In 1971 the ensemble delivered two exceptional ballads steeped in heartache, only to see their strongest material achieve mainstream success through subsequent cover versions. Douglas Scott, fittingly nicknamed “Smokey,” joined Willie Holland, James Barnes, and Charles Stodghill when the group formed in New York in 1969. After signing with Atlantic in the early 1970s, they scored their sole R&B chart-topper with the shattering classic “Thin Line Between Love & Hate,” which also stood as their only gold single. The follow-up, “Love’s Gonna Pack Up (And Walk Out),” climbed to number eight on the R&B charts yet failed to cross over. The quartet remained with Win & Lose through 1973 before shifting to Atco, where “Some Guys Have All the Luck” became a number-seven R&B single that same year and marked their final hit. Although they continued recording into the late 1970s, with a last session for Calla, their catalog drew renewed attention when the Pretenders re-recorded “Thin Line Between Love & Hate” and Rod Stewart scored a Top Ten pop hit with his 1984 version of “Some Guys Have All the Luck.”
