Porter and Turner were eventually replaced by Janet Harmon and Helen Scott and then subsequently by Sheila Ferguson and Valerie Holiday.

[3][4] The Three Degrees were formed around 1963 in Philadelphia according to founder member, the late Fayette Pinkney: "it's about '63, last year in high school...and it was fun!".

Harmon left by 1967 and, after brief stints by Sundray Tucker and Sonia Goring, she was replaced by Valerie Holiday that same year.

At this point, the group's close harmony singing made them a popular nightclub act, but a hit record still eluded them.

[1] In 1973, when their contract with Roulette ended, Barrett signed them to Philadelphia International Records under Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, where they had their greatest successes.

[1] In October 1973, the group also made an appearance on the American television sitcom Sanford and Son (season 3, episode 4), singing their song "I Didn't Know".

[1] Their first album for the Philadelphia International label, The Three Degrees, spawned three hits: "Dirty Ol' Man" (which went gold in the Netherlands and Belgium), "Year Of Decision" (which made it to No.

It topped the UK Chart for two weeks in August 1974 (the first time this had been achieved by an all-female group since The Supremes in 1964,[5]) and became the fourth best-selling single of the year.

2 in the US, where it sold over two million copies and earned the trio a gold record in December 1974[1][2] (at that time, Platinum certifications had not been assigned to singles).

In Continental Europe, it was called With Love, and it spawned the hit single "Take Good Care Of Yourself", which reached the UK Top 10.

[5] Two other songs from the album were big successes in Japan: "Midnight Train" and "Nigai Namida [ja]", the latter having been recorded in Japanese.

Featuring one side of their hits on the Ariola label between 1978 and 1979, and one side of live recordings from their 1979 Royal Albert Hall television special, this would be the trio's second "best of" compilation to make the UK Top 10 in less than two years, after CBS released A Collection of their 20 Greatest Hits in early 1979 (which featured their pre-Ariola material, and peaked at number 8 in the UK Albums Chart).

[1] The band expressed surprise the song did not chart higher, and spoke of their regret that their working relationship with the production team did not continue.

Following the album, the group recorded a live CD at London's Dominion Theatre, with Billy Paul and Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes in 1989.

In addition, Holiday commented feeling upset that this specific conversation should have been in person and not on a phone call and said that it had been difficult to find a replacement for Ferguson.

They made their first US TV appearance in over 20 years in 2003 on the PBS show, Rhythm, Love, and Soul with Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls and Mary Wilson.

They were also part of the 'Best Disco In Town 2004 Tour' with the Pointer Sisters, Chic, the Emotions, and Evelyn "Champagne" King.

It contained a selection of eight cover versions of classic songs by ABBA, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Bee Gees.

In 2016, the Three Degrees released their first studio album with member Freddi Poole entitled Strategy: Our Tribute To Philadelphia, through Cherry Red Records.