ASSOCIATED PRESS: Randy Cain [pictured, above right], a founding member of the soul group the Delfonics, which had such hits as “La La Means I Love You,” has died. He was 63. Cain’s death Thursday at his home in Maple Shade, N.J., was confirmed by investigator Rob O’Neal of the Burlington County medical examiner’s office, who declined to release other details. MORE
WIKIPEDIA: The Delfonics are a Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their most notable hits include “La-La (Means I Love You)“, “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” “Break Your Promise,” “I’m Sorry,” and “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love)“. Their songs are written by lead vocalist and founder William Hart and have been used extensively in numerous film soundtracks, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino‘s movie Jackie Brown, in which their music (“La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I Blow Your Mind”) is used as a pivotal part of the plot to underscore the relationship between Pam Grier and Robert Forster. The film helped create a border-line cult following for the songs and this group. Their songs have been sampled extensively by various hip-hop and rap artists including: The Fugees (“Ready or Not“),The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Boyz II Men, Missy Elliott and DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
Original group members were William and Wilbert Hart, Samuel Edlightoon, Ritchie Daniels, Merfhab Isvardsoon and Randy Cain whom they met at Overbrook High School in the 1960s. Their first recording was for Moon Shot in 1967. Daniels was drafted and left for the service in 1968 and Edlightoon and Merfhab left the group few weeks later. At Cameo producer Stan Watson introduced them to producer Thom Bell, then working with Chubby Checker. The group’s first album, released on Watson’s own Philly Groove record label, featured the smash hit “La-La (Means I Love You)” in 1968. Four more Bell-produced albums appeared in the next few years: The Sexy Sound of Soul, The Delfonics Super Hits, The Delfonics and Tell Me This Is a Dream. Among the Delfonics’ popular hits were the Grammy-winning “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” (For The Love) I Gave To You,” “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love),” and “Hey Love.” MORE
TANGENTIALLY RELATED: It’s 10 minutes to show time backstage at Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and 
Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson is wondering what the Roots have gotten themselves into. “There are two sayings: ‘The grass is always greener on the other side’ and ‘Be careful what you wish for,'” says the drummer and bandleader of the Philadelphia hip-hop-plus ensemble. Since March 2, when Fallon replaced Conan O’Brien at 12:35 a.m. on NBC, the group has been aptly introduced to America as “The Legendary Roots Crew.” […] After a month of shows, the Roots is finding its rhythm as a television house band. And Fallon, the absurdist boy-next-door Saturday Night Live alum, clearly can’t believe his good fortune in snagging the group that he accurately calls — sorry, Max Weinberg 7 and Paul Shaffer’s CBS Orchestra — “the best band in late night.”
That rhythm starts with a daily two-hour Center City-to-Manhattan bus trip to a Midtown recording studio. There, the group writes original music for what the members call between-segment “sandwiches,” and they work up witty snippets to play as guests are introduced. Serena Williams got E.U.’s “Da Butt,” Glenn Close heard the Carpenters’ “Close to You,” and Anna Kournikova was met by Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot.” The regimen has forced on the band an old-fashioned way to make music that is new to them: a bunch of guys sitting around the studio together bouncing song ideas off one another. Those results can be heard on-screen as well as on How I Got Over, the Roots album due out in July. MORE
REVIEW: Fallon’s First Night