You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else / Who Can I Run To
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Album Summary
The Jones Girls — sisters Shirley, Valorie, and Brenda Jones — released 'You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else / Who Can I Run To' in 1979 on Philadelphia International Records, the hallowed Philly soul institution founded by the legendary Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. This single arrived during one of the most fertile stretches in the trio's career, a time when these three sisters from Detroit were simultaneously holding down their reputation as the most sought-after backing vocalists in the game while stepping fully into their own light as lead artists. Recorded within the warm, orchestrated universe that Philadelphia International had been perfecting since the early seventies, the single showcased everything that made the Jones Girls singular — those stacked, gospel-drenched harmonies riding atop the lush, string-laden production that was the signature of the Philly sound at its most majestic.
Reception
- 'You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else' found real traction on the R&B charts, affirming that the Jones Girls were not simply session royalty but legitimate lead artists with the songs and the vocal firepower to back it up.
- The single arrived at a moment when Philadelphia International still commanded Black radio with authority, and the Jones Girls' material fit right into the programming that defined urban contemporary radio in the late 1970s.
- Critical ears of the era took notice of the vocal sophistication on display — the sisters' ability to move together as one instrument while still delivering the kind of raw emotional truth that separates great soul music from mere product.
Significance
- This single stands as a pure distillation of the late-seventies Philly soul aesthetic — ornate string arrangements, deeply sophisticated harmonic movement, and harmonies rooted in the Black church — capturing one of the genre's final moments of mainstream commercial dominance before post-disco and funk-influenced R&B began reshaping the landscape.
- The release is a vital document of the Jones Girls' remarkable dual identity in soul music history: they were foundational architects of the backing vocal art form who also generated genuine charting work as lead artists, and their Philadelphia International singles deserve to be understood as significant primary texts of the era.
- The pairing of these two tracks reflects the songwriting and production ecosystem that Philadelphia International cultivated throughout the seventies — an environment so creatively rich that its influence on R&B, quiet storm, and eventually new jack swing continued to ripple outward long after the label's commercial peak had passed.
Tracklist
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A You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else 108
3:33
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B Who Can I Run To 144
3:25
Artist Details
The Jones Girls — Brenda, Shirley, and Valorie — were a Detroit-born trio of sisters who came up singing gospel before finding their groove in Philadelphia soul and R&B during the late 1970s, signing with Philadelphia International Records and putting out smooth, sophisticated harmonies that sat right alongside the best of what Gamble and Huff were crafting at the time. Their 1979 self-titled debut gave the world the silky gem "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else," a track that had every slow-jam lover leaning back and closing their eyes. As backup vocalists, they lent their voices to heavyweights like Diana Ross and Teddy Pendergrass, cementing their legacy not just as solo artists but as essential architects of that lush, polished Philly soul sound that defined an era.
