The Intruders were an American soul music vocal group most popular in the 1960s and 1970s. As one of the first groups to have hit songs under the direction of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, they were a major influence on the development of Philadelphia soul. In 1969, Sam Brown was replaced as lead singer by Bobby Starr, only to rejoin the group in 1973.
In 1965, when songwriters and record producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff first contemplated leaving the Cameo-Parkway record label to risk launching their own label, the vocalists on which they pinned all their hopes and venture capital were The Intruders. Like many other subsequent acts the duo produced, which included Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and The O'Jays, The Intruders had already developed a vocal sound that was both theirs and uniquely Philadelphian.
Brown, Daughtry, Terry and Edwards had been recording and performing one-off singles together since 1961, blending Philly's street corner doo-wop tradition with black gospel fervor. The result was neither as pop-infected as Motown, nor as funky and blues-inflected as Stax. The sound which The Intruders refined for the Excel, Gamble and Philadelphia International imprints reflected a different attitude than either Stax or Motown.
Gamble and Huff's success with the Intruders helped convince Columbia Records to grant them the money to launch Philadelphia International. Gamble and Huff acknowledged that their work with the Intruders was the foundation of what they called "The Sound of Philadelphia".
The Intruders, meanwhile, were undergoing some internal turmoil. When the group resurfaced on the 1970 Gamble LP, When We Get Married, lead singer Brown was replaced by Bobby Starr. Brown returned to the group in 1973 for the album Save the Children, which spawned the Intruders' last two big hits, "I Wanna Know Your Name" (R&B No. 9, Pop #60) and "I'll Always Love My Mama" (R&B No. 6, Pop #36).
Legacy
"Cowboys to Girls" (R&B No. 1, Pop #6), the only chart topping single of their career, was awarded an RIAA gold disc for one million sales in May 1968. and lead singer Sam "Little Sonny" Brown committed suicide April 21, 1995 at age 54. Edwards died on October 15, 2016, from a heart attack at age 74, leaving Phil Terry as the last surviving original member.
! style="width:35px;"| US<br />R&B<br />
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1961
| style="text-align:left;"| "Come Home Soon" <small>(A-side)</small> (Gowen label)
| —
| —
| —
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| style="text-align:left;"| "I'm Sold (On You)" <small>(B-side)</small> (Gowen label)
| —
| —
| —
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|| 1962
| style="text-align:left;"| "This Is My Song"
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1966
| style="text-align:left;"| "Gonna Be Strong"
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "(We'll Be) United"
| 78
| 14
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Devil with an Angel's Smile"
| —
| 29
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1967
| style="text-align:left;"| "(You Better) Check Yourself"
| —
| —
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Together"
| 48
| 9
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Baby I'm Lonely" <small>(A-side)</small>
| 70
| 28
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "A Love That's Real" <small>(B-side)</small>
| 82
| 35
| —
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|-
| rowspan="3"| 1968
| style="text-align:left;"| "Cowboys to Girls"
| 6
| 1
| —
| style="text-align:left;"|
- RIAA: Gold
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "(Love Is Like A) Baseball Game"
| 26
| 4
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Slow Drag"
| 54
| 12
| —
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|-
| rowspan="5"| 1969
| style="text-align:left;"| "Give Her a Transplant"
| 104
| 23
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Me Tarzan You Jane"
| —
| 41
| —
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Lollipop (I Like You)"
| 101
| 22
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Sad Girl"
| 47
| 14
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Old Love"
| —
| 35
| —
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|-
| rowspan="3"| 1970
| style="text-align:left;"| "Tender (Was the Love We Knew)"
| 119
| 25
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "When We Get Married"
| 45
| 8
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "This Is My Love Song"
| 85
| 22
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1971
| style="text-align:left;"| "I'm Girl Scoutin'"
| 88
| 16
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Pray for Me"
| 105
| 25
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "I Bet He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)"
| 92
| 20
| —
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|-
|| 1972
| style="text-align:left;"| "(Win, Place or Show) She's a Winner"
| —
| 12
| 14
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|-
| rowspan="2"| 1973
| style="text-align:left;"| "I'll Always Love My Mama (Part 1)"
| 36
| 6
| 32
|
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "I Wanna Know Your Name"
| 60
| 9
| —
|
|-
|| 1974
| style="text-align:left;"| "A Nice Girl Like You"
| —
| 21
| —
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|-
| rowspan="2"| 1975
| style="text-align:left;"| "Rainy Days and Mondays"
| —
| 81
| —
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|-
| style="text-align:left;"| "Plain Ol' Fashioned Girl"
| —
| —
| —
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|-
|| 1984
| style="text-align:left;"| "Who Do You Love?"
| —
| —
| 65
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|| 1985
| style="text-align:left;"| "Warm and Tender Love"
| —
| —
| 99
|
|-
| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}
References
Bibliography
External links
- YouTube Video: The Intruders (with original lead singer Sam "Little Sonny" Brown) "Cowboys to Girls"