First Choice

Rochelle Fleming’s commanding lead vocals drove First Choice into the heart of the disco era, positioning the act as veterans long before the sound achieved widespread popularity. The Philadelphians notched their breakthrough in 1973 via “Armed and Extremely Dangerous,” a Top 40 pop entry shaped by longtime associates Norman Harris and Allan Felder. Four further singles then lodged in the upper reaches of the R&B chart, sharply elevating the trio’s standing among club DJs and dancers alike. Several Top Ten disco hits followed, among them “Doctor Love,” the opening track from the 1977 album Delusions, whose lyrics-rich dance numbers and opulent ballads highlighted Fleming as one of the period’s most singular singers. After six LPs the group disbanded in 1980. Shep Pettibone’s 1983 remix of the anthemic Delusions track “Let No Man Put Asunder” revived commercial attention for a band whose underground-club legacy never faded and has grown stronger over decades. First Choice recordings have influenced successive waves of house producers and have been sampled, interpolated, or covered by countless artists across hip-hop, R&B, and assorted dance styles.

Originally operating as the teenage vocal quartet the Debonettes, Rochelle Fleming, Annette Guest, Malanie McSears, and Wardell Piper, fellow students at Philadelphia’s Overbrook High School, performed locally until WDAS disc jockey Georgie Woods introduced them to songwriter-arranger-producer Norman Harris and his writing partner Allan Felder. Following McSears’s departure after marriage, Fleming, Guest, and Piper issued their first recording as First Choice in 1972, the Scepter single “This Is the House (Where Love Died).” Signed to Philly Groove, the women broke through the next year with “Armed and Extremely Dangerous.” Penned by Harris and Felder, the song climbed to number 11 on Billboard’s R&B chart and number 28 on the pop chart while also reaching the U.K. Top 20. Follow-ups “Smarty Pants” and “Newsy Neighbors” likewise charted domestically—the former peaking at number nine in Britain—and appeared on the album Armed and Extremely Dangerous. The sessions featured the taut rhythm section of guitarist Harris, bassist Ron Baker, and drummer Earl Young, all members of MFSB, the studio band for Gamble & Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. Piper exited for a solo career before the LP’s release and was succeeded by Joyce Jones.

“The Player,” the first single featuring Jones, became the group’s strongest R&B performer, reaching number seven (number 70 pop). The matching album climbed to number 36 on the R&B chart, aided by the number 19 R&B single “Guilty,” a composition first cut by the U.K. duo the Pearls. Like its predecessor, The Player was produced by Harris and Philly Groove co-founder Stan Watson. First Choice next entered a joint deal with Philly Groove and Warner Bros., with Ursula Herring replacing Jones, who later resurfaced on the Queen Constance label with two singles at decade’s end. The third album, So Let Us Entertain You, arrived in 1976. Still under Harris and Watson, the set placed the medley “First Choice Theme”/“Ain’t He Bad” together with “Are You Ready for Me?” at number seven on Billboard’s disco chart and sent “Gotta Get Away (From You Baby)” to number 16.

Norman Harris started his Gold Mind imprint through New York’s Salsoul Records and took First Choice along. The trio completed three albums for the label. Delusions (1977) and Hold Your Horses (1979) each supplied a Top Ten disco single. The infectious “Doctor Love” from the former narrowly missed the pop Top 40, while the galloping title track of the latter followed. Delusions also housed the anthemic “Let No Man Put Asunder,” which became the act’s most lasting song after Salsoul issued Shep Pettibone’s 1983 remix. Hold Your Horses closed with the deep-disco staples “Love Thang” and “Double Cross.” Breakaway, issued in 1980, introduced Debbie Martin in place of Ursula Herring, who had departed the prior year. Harris and several associates contributed to the final album, spotlighted by the commanding Fleming vocal on the tough dancefloor cut “Breakaway.”

The group disbanded soon afterward. In 1985 Rochelle Fleming, billed as Roshelle Fleming, joined Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams for the Prelude single “Love Itch.” Two years later she assembled a new First Choice lineup with cousin Laconya Fleming and Lawrence Cotell, though that configuration never released material. Annette Guest, later credited as Annette Guest-Hardeman and Annette Hardeman, logged extensive session work as a background vocalist and co-wrote such hits as Stephanie Mills’ number-one R&B single “I Feel Good All Over” (1987) and Miki Howard’s number-two R&B single “Love Under New Management” (1989). Ursula Herring recorded as one-third of Urmadré. Fleming, Guest, Herring, and Wardell Piper reconvened in 2014 for a one-off appearance at a Salsoul celebration. Guest and Herring have continued to front First Choice in live settings well into the 2020s.