The Three Degrees is an American vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holiday, and Freddi Poole. The group were particularly successful in the UK, achieving 13 Top 50 hit singles between 1974 and 1985.
The original members were Fayette Pinkney, Shirley Porter and Linda Turner. Porter and Turner were soon replaced by Janet Harmon and Helen Scott. The line-up from 1967 to 1976 was Pinkney, Valerie Holiday and Sheila Ferguson, who would go on to sing lead on most of the group's biggest hits. By 1970, they were signed to Roulette Records and they released their first album, Maybe. The title song, this time with Valerie Holiday taking the lead, took them to No. 4 on the US R&B chart. The singles, "I Do Take You" and "You're the Fool" followed, as did their second album, So Much Love. This success landed them a cameo appearance in the 1971 film, The French Connection, where they performed a cover of Jimmy Webb's "Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon", filmed during one of their appearances at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City.
In 1973, when their contract with Roulette ended, Barrett signed them to Philadelphia International Records under Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, where they had their greatest successes. The first song they recorded for the label was with the studio band MFSB, titled "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)", which was the theme song for Soul Train. Their first album for the Philadelphia International label, The Three Degrees, spawned three hits: "Dirty Ol' Man" (which went gold in the Netherlands and Belgium), "Year Of Decision" (which made it to No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart), but it was the third single, "When Will I See You Again", that propelled the trio into the mainstream. It topped the UK Chart for two weeks in August 1974 (the first time this had been achieved by an all-female group since The Supremes in 1964,) and became the fourth best-selling single of the year. It also reached No. 2 in the US, where it sold over two million copies and earned the trio a gold record in December 1974.
In 1976, the Three Degrees parted company with Gamble and Huff and moved to CBS Sony/Epic Records where they released the concept album, A Toast Of Love, purely for the Far East market, although a single of the title track was released internationally. In 1976, Fayette Pinkney was replaced by former band member Helen Scott. The album, Standing Up For Love, released in 1977 was their last release for CBS/Epic. In 1978, The Three Degrees signed to Ariola Records in Europe and the US and began working with Giorgio Moroder, who had become famous as a disco producer following his work with Donna Summer. Further success was to follow, and they released two disco-styled albums on Ariola (New Dimensions in 1978, and 3D in 1979) which delivered four UK Top 20 hits between them: "Givin' Up Givin' In", "Woman in Love", "The Runner" and "My Simple Heart".
The group's most stable line-up was from 1989 to 2010, with Cynthia Garrison joining Holiday and Scott. They achieved a final UK chart entry, reaching number 54 in 1998 with a dance cover of "Last Christmas". Garrison left the band at the end of 2010 due to health reasons, and was replaced by Freddi Poole in 2011. The group's 2016 album, Strategy: Our Tribute to Philadelphia, was their first studio album release with Poole as a member.
