Brothers William and Wilbert Hart formed the group with Richard Daniels, and Randy (Rudy) Cain in high school in the early 1960s. Richard Daniels one of the founding members would be drafted just before the groups first major success.
Soon, they became known throughout the Philadelphia area, signing with Cameo Records. At Cameo, Stan Watson introduced them to the man who made them famous, producer Thom Bell, then working with Chubby Checker. Bell dreamed of creating a Philadelphia version of Motown and struck gold with the Delfonics, whose first album, released on Watson's own Philly Groove record label, featured the 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 "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", "For the Love I Give to You", "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" and "Hey Love". Prior to the release of "La-La (Means I Love You)", they had a hit with "He Don't Really Love You" on the small Moonshot label.
Philadelphia soul was smoother than traditional soul, strongly influenced by Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production, but solidly based in the doo-wop sounds of the 1950s. Randy Cain left the group in 1971, and in 1973 had a hand in formulating Blue Magic when he brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing for W.M.O.T. (We Men of Talent), and the remaining future members of Blue Magic came in for an audition. The rest, as they say, is history. Cain was replaced by Major Harris; by then, however, Thom Bell had moved on to produce The Stylistics and later, The Spinners. The Delfonics swiftly produced another album, Alive and Kicking, produced by Stan Watson. However, in the absence of Thom Bell, the Delfonics' career declined sharply, and with the exception of the aforementioned Hey Love and the minor hits "When You Get Right Down to It", "I Don't Want to Make You Wait" and "I Told You So", success eluded them after 1975. ("For the Love I Give to You", although popular, was never released as a single.) Most of their songs at this point were written by lead singer William Hart.
Major Harris left and had major success with the song "Love Don't Let Me Wait". Wilbert Hart also left around this time, leaving William Hart as the only original member. New members were brought in, and the group continued for some time. The group then broke up and reformed with William Hart, Randy Cain, and Major Harris. (Wilbert Hart formed his own Delfonics group; the members were Wilbert, Eban Brown (falsetto lead), and Dr. S. Love.) Dr. Salaam Love has performed with both William and Wilbert Hart for the last twenty five plus years. Although often in the background he is more than qualified to take lead when asked. His claim to Fame is his vocal versatility. Randy Cain left for a second time, and was replaced by Frank Washington of The Futures.
Their music enjoyed a mild renaissance in the mid-1990s when New Kids On The Block had a hit with "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)". "La La Means I Love You" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind)" played a pivotal role in the film Jackie Brown. In the film, one of the characters is so struck by the music, he goes out and buys The Delfonics Greatest Hits cassette the following day. Their songs appeared in numerous movies and "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" served as the basis of two hit hip hop singles: it was the chorus for The Fugees' 1996 hit "Ready or Not", and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Timbaland sampled the string and horn intro for Elliott's hit 1997 "Sock It to Me". The Notorious B.I.G.'s last hit, "Playa Hata" released that same year, was a take-off on "Hey Love." The Delfonics also provided backing vocals on the track "After the Smoke has Cleared" on the 1996 hip hop album Iron Man by Ghostface Killah. In 2004 Ghostface also sampled "La-La Means I Love You" for his song "Holla" from his album The Pretty Toney Album. "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" was also sampled on Cam'ron's hit single "Hey Ma".
The current line-up of the Delfonics is William Hart, Garfield Fleming (baritone lead), and Johnny ("JJ") Johnson. Wilbert also has a group, sometimes called "The Delphonics", "The New Delfonics" or simply billed as "Wilbert Hart". Eban Brown went on to become the lead singer of The Stylistics, and Frank Washington is now the lead singer of The Spinners. The current line-up of the group is featured in concert on the DVD's "The Big Show" and "'70's Soul Jam," whereas Wilbert Hart's group is featured on the DVD "Old School Soul Party Live!," which was part of the PBS "My Music" series. Major Harris is also featured on the recently re-released DVD "Blue Magic/Margie Joseph/Major Harris Live!", which was recorded during their prime in 1975.
Ready or Not
The Delfonics Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna love you and make you love me
You can't run away
From this love I got, oh, baby
Hey baby, 'cause I got a lot, yeah
My poor heart's gonna know, oh baby
Hey baby, you can't hide from love, no
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna love you and make you love me
Anywhere you go
My poor heart's gonna know, oh baby
Hey baby, you can't hide from love, no
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide
The Delfonics’s song “Ready Or Not Here I Come” is an upbeat and playful tune with a message about love that is both authoritative and confident. The lyrics of the song are delivered by lead singer William Hart, who listeners can hear is brimming with enthusiasm and confidence in his singing. The message is clear: no matter where you go, no matter how hard you try, you cannot hide from love. Hart even suggests that anybody who tries to hide from love will be found and kept happy.
The opening line of the song “Ready or not here I come, You can’t hide, gonna find you and keep you happy” gives us a clear indication of what the song is all about. Hart tells his lover that he is going to find her no matter where she goes and keep her happy. This sentiment is reinforced throughout the song, with Hart reminding us that his love is unrelenting and that no one can escape it. The chorus reiterates this message several times, clearly sending a message that there is no point in resisting the love that he has to offer.
Line by Line Meaning
Ready or not here I come
I am ready to chase after you and find you
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
You cannot escape my love, I will find you and keep you happy
You can't hide, gonna love you and make you love me
No matter what you do, I will love you and make you return my love
You can't run away
You cannot escape from my love and pursuit
From this love I got, oh, baby
My love for you is strong, oh baby
Hey baby, 'cause I got a lot, yeah
My love for you is abundant and overflowing
Anywhere you go
No matter where you go
My poor heart's gonna know, oh baby
My heart will always long for you, oh baby
Hey baby, you can't hide from love, no
You cannot avoid the strength of my love
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Peermusic Publishing, Reservoir Media Management, Inc., Cloud9, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Thomas Randolph Bell, William Alexander Hart
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@pedroivodantas531
Lyrics / Letra da música:
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna love you and make you love me
You can't run away, you can't run away
From this love I got, oh baby, you can't run away
Hey baby, 'cause I got a lot, yeah
Anywhere you go, anywhere you go
My poor heart got to know, oh baby
Hey baby, you can't hide from my love, oh no
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna love you and make you love me
Anywhere you go
My poor heart got to know
Oh baby, hey baby
You can't hide from my love, oh no, yeah
Ready, get ready
Ready, get ready
Ready or not here I come
You can't hide, gonna find you and keep you happy
You better come on, baby, oh yeah, oh yeah
I'll make you happy
I'm gonna find you now, yeah and I'll make you happy
Anywhere you hide now oh yeah, yeah
@sambanelly4219
Now that I escape, sleepwalker awake (Yeah)
Those who could relate know the world ain't cake
Jail bars ain't golden gates, those who fake, they break
When they meet their four hundred-pound mate
If I could rule the world (If I ruled the world), everyone would have a gun
In the ghetto. of course, when giddy-upping on their horse
I kick a rhyme drinking moonshine
I pour a sip on the concrete for the deceased
But, no, don't weep, Wyclef's in a state of sleep
Thinking 'bout the robbery that I did last week
Money in the bag, banker looked like a drag
I want to play with pelicans from here to Baghdad
Gun blast, think fast, I think I'm hit
My girl pinched my hips to see if I still exist
I think not, I'll send a letter to my friends
A born again hooligan only to be king again
WYCLEF JEAN 🙌
@MikeMicable
The only thing I don't like about this song is that it's not long enough. I LOVE THIS CLASSIC! The music that brought me into this world.
@tazzhardwick7466
I agree I needed about 5 minutes of this funk.
@DmonDhaBoss
I just blew on my screen cuz of u Mike 😂😂😂😂😂
@coolbeats5106
@Tazz Hardwick i’ll make a loop
@tylermorgan2230
@DmonDhaBoss same
@vidropartido
Your profile pic😂😂
@paulnash7630
I'm 76yrs old now and so lucky to have been young in the best musical era ever of the 60's and possibly early 70's, this Delfonics 1968 classic tune brings back so many memories of 60's all nighters.
@TheTransitmtl
I'm 44 now and so lucky to be alive in the most artistically creative era of humanity. Not only can I listen to classical masters, contemporary geniuses, baroque masterminds but also early jazz pioneers, soul music that sometimes warms the soul and sometimes makes it cry. But I also get to listen to the endlessly creative music of today's youth.
@BLSMOOZYSMOOVE
Im 13 and im happy this music exists bc i was raised around it and im very grateful
@sloth14
Think you'll find 90s was the best music era