Patti and the Lovelites: Reviving Memories

Patti and the Lovelites was one of several R&B all girl vocal groups that came to prominence in the late sixties.

Remembered mainly for their hit tracks How Can I Tell My Mom And Dad (1969) and My Conscience (1971), the group’s sound was characterised by their young teenage voices combining effortlessly with bright horn arrangements and mid-tempo beats.

Formed in 1967 in Chicago by Patti Hamilton, the group was made up of Hamilton and her sister Rozena Petty and their friend Barbara Peterman. Hamilton was not only the trio’s lead vocalist but also its main song writer and the force behind the group’s success.

Patti and the Lovelites’ cut their first record I Found A Lover b/w You Better Stop It with Bandera Records, a local label from Chicago in 1967. The next year Peterman left the group and was replaced by Ardell McDaniel.

In 1969 the group released How Can I Tell My Mom And Dad on Lock Records. Produced by Clarence Johnson it gave the group their biggest hit, peaking at #15 on the R&B charts. It was written by Patti and tackled the sensitive topic of teen pregnancies, a taboo at the time.

This success led to the group to sign up with Uni Records, a subsidiary of the bigger MCA. It was also around this time that Petty left the group with Joni Berlman taking her place in 1970. The next year McDaniel departed and was replaced by Rhonda Grayson.

In 1969 the group released the only full length album of their career on Uni. Titled With Love from the Lovelites it spun off only one hit. Though the album was not commercially successful most of its tracks were appreciated though they did not make it into the charts and have been widely played since.

The group’s other releases on Uni included Oh My Love, Who You Gonna Hurt Now and This Love is Real. During their stint with the label Patti and the Lovelites worked mainly with producers Clarence Johnson and Johnny Cameron. Later Johnson left Uni and started his own label Lovelite Records. Along with Johnson, the trio also relocated to the new label. Their releases included My Conscience b/w Man in My Life, Bumpy Road Ahead b/w Love is Pretty and Love So Strong b/w Oh My Love between 1970 and 1972.

By 1972 the group was signed to the Atlantic subsidiary, Cotillion Records. Their releases on the label included I’m The One That You Need,Is That Loving In Your Heart and We’ve Got The Real Thing.

The group broke up in 1973. Unfortunately due to inexperience Patti failed to retain the publishing rights for the songs that she wrote for the Lovelites. Instead Clarence Johnson held on to these rights and has since reaped the royalty benefits from them.

In later years two Lovelites albums were released separately. In 1994 came This Love is Real on P-Vine, which was released only in Japan. The Lovelite Years , a compilation followed in 1999 on Lovelite.