Soul Survivors

The Soul Survivors were first formed in New York City in the early 1960s as The Dedications. Founding members were Kenny Jeremiah and brothers Rich Ingui and Charles Ingui. They changed their name to The Soul Survivors in 1965 and eventually signed with Crimson Records in Philadelphia, PA, which was co-owned by well-known Philly DJ Jerry Blavat. Crimson hooked them up with songwriters/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who wrote and produced "Expressway to Your Heart" for them. It rose to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, stayed on the charts for 15 weeks, sold over one million copies and was the first--but hardly the last--hit for the Gamble/Huff team. The group had a few follow-up records for Crimson, but none of them even reached the Top 30, let alone the Top 10. The group changed labels several times in search of the success they had with "Expressway", but nothing happened. They broke up for a few years in the early 1970s, but re-formed in 1972 with major personnel changes. It didn't do much good. They eventually lost their record contract, their manager left them and they disbanded for good in the mid-'70s. The founding Ingui brothers left the music business altogether, but in 1987 they began playing occasional dates as "The Original Soul Survivors" and, as of 2006, were playing dates in the northeastern US.