s: Didn’t It Blow Your Mind, Vol. 20, Disco Years, Vol. 7: The Best Disco in Town, ’70s Disco Ball Party Pack, Disco Box, and Soul Train: The Dance Years 1979.
Albums