The Dramatics

You can't mention the Dramatics without invoking their signature song, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." It's amazing they'd been around for the better part of a decade before releasing their first album, but the singles culture dictated that, unless you had hits, you didn't make 12-inch platters. Aspiring-DJ hint: the track is an outstanding segue with Bill Withers' "Use Me." Also be sure to check out the silky cover of Billy Paul's "Me and Mrs. Jones."

As the '70s hit their midpoint, the Dramatics' appearances on the charts declined: The eminently hummable "Tune Up" managed to hit only the lower rungs of the R&B Singles chart in 1975, and the percolating follow-up, "Finger Fever," missed the Top 20 the following year. As a change of pace, the group's skill as backing vocalists is evident on Lil' Half Dead, Snoop Dogg, & the Dramatics' "Ballin'."

OK, one of the weirder covers of the late '90s was the Dramatics' take on "Scarborough Faire," the British folk tune popularized in the United States by Simon & Garfunkel. How they managed to inject soul into a 16th century folk song is anyone's guess, but it's an intriguing bit of musical fusion. As proof of the band's vocal depth, three Dramatics share lead on "When Love Is Over."

Originally a sextet known as the Dynamics, the group shed a member and their original moniker before going on to minor fame as the Dramatics. Though they had some small chart success at the end of the '60s, it wasn't until 1971 (and a couple of further personnel changes) that they cut the song for which they are best remembered, "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get." The '70s were very good to the band, which notched nine Top 20 R&B albums during the decade (and this without succumbing to disco fever!). When lead singer Larry Reynolds went solo in 1981, though, it was all over but the reunion tours, which continue to happen, sporadically, along with recording dates.