Richard Pratt

Sweetest Girl in the World Richard Pratt

While not the most flamboyant member of the iconic Philly outfit, Richard Pratt was a key to the act's success, with his formidable writing skills and immense vocal prowess, helping to make Blue Magic one of the truly great vocal groups of the 1970s, and Philadelphia soul royalty. Formed by Temple University student Ted 'Wizard' Mills, with some friends, the group scored an early hit with Mills' composition "Spell." When the other members who participated in the recording balked at touring, Mills merged with local band Shades of Love (Richard Pratt, along with Vernon Sawyer, Wendell Sawyer, and Keith 'Duke' Beaton) to form the nucleus of Blue Magic that would top the charts for years to come. The five members of Blue Magic reunited in 2018 for an episode of TV One's music biography show, Unsung. It was the first time they had all been together in nearly three decades, and they mulled over the possibility of a full reunion, though that never materialized. Now, with the untimely death of Pratt in early 2022, that dream has faded. As we celebrate the half century of musical greatness he brought to the world, we still have his music to carry us through. Pratt had recently gotten together with his dear friend and legendary producer Butch Ingram to record a new song he had written. "Sweetest Girl In The World" marks the final time Pratt would grace a recording studio, and we are all the more fortunate to have yet another memento of his supreme talent that will surely inspire future generations of Philly Soul artists for years to come. .