Richard Poindexter was born in the nation's capital of Washington D.C and raised in Newport News, Virginia. He and his brother Bobby sang locally with groups such as The Swans, The Silver Moon Gospel Quintet and The Gems, with whom he first performed at New York's famous Apollo Theatre. After graduating from Washington Carver High School, The Poindexter Brothers headed for the Big Apple hoping to find the streets paved with gold and to establish a successful career in the music business primarily as writers, arrangers and producers.

Amongst their catalogue of early work they penned and produced stand-out soul gems such as "Hypnotized" and "I'll Be Sweeter" for Linda Jones, "She's A Fox" for The Icemen (featuring Jimi Hendrix on guitar), "I Dig Your Act" for The O'Jays, and "Baby, Baby Please" for Timothy Wilson. "Baby, Baby Please" was first recorded however in 1965 by a New York vocal group called The Implements which included a young man by the name of David Turner, now of The Persuaders whose relationship with Richard Poindexter now stretches back some 40 years. David was also first to record "Look Over Your Shoulder" as a member of The Implements. This later became a hit record for The Escorts, another group on George Kerr's growing and successful roster at that time. Richard and Bobby also recorded singles for Verve and Tuff as The Poindexter Brothers.

They formed The Persuaders primarily as a vehicle by which to showcase their growing reputations as writers, producers and nurturers of talent. The Persuaders were born out of another group called The Internationals that included Douglas "Smokey" Scott, Jimmy Barnes and Charles Stodghill on whom they had already recorded "Too Sweet To Be Lonely" (The Poindexter Brothers also recorded a version on The O'Jays for Bell) and "My Beautiful Philosophy" for the D'Ore label. From a group called The Majestics, they acquired another vocalist from Richard's home city of Newport News, Virginia by the name of Willie B.Holland.

The first album distributed by Atlantic and released on their own Win Or Lose label was entitled "Thin Line Between Love And Hate'' and was a break-out success in both pop and soul markets. Aside from the now-classic title track, it also provided hit singles in "Peace In The Valley of Love" and "Love's Gonna Pack Up". The Persuaders run of success continued with their second album release, albeit with a new line-up that included an exciting singer named Tommy Hill. The album contained a cut called "Trying Girls Out" which although popular on its initial release was to get a new lease of life more than 20 years later when Jay-Z and Kanye West used the track on the remix of "Girls, Girls, Girls" for which Richard received a Platinum Disc. The hip-hop scene also gave new life to "Love's Gonna Pack Up" which Will Smith heavily sampled the for the cut "Willow Is A Player" on 2002's "Born To Reign" set.

 

SOUL-PATROL SALUTES LEGENDARY SOUL/R&B ARTISTS THE PERSUADERS and THEIR ALBUM - MADE TO BE LOVED (Richard Poindexter, Alexander Brown, David Turner and Tony Showtime Riley), RIP: Alex Brown

The hits for The Persuaders slowed up as disco took hold but not before Richard and Bobby provided the two best songs on the last Persuaders album release on Calla in 1976 in the form of "Gambling On A Sure Shot" and "Trying To Love Two Women". Both cuts were produced by Norman Harris and have that distinctive uptempo 70's Philadelphia sound that was prevalent at the time and remain hugely popular on the dance floors to this day.

From the late 60's and throughout the 1970's Richard also wrote and produced Florence Ballard , The Manhattans, Dee Dee Warwick, Carl Hall, Pat Johnson, The Topics (featuring one-time Persuader Charles Stodghill), Tony Mason and The Young Gents. He also found his songs increasingly covered by artists ranging from The Lost Generation, Bloodstone, David Hudson, The Escorts and Teena Marie to the likes of H Town, The Pretenders and Annie Lennox, all of whom scored big in the 80's and 90's with "Thin Line Between Love And Hate". It also became the basis for the story-line and title for a movie in 1996 starring Martin Lawrence.

Around the same time, Richard and Tommy Hill formed a new set of Persuaders featuring one-time stand-in Alexander Brown, who was first introduced to the group by Douglas "Smokey" Scott, and David Turner who had first worked with Richard as a member of The Implements back in the 60's. They regularly performed on classic soul reviews throughout the United States and this continued until Tommy's sad and untimely death in 2002. It is all the more poignant therefore that Willie B.Holland, the only surviving member of the group to appear on the first two albums, agreed to appear on this CD. The album also introduces for the very first time on record, the powerhouse vocals of the latest member to join the group, Tony "Showtime" Riley who hails from Brooklyn, New York.

Richard Poindexter already has a speacial place in soul music history from a career that now stretches back some 40 years. It is also evident from the new compositions that he wrote for "Made To Be Loved" that his special talent in being able to craft songs with strong melodies and memorable lyrics never abandoned him throughout some quiet and at times difficult years. The release of this CD is an opportunity to appreciate once again the creativity of one of soul music's real unsung heroes and marks the start of a new and exciting chapter in the history of The Persuaders.

The Persuaders today are Richard Poindexter, Alexander Brown, David Turner and Tony "Showtime" Riley.