Honey Cone

Edna Wright, Carolyn Willis and Shelly Clark all started off their music careers as members of other bands - Wright of gospel group The Cogics, Willis of soul group The Girlfriends and Clark of the Ike and Tina Turner backing group The Ikettes. When Motown Records' Eddie Holland left the label to form his own with Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland - which became the organisation Holland-Dozier-Holland - he noticed the talent within the singers and set about creating a new group under their newly-formed label Hot Wax Records, calling them Honey Cone. Their debut single, While You're Out Looking For Sugar, broke the top 30 in the Billboard R&B Charts and they followed it up with Girls, It Ain't Easy which reached number eight. When their third single, Want Ads, was released, the group's following was gaining momentum and the single reached the number one spot on both the R&B and Pop Charts. The single also achieved them a gold disc from R.I.A.A. The group went on to have another number one hit with Stick-Up before splitting in 1973, shortly followed by the dissolution of Hot Wax Records.