First Choice (band)
| First Choice | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Genres | Philly soul Girl group R&B Disco Smooth soul Pop |
| Years active | 1971–1984 |
| Labels | Philly Groove, Gold Mind |
| Members | Annette Guest Debbie Martin Joyce Jones Rochelle Fleming Wardell Piper Ursula Herring |
First Choice was an American girl group vocal music trio from Philadelphia. The group produced the Soul/disco hits "Armed and Extremely Dangerous", "Smarty Pants", "The Player", "Love Thang", "Let No Man Put Asunder" and "Doctor Love". They were signed to soul label Philly Groove Records and to disco label Salsoul Records.
Contents
Members
Rochelle Fleming was the founder and lead singer of the group. Annette Guest was second lead. She and Flemming stayed with the group throughout its run. Other members Ursula Herring and Joyce Jones were later additions. Wardell Piper was an original member yet never photographed with the group. After their first album, Wardell left for a solo career.
Legacy and re-union
The group was influential to early house and techno music, because of sampling by many artists, including Todd Terry[1] and The Jungle Brothers,[2][3] mostly from First Choice's 1977 track, "Let No Man Put Asunder". "Let No Man Put Asunder" was also covered by Mary J. Blige on her 1999 album Mary.
On August 6, 2014, First Choice performed a reunion concert at East River Bandshell, New York City, with original members: Rochelle Fleming, Annette Guest, Wardell Piper and Ursula Herring. The concert featured many of the group's ex-label mates from Salsoul records.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Record label | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
US R&B [4] |
|||||||||||||
| 1973 | Armed and Extremely Dangerous | 184 | 55 | Philly Groove | ||||||||||
| 1974 | The Player | 143 | 36 | |||||||||||
| 1976 | So Let Us Entertain You | 204 | 53 | Warner Bros./Philly Groove | ||||||||||
| 1977 | Delusions | 103 | — | Gold Mind | ||||||||||
| 1979 | Hold Your Horses | 135 | 58 | |||||||||||
| 1980 | Breakaway | — | — | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
Compilation albums
- The Best of the First Choice (1976, Kory)
- Greatest Hits (1992, Salsoul)
- Philly Golden Classics (1994, Collectables)
- The Best of First Choice (1994, Southbound)
- Greatest Hits (1996, The Right Stuff)
- The Best of First Choice (1997, Charly)
- The Best of First Choice: Armed & Extremely Dangerous (1999, Philly Groove)
- The Anthology (2005, Suss'd)
- The Greatest Hits: It's Not Over (2006, Koch)
- The Best of First Choice (2007, Metro Doubles)
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [4] |
US R&B [4] |
US Dan [4] |
AUS [5] |
CAN [6] |
NLD [7] |
UK [8] |
||||||||
| 1972 | "This Is The House (Where Love Died)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1973 | "Armed and Extremely Dangerous" | 28 | 11 | — | — | 55 | — | 16 | ||||||
| "Smarty Pants" | 56 | 25 | — | 99 | — | — | 9 | |||||||
| 1974 | "Newsy Neighbors" | 97 | 35 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "The Player (Part 1)" | 70 | 7 | — | — | 68 | — | — | |||||||
| "Guilty" | 103 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1975 | "Love Freeze" | — | 61 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1976 | "Gotta Get Away (From You Baby)" | — | 64 | 16 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Let Him Go" | — | 97 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "First Choice Theme" | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Ain't He Bad" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| "Are You Ready for Me?" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 1977 | "Doctor Love" | 41 | 23 | 8 | — | — | 28 | — | ||||||
| "Love Having You Around" | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1979 | "Hold Your Horses" | — | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Double Cross" | 104 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| "Love Thang" | — | — | 52 | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 1980 | "Breakaway" | — | — | 80 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1983 | "Let No Man Put Asunder" | — | — | 13 | — | — | 47 | — | ||||||
| 1984 | "Doctor Love" (Special Remix) | — | — | 61 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 1997 | "Armed and Extremely Dangerous" (1997 Remixes) | — | — | — | — | — | — | 88 | ||||||
| 1999 | "Doctor Love" (remixes) | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2001 | "The Player" (remixes) | — | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||||||
| 2002 | "Ain't He Bad" (remixes) | — | — | — | — | — | — | 89 | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
References
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