Budiey
When you hear the name, The Three Degrees, you immediately think of their most famous song, “When Will I See You Again”, and the vision of three beautiful ebony women, perfectly coordinated in both their dance routines and their vocal harmonies.
True, “When Will I See You Again” was a major hit record throughout the world, topping the chart in the U.S.A., the U.K., Japan and most European countries, earning the trio every conceivable accolade at the time — not to mention enough Gold records. Now Malaysians can catch the threesome with AN ENCHANTING EVENING WITH THE THREE DEGREES on 16th June at 7.30 pm at The Grand Ballroom , Premiere Hotel Klang.
More than two decades on, the threesome have retained all three of their major qualities — their beauty, their sparkling choreography and their precise vocal qualities. And, in between, they have amassed an impressive list of hit records. Today, the line-up consists of Valerie Holiday, Helen Scott and Freddie Pool.
The actual beginning of the group dates back more than 4 decades, when their then-manager, the enigmatic Richard Barrett brought three young teenagers together in Philadelphia.
The group made its first mark on the recording scene by way of the Philly-based Swan Records.
Their biggest success on Swan was probably “Gee Baby”. In 1972, they aligned their recording fate with Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label and hit immediate paydirt in 1972 with “Dirty Ol’ Man”. Soon after came “TSOP”, which featured the ladies with MFSB. The following year came ‘When Will I See You Again”. “The whole Philadelphia Sound was the brainchild of Kenny (Gamble) and Leon (Huff),” Valerie explains.
“They wrote and produced most of the hits…Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, Billy Paul, the Intruders. In all honesty, we weren’t aware of the potential of the label when we first signed but at our first session with them, we felt the magic. It was different from anything we had ever experienced before.
“To be perfectly honest, I didn’t hear “When Will I See You Again”! We had released “Dirty Ol’ Man” as the first single and, to me, it was just another track on the album! I really wasn’t knowledgeable enough to be a good judge. “I was very disappointed when we left the label. I thought that Kenny and Leon were the best writers and producers we had ever worked with. I liked their work and I liked working with them. To this day, Richard Barrett has never explained why we left!”
During their 3 year stint with Philadelphia International, they enjoyed a good measure of success with “Year Of Decision”, “Take Good Care Of Yourself” and, again with MFSB, “Love Is The Message”.
It was during this era that the threesome made their biggest forward strides. A great deal of attention has been given to the fact that Prince Charles publicly acclaimed The Three Degree as his favourite group….Charlie’s Angels, they were tagged! “It was a great feeling…a feeling of awe,” is how Valerie remembers this accolade.
“Going to Buckingham Palace was……I’m lost for words! The British royal family was an institution and it really didn’t sink in at the time the magnitude of the people we were meeting. But the British people….the actual people…also took to us very quickly and very warmly and that warmth has always remained.” “It was actually the press who tagged us Charlie’s Angels.”
Later, they teamed up with Giorgio Moroder (he of Donna Summer fame) and a new string of hits began. “Giving Up, Giving In”, “My Simple Heart” and the lush ballad, “Woman In Love”, were the highlights of this period.
Ever since, they have been constantly touring all over the world, occasionally recording but always working. Their hard work in the early years has held them in good stead for today’s more demanding audiences. “For us, it is still exciting and we still enjoy our work,” Valerie points out. “We are blessed with a wide age group appeal…. from fifteen to sixty-five.
This is why we have survived, I think. We learned and were taught how to entertain and even before we had hit records, we knew how to do our job — our choreography, our costumes, the lights…these were all things that we learned at an early age.” “I think we have done many firsts in our career.” Helen adds.
“We have opened a lot of doors for other entertainers. In some cases, we may not have always succeeded but we have never given up. It still amazes me when we see teenagers singing along with our songs. And yet we still have the fans who have grown with us”.
At the end of 2010 and after more than 20 years as a Degree, Cynthia was forced to retire from the group due tomedical reasons. It brought to an end the most stable period in the trio’s long history. Her place has been taken by Freddie Pool, a hugely talented and experienced vocaliste who has enjoyed past success both as a solo artiste and as a member of other groups. Vocally, she is the perfect blend for both Valerie and Helen and continues the rich tradition that the Three Degrees has always represented. So it is that after more than four decades of existence, the Three Degrees can still make the claim as being the longest running female vocal group in history….see the Guinness Book of Records for confirmation of this fact! And they show no signs of slowing down!
All Best Entertainment and Premiere Hotel Klang are kindly co-sponsoring an Enchanting Evening with the Three Degrees from USA in aid of Persatuan Diabetes Malaysia Cawangan Selangor for a building fund.
YAM Tengku Puan Panglima Perlis Tengku Puteri Nor Zehan Bt. Almahrum Sultan Salehudin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj officiated the opening of our Taman Chi Liung Diabetic Community Centre in 2010.The community centre is in a rented premise and was opened to increase awareness of diabetes in the community and assist people with diabetes in the management of the disease.
Malaysia is leading in the prevalence of obesity in the South East Asian countries. Almost one in two Malaysians are either overweight or obese placing them at a high risk for diabetes. A recent study shows that 22% of Malaysians above 30 years are diabetic.
At our community centre a diabetic educator is available to screen and counsel people with diabetes with objective of helping them adopt a healthy lifestyle and prevent complications. Aerobic classes are conducted every 1st Saturday of the month for an hour. We have conducted medical camps and walkathon in the surrounding tamans in Klang, in estates in Selangor as well as in Subang New Village. In addition, we also organize weekend talks and conduct volunteer training.
The World Diabetes Day theme for 2009 – 2013 is “Education and Prevention of Diabetes”. In the spirit of the theme, we believe that empowering the public with knowledge about the disease is crucial.
At present we have a project with assistance of CIMB Community Link (Prevention of obesity in overweight children). We have successfully conducted 3 talk sessions at four schools over a period of four months. We talked to about 120 standard five children in each school. These talks focus on obesity, exercise and healthy diets. We invited the overweight children from each school to attend the intensive sessions at our community centre on Saturdays. 48 children attended this program. We conduct sessions on exercise for an hour followed by having healthy breakfast followed by education on healthy diet and tips to lose weight.
Tables are available at RM1500, RM2000, RM3000 and RM5000 respectively per table of 10. Please call 012-2585269 for reservations. All payments are to be made with cheques payable to “ Persatuan Diabetes Malaysia Cawangan Selangor “. All donations will be tax exempted.
AN ENCHANTING EVENING WITH THE THREE DEGREES USA in aid of Persatuan Diabetes Malaysia Cawangan Selangor is brought to you by All Best Entertainment with co-sponsors Premiere Hotel Klang.
