Joe Jeffrey Group

The Joe Jeffrey Group will go down in history as a one-hit wonder, but what a hit - their infectious "My Pledge of Love" remains a classic of '60s pop-soul. Little is known about Jeffrey. Born Joe Stafford, he presumably adopted his stage name to avoid confusion with distaff pop singer Jo Stafford, and was a fixture of the Cleveland club circuit before signing to Wand Records. An effervescent, string-sweetened effort closer to sunshine pop than soul, "My Pledge of Love" reached number 14 on the Billboard pop charts in 1969 but conspicuously missed the R&B charts altogether. Jeffrey's career nevertheless seemed promising, but the follow-up, "The Train", tanked and he never recovered his momentum. After a third Wand release, "Chance of Lovin' You", the Joe Jeffrey Group cut "My Baby Loves Lovin", but a rival rendition of the song by British bubblegum group White Plains captured the attention of radio. After one last gasp, "A Hundred Pounds of Clay", Wand cut its losses and the Joe Jeffrey Group called it quits.