People's Choice was an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

formed in 1971 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

by Frank Brunson and David Thompson. While they had several

vocalists Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, their biggest

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

were

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

Career

Their debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "I Likes To Do It" on Phil-L.A. of Soul Records, got to #9 on the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

and #38 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. A short time later

Leon Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...

saw People's Choice in concert, and told Brunson that he wished the group had recorded "I Likes To Do It" for

Philadelphia International Records Philadelphia International Records was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their longtime collaborator Thom Bell. The ...

. Huff (without

Kenny Gamble Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production duo credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as P ...

on this occasion) signed the group in 1974, and it was with him that they had another

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

with "

Do It Any Way You Wanna Do It Any Way You Wanna is a 1975 crossover hit by the Philadelphia-based R&B/disco group, People's Choice, written and produced by Leon Huff. and recorded and mixed by Jay Mark. "Do It Any Way You Wanna" was a gold record for The People's Choice. ...

", a Philly dance classic. It sold over one million copies in three months, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the

R.I.A.A. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in November 1975. This song was used in

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), nicknamed "the Hammer", is an American actor, filmmaker, and former American football player, a defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League (AFL) during the 1960s. He was a ...

's 1976 film ''Death Journey''. Brunson died on November 24, 2007, after a long illness.

Former members

*Frank Brunson - keyboards, vocals (died on November 24, 2007, at age 78). *David Thomson - drums *Guy Fiske - guitar *Roger Andrews - bass *Marc Reed - vocals *Clifton Gamble - piano, synthesizer *Johnnie Hightower - guitar *Bill Rodgers - piano, synthesizer *Darnell Jordan - guitar *Stanley Thomas - bass, vocals *Valerie Brown - vocals

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

*''Golden Classics'' (1996,

Collectables A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

) *''I Likes to Do It'' (2000,

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...

) *''Any Way You Wanna - People's Choice Anthology 1971-1981'' (2017, BBR)

Singles

References

External links

* *
soulfulkindamusic.net - Frankie Brunson / The Fashions

Frankie Brunson Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples Choice, The Musical groups from Philadelphia American disco groups American funk musical groups American soul musical groups Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Philadelphia International Records artists 1971 establishments in Pennsylvania 1985 disestablishments in Pennsylvania