Soul Serenade: The Delfonics, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)

Ken Shane August 26, 2010 6

Soul Serenade

The DelfonicsThe other day I was listening to my favorite radio show, Ron & Fez, on satellite radio. The discussion turned to Quentin Tarantino’s film music. As one example after another was played, I realized that as unlikely as it may seem, Tarantino has actually surpassed the great Martin Scorcese when it comes to the use of music in his films.

Of course no one had to tell me about the greatness of Philadelphia’s Delfonics. They’ve always been one of my favorite vocal groups, and the epitome of the Philly Soul music that I love so much. Just thinking of great hits like “La-La (Means I Love You),” “Break Your Promise,” “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love), and of course the immortal “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” instantly transports me to another place in time, when things seemed just a little simpler. All of these songs were written by the legendary producer Thom Bell, along with the Delfonics lead vocalist and founder William Hart.

“Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” was released on Bell Records in 1970, and is considered a Philly Soul classic. It reached #3 on the R&B chart, and #10 on the Pop Chart. The song won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. The song has been covered by a host of performers, including Aretha Franklin, Regina Belle, Jackie Jackson, Millie Jackson, the Trampps, Maxine Nightingale, and Patti LaBelle. The New Kids on the Block cover reached #8 on the Pop Chart in 1986, and of course the song was featured on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s film Jackie Brown.

  • Matracas

    Correction: Although the New Kids on the Block cover version appears on their 1986 debut album, it wasn’t until 1989 that the song made the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

  • http://www.songfacts.com Ndugu

    Tarantino takes his music seriously – he was even a mentor on American Idol. His best use might have been “Stuck In The Middle With You” in Reservoir Dogs.

  • http://www.songfacts.com Ndugu

    Tarantino takes his music seriously – he was even a mentor on American Idol. His best use might have been “Stuck In The Middle With You” in Reservoir Dogs.

  • http://www.kenshane.com kshane

    Here’s a list I made of some of the music from his films:

    Reservoir Dogs

    George Baker Selection – Little Green Bag
    Stealer’s Wheel – Stuck In the Middle With You
    Joe Tex – I Gotcha
    Sandy Rogers – Fool For Love
    Blue Swede – Hooked On A Feeling
    Harry Nilsson – Coconut
    Bedlam – Harvest Moon
    Bedlam – Magic Carpet Ride
    Nikki Bernard – Wes Turned Country
    Peter Morris – Country’s Cool
    Henrik Nielson – It’s Country

    Pulp Fiction

    Dick Dale & His Del-Tones – Misirlou
    Kool & The Gang – Jungle Boogie
    Brothers Johnson – Strawberry Letter #23
    The Tornadoes – Bustin’ Surfboards
    Dusty Springfield – Son of a Preacher Man
    The Centurians – Bullwinkle Part II
    Gary Shorelle – Waitin’ In School
    Ricky Nelson – Lonesome Town
    Link Wray – Ace of Spades
    Link Wray – Rumble
    The Robins – Since I First Met You
    Woody Thorne – Teenagers In Love
    Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell
    Urge Overkill – Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
    Maria McKee – If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags)
    The Statler Brothers – Flowers On the Wall
    The Marketts – Out of Limits
    The Lively Ones – Surf Rider
    The Revels – Comanche

    Jackie Brown

    Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street
    Brothers Johnson – Strawberry Letter 23
    The Supremes – Baby Love
    Pam Grier – Long Time Woman
    Bloodstone – Natural High
    Roy Ayers – Exotic Dance
    Johnny Cash – Tennessee Stud
    Jermaine Jackson – My Touch of Madness
    The Delfonics – La La Means I Love You
    The Delfonics – Didn’t I Blow Your Mind This Time
    Minnie Riperton – Inside My Love
    Isaac Hayes – (Holy Matrimony) Letter to the Firm
    Bill Withers – Who Is He (And What Is He To You?)
    The Meters – Cissy Strut
    Roy Ayers – Aragon
    Elliot Easton’s Tiki Gods – Monte Carlo Nights
    Elvin Bishop – She Put Me In the Mood
    The Guess Who – Undun
    The Grassroots – Midnight Confessions
    Randy Crawford – Street Life
    Roy Ayers – Vittrone’s Theme – King Is Dead
    Roy Ayers – Escape
    The Vampire Sound Incorporation – The Lions and the Cucumber
    Orchestra Harlow – Grazing In the Grass
    Umberto Smaila – Mad Dog (Feroce)
    Joseph Julian Gonzalez – Chicks Who Love Guns
    Slash’s Snakepit – Jizz da Pitt

    Kill Bill Vol. 1

    Nancy Sinatra – Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
    Frank Mills – Music Box Dancer
    David Allen Young – Amundo
    Quincy Jones – Ironside
    Bernard Herrmann – Twisted Nerve
    Charlie Feathers – That Certain Female
    Isaac Hayes – Truck Turner
    Vince Tempera & Orchestra – Seven Notes In Black
    Luis Bacalov – Il Grande Duello / The Grand Due, A (Mix II)
    Armando Trovajoli – I Lunghi Gioni Vendetta / The Long Day of Vengeance
    Luis Bacalov – Il Grande Duello / The Grand Duel, M10
    Salyu (as Lily Chou-Chou) – Wound That Heals
    Luis Bacalov – Il Grande Duello / The Grand Duel – (Parte Prima)
    Isaac Hayes – Run Fay Run
    Al Hirt – Green Hornet
    Gheorghe Zamfir – The Lonely Shepherd
    The 5.6.7.8′s – I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield
    The 5.6.7.8′s – Woo Hoo
    Riz Ortalani – I Giorni Dell’ira
    The 5.6.7.8′s – I’m Blue
    Neu! – Super 16
    Ennio Morricone – Death Rides A Horse
    Santa Esmeralda – Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood / Esmeralda Suite
    The Human Beinz – Nobody But Me

    Kill Bill Vol. 2

    Malcolm McLaren – About Her
    Shivaree – Goodnight Moon
    Chingon – Malaguena Salerosa
    Charlie Feathers – Can’t Hardly Stand It
    Christophe – Sunny Road To Salina
    Johnny Cash – A Satisfied Mind
    Wu Tang Clan – Black Mamba
    Ennio Morricone – A Silhouette of Doom
    Ennio Morricone – Il Tramonte (Sundown)
    Paolo Ormi – Dies Irae
    Ennio Morricone – A Fistful of Dollars
    Ennio Morricone – Il Mercanario (Ripresa)
    Isaac Hayes – Three Tough Guys

    Death Proof

    Keith Mansfield – Funky Fanfare
    Jack Nitzsche – The Last Race
    Smith – Baby It’s You
    Ennio Morricone – Paranoia Prima
    T-Rex – Jeepster
    Pino Donaggio – Sally & Jack
    Eddie Floyd – Good Love, Bad Love
    Pacific Gas & Electric – Staggolee
    Joe Tex – The Love You Save (May Be Your Own)
    The Coasters – Down In Mexico
    Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich – Hold Tight
    Willy DeVille – It’s So Easy
    Bernard Herrmann – Introduction
    Eddie Beram – Riot In Thunder Alley
    April March – Chick Habit
    April March – Laisse Tomber Les Filles

    Inglourious Basterds

    Nick Perito and His Orchestra – The Green Leaves of Summer
    Charles Bernstein – White Lightning
    Billy Preston – Slaughter
    David Bowie – Cat People
    David Allan and The Arrows – The Devil’s Rumble
    What’d I Say – Ray Charles

  • Anonymous

    My best friend’s mother said the opening French horn(?) reminded her of a moose’s mating call. To this day, those first few seconds give me a mental image of a bull moose on a mountainside in dense fog, bellowing for his woman.

    I love this record, but it’ll always take a passenger seat to “La-La Means I Love You” for me.

  • http://www.kenshane.com kshane

    Two of my Delfonics favorites that were not as successful are “When You Get Right Down To It,” (written by Barry Mann). and “For the Love I Gave To You.”