The “Golden Hits Of The 70s” 

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BRIGHTER SIDE OF DARKNESS

“LOVE JONES”

(Randolph Murph, Clarence Johnson, Ralph Eskridge)

20th Century 2002

No. 16   February 3, 1973

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.Ralph Eskridge, Randolph Murph, and Larry Washing­ton met at Calumet High on Chicago’s South Side in

1971.   Anna Preston, a one-time entertainer and moth­er of a houseful of music-makers, became their

manag­er, music director, and body-and-soul shaper.   She added 12-year-old Darryl Lamont to the group

to give them a touch of Jackson Five/teen-appealing bub­blegum soul.

After the group had played a few talent contests and successful gigs, producer Clarence Johnson cut a

demo on the trio and rushed it over to 20th Century’s new president, Russ Regan, the man responsible for

the DANCER, PRANCER & NERVOUS long-long forgotten phenomenon.   Russ liked what he heard, and

“Love Jones” became the group’s first record.   “Jones,” a slang expression for addiction, was a string-

infested talkie thing that surprised many folks when it mounted the upper reaches of Billboard’s pop

charts.

Overnight, the teens were a full-grown success, but only momentarily.   En route to a “Soul Train” TV guest

appearance, a dispute of some sort took place, and the record company fired three-quarters of the group;

only Lamont remained.   The group had already recorded an album’s worth of material; after its release,

and three more singles, 20th Century dropped them.

Both parties wrangled in court over who–manage­ment and the record company, or the fired parties­

owned the rights to the group’s name.   The courts even­tually ruled in favor of the former–ala the string-

pullers and the label.   Clarence Johnson hired Jesse Harvey, Nate Pringle, and Arthur Scales to fill in the

vocal void behind Lam­ont.   A one-off single for his Starve label was issued, but on release, it sank from

sight.   Later that year, 20th Cen­tury decided to pick up on some Johnson-produced sides by the new

Brighter Side (Harvey, Pringle, Scales, and newcomer Tyrone Stewart).  For whatever reason, 20th

Century renamed the group the Imaginations; two albums and a batch of nifty singles were shipped, but

nothing ever charted–pop or R & B.

In the late ’70s, Darryl Lamont and Randolph Murph reformed Brighter Side of Darkness.   Apparent­ly,

the rightful owners of the group’s faded moniker no longer cared whether anybody used the name or not.

Lennie LaCour’s Magic Touch label released one final single, “He Made You Mine,” in 1978.