When you hear the name, The Three Degrees, you immediately think of their most famous song, “When Will I See You Again”, and the vision of three beautiful ebony women, perfectly coordinated in both their dance routines and their vocal harmonies. True, “When Will I See You Again” was a major hit record throughout the world, topping the chart in the U.S.A., the U.K., Japan and most European countries, earning the trio every conceivable accolade at the time….not to mention enough Gold records to make Fort Knox a little envious!
More than four decades on, the threesome have retained all three of their major qualities…..their beauty, their sparkling choreography and their precise vocal qualities. And, in between, they have amassed an impressive list of hit records.
Today, the line-up consists of Valerie Holiday, Freddie Pool and Jessie Wagner.
The actual beginning of the group dates back more than 6 decades, when their then-manager, the enigmatic Richard Barrett brought three young teenagers together in Philadelphia. After a couple of years of constant rehearsing and local record hops, the group made its first mark on the recording scene by way of the Philly-based Swan Records.
A great deal of attention has been given to the fact that Prince Charles publicly acclaimed The Three Degree as his favourite group….Charlie’s Angels, they were tagged! “It was a great feeling…a feeling of awe,” is how Valerie remembers this accolade. “Going to Buckingham Palace was……I’m lost for words! The British royal family was an institution and it really didn’t sink in at the time the magnitude of the people we were meeting. But the British people….the actual people…also took to us very quickly and very warmly and that warmth has always remained.”
Their hard work in the early years has held them in good stead for today’s more demanding audiences. “For us, it is still exciting and we still enjoy our work,” Valerie points out. “We are blessed with a wide age group appeal….from fifteen to sixty-five. This is part of the reason we have survived, I think. We learned and were taught how to entertain and even before we had hit records, we knew how to do our job….our choreography, our costumes, the lights…these were all things that we learned at an early age.”
The newest Degree is Jessie Wagner. Jessie has plenty of experience, having toured the world with such artists as Chic, Lenny Kravitz, Kid Rock, Duran Duran and Stevie Van Zandt and Jessie also has her own solo album available, “Shoes Droppin’.”
So it is that after almost six decades of existence, the Three Degrees can still make the claim as being the longest running female vocal group in history. And they show no signs of slowing down!
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