1974 The Three Degrees: When Will I See You Again

In terms of credibility drains, having Prince Charles proclaim you as one of his favourites ranks right up there alongside Margaret Thatcher's raving over 'Telstar', but let's not forget that The Three Degrees had a pedigree within Philadelphia soul that stretched right back to the early sixties. Being the first all black, all female trio to reach number one since The Supremes, comparisons with The Supremes are as inevitable as they are lazy. And yes, I'm going to make them here too, though only insofar as they instructively show just what The Three Degrees were not.

Because whereas The Supremes personified Motown's 'sound of young America' with their hook laden pop confections, The Three Degrees presented a far more sophisticated, grown up sound and aura. A crown jewel within its genre, 'When Will I See You Again' was definitely one of the most 'adult' number ones in years. I can remember watching their staid performance on Top Of The Pops as a lad and feeling bored and irritated. It all sounded like so much dullness and well......boredom compared to all that Gary Glitter stuff we were singing in the playground. And that's because Sheila and the girls weren't singing to snotty little schoolkids.*

Laid back and smooth throughout, the hushed vocals of the verse generate a tension that reflects the confusion of uncertainty as to whether a new relationship is going somewhere or nowhere. "Are we in love or just friends, is this my beginning or is this the end" - the stress in the harmonised voices build to a peak before collapsing into a restrained repetition of the title's key question, though by the close even this becomes a point of anxiety when no answer is forthcoming. As an outward representation of inner dialogue, 'When Will I See You Again' is a masterclass in understated restraint. Ably assisted by a typically majestic Gamble and Huff production, the composition as a whole is the star with no room for individual grandstanding. A song to lose yourself in while you're losing someone else.

* As a point of interest, while this was at number one, The Stylistics were propping up the rear at number two with the equally 'boring for kids' 'You Make Me Feel Brand New'. Tch - it's as if Glam never happened.