The Ballads were an Oakland, CA, vocal group that came together in 1961. The members were Nathan Robertson, Jon Foster, Rico Thompson, and Lesley LaPalma. Their Ventura single "God Bless Our Love" went to number eight R&B, number 65 pop in summer 1968. It would be their only charting single, though there were more records: "Gift Of Love" b/w "I Wish I Knew," "Goodnight My Love" b/w "Hey Diddle Diddle," and "You're the One" b/w "Love You Yeah." Some of their tracks can be found on CD; The lush ballad "Wait" features a lead vocal very reminiscent of Teddy Pendergrass and can be found on the 1999 I.T.P. Records CD Underground Oldies, Vol. 6. ~ Ed Hogan