The Softones were an American male singing group from the city of Baltimore, Maryland, best known for their 'sweet' soul recordings of the 1970s.
The group was notable for lead singer J. Marvin Brown's high falsetto, similar to that of The Stylistics' lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. and Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey, and derived from Eddie Kendricks' falsetto style with The Temptations.
The most popular tracks were "My Dream", "Can't Help Falling In Love", "I'm Gonna Prove It", and "That Old Black Magic" (#29 Billboard R&B, #2 Disco; 1976).
Their first single, "Any Street", was picked up from tiny Baltimore label Thereway, along with a few other early recordings including "My Dream".
Like later recordings for Avco by The Stylistics, The Softones were produced by label owners, Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and arranger/producer Van McCoy, whose orchestra, comprising some of the top New York session players of the time, served as the house band for many of their Avco records.