Ted Mills (born August 19, 1952) – Chasing Rainbows (1975)

Of all the silky smooth ballads Mills wrote for Blue Magic, this may have been the greatest, produced by Philly legend Norman Harris.

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Ted Wizard Mills was the lead singer of Blue Magic, one of the biggest R&B groups to come out of Philadelphia in the 1970s who were not signed to Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records.

While attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Mills began writing his own songs. One of the first tracks he wrote was the upbeat love jam, “Win All Your Love,” co-written with saxophonist Sam Reed, which was recorded by the female Philly vocal group the Cooperettes and released as a single in 1971.

Produced by the legendary Norman Harris, who played guitar on the track, it also featured his production partners Earl Young on drums and Ronnie Baker on bass. Its B-side was the superb Philly soul/funk bomb “Satisfaction,” co-written by Vinnie Barrett aka Gwendolyn Hines Woolfolk and keyboardist John Freeman, featuring the same Baker-Harris-Young rhythm section lineup.

Former Delfonics member Randy Cain brought Mills into the studio in Philadelphia to do some writing for WMOT Productions in 1972. Soon afterwards, the group Shades Of Love came in to audition, made up of Mills’ friend Richard Pratt, Keith Beaton, and brothers Vernon and Wendell Sawyer.

When WMOT executives decided the group did not have a compelling lead singer, they paired Mills with the other members and re-named them Blue Magic. They were then signed to Atlantic subsidiary ATCO Records. Another of Mills’ early songs was released as their first single, the classic slow jam “Spell,” which went to #30 on the R&B charts. The flipside was also one of his compositions, the equally dreamy but less well known ballad “Guess Who.”

See our earlier posts on Norman Harris and Bobby Eli, who produced and co-wrote Blue Magic's #1 R&B “Sideshow” in 1974, and Ron “Have Mercy” Kersey (who co-produced their third album Thirteen Blue Magic Lane in 1975) for more on the group's history.

“Spell” was included on Blue Magic’s self-titled debut LP, released on January 9, 1974. One of the classic soul albums of the seventies, it was produced by Harris and featured Baker, Young, and their fellow members of Philadelphia International Records’ house band MFSB moonlighting as the LP’s musicians. Other hit singles from the album included “Look Me Up” (#36 R&B), “Stop To Start,” (#14 R&B) and the #1 R&B smash “Sideshow,” co-written by Barrett and her frequent songwriting partner, guitarist and MFSB core member Bobby Eli. It also featured another stellar ballad written by Mills, “What’s Come Over Me.”

For their third album Thirteen Blue Magic Lane (1975), Mills wrote the beautiful, silky smooth love song “Chasing Rainbows.” Released as the LP’s first single, it peaked at #17 R&B.

This time, the album was co-produced by Norman Harris and MFSB keyboardist and arranger Ron “Have Mercy” Kersey. It also featured the epic dancefloor jam “Magic of the Blue,” co-written by Harris, Kersey and Allan Felder (the title track to Blue Magic’s second album but not included on it); a superb cover version of “We’re On The Right Track,” which Harris and Felder co-wrote, originally released by Ultra High Frequency in 1973; and a new version of “What’s Come Over Me” from Blue Magic’s debut LP, with additional lead vocals by singer Margie Joseph, which became a #11 R&B hit.

All five original members of Blue Magic reunited in March, 2018 to appear on Season 12, Episode 4 of Unsung on TV One.

Later that year in July, 2018, Mills made headlines when he heroically pulled a young man from a burning car after an accident on Route 22 in Hillside, NJ. “I knew it was somebody trapped in there and needed help getting out,” Mills told reporters. “It was flipping in the direction that I was driving.”

Further info:

“R&B legend saves young man from burning car,” NJ.com, August 23, 2018.

“R.I.P. Richard Pratt, co-founding member of Blue Magic,” by Chris Rizik, SoulTracks.com, March, 2022.

#soul #funk #Philly #NormanHarris #BlueMagic #TedMills