The Three Degrees - Tenshi No Sasayaki (When Will I See You Again)日本語演唱

I have just noticed that the copy of Tenshi No Sasayaki by the Three Degrees which I posted some months back has become unavailable, so here is another copy.

The Three Degrees - Nigai Namida

I've just noticed that the copy of Nigai Namida Which I posted last year has become unavailable, so here is another copy.

The Three Degrees - MacArthur Park

Ever since first hearing The Three Degrees I have been convinced that they are the best female threesome singing group in the world.There is no other group which has their perfect harmony. I have also never seen any other group with their level of sophisticated choreographic unison.There have been several lineups over the nearly six decades of their existence but the one in this clip was I think the most successful. In order of appearance in this clip are Fayette Pinkney, Sheila Ferguson and Valerie Holiday. The latter lady holds the record for the longest stay with a single group. They are not the highest selling group in their home country, USA, But I believe that is only because of relatively poor marketing. They are very popular in Japan and both the clips chosen are done live in Japan. The second is done entirely in Japanese which is pronounced perfectly according to a Japanese speaking commenter. The title is Nigai Namida which means Bitter Tears. In a previous post I had them doing Tenshi No Seseyaki which means When Will I See You Again. They won the 1975 world song competition held in Japan with this. The song in this post was written by Jimmy Webb after a painful romantic breakup. It was composed at the piano of good friend Buddy Greco with whom he was staying while recovering.Some people call it the silliest song in the world but everything in it was real! MacArthur Park was the place Jimmy and his girlfriend always met. Someone really did leave a green iced cake out in the rain and there were really some old men playing checkers by the trees. Buddy Greco was so impressed with the song that from then on whenever he gave a public performance he always closed off with it.

Three Degrees - The late Fayette Pinkney (live in Scandinavia)

This is Fayette Pinkney of The Three Degrees singled out giving a solo performance in Norway as part of the main show.She is able to showcase her great vocals and what is also great is the close up view of her facial expressions which are constantly changing with the emotion of the line she is singing. Fayette was a very special person for a number of reasons. She was a founding member of the group at 15 in 1963. She sacrificed much for the group, putting in long hours of practice to achieve those wonderful harmonies when most girls her age were dating guys and having some fun. The original line up was Fayette with Shirley Porter and Linda Turner. The latter two were soon replaced by Valerie Holiday and Helen Scott. Helen Scott left to start a family and was replaced by Sheila Ferguson. Thus we arrive at the group I showed doing MacArthur Park. However in 1977 Fayette wanted to date Lou Rawls and that did not go down well with the management. They gave her an ultimatum, either date Lou or be in the group. Thus she came to be fired. This was not really the train smash it sounds as she did not intend being the group for decades like Valerie and the money she had earned in the group enabled her to do what she really wanted to do . This was to go to College, which she had not been able to do as her family did not have means. She earned a bachelors degree in psychology followed by a Masters in Management. This enabled her to take a job as a councillor in a women's hospital in Philadelphia. In her free time she voice trained up and coming young singers from disadvantaged backgrounds and also led the choir group in her church. She also went on tours with this group. She gave birth to a daughter when she was 46 but sadly the infant died at two days old. Sadly too Fayette passed away from acute respiratory failure at 61. Towards the end of her life she was given a BEMA (Black Enterprise in Music Award). Remembering Fayette, someone who had known her said that she was the sort of person who had lived her whole life not just with love but with agape. I think I can honestly say that if I went on a program which asked the question " Who from history would you most like to meet" it would be Fayette Pinkney, looking at the outline of her life.