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Biography
Originally called Act 1, the group Special Delivery was a rotating bunch of Washington D.C.-based singers that had a brief moment in the spotlight in 1976. Led by falsetto singer Terry Huff, the group had its first hit around the Huff-written ballad "I Destroyed Your Love." The six minute song (split up into parts for both sides of the 45) only made it halfway up the Soul charts, but was an absolute gem, with excellent harmonies behind Huff's sweet falsetto voice. It may be one of the greatest sweet soul cuts of the 70s, with the appeal of some of the top Stylistics and Chi-Lites cuts. The song continued to live on after its initial run, and is still a regular on Urban Adult Contemporary radio 30+ years after its introduction.
The group followed "I Destroyed Your Love" with "The Lonely One," another excellent Huff ballad that shot up to the Soul Top 10 and seemed to indicate another hot Soul group was in the makings. Working with writer/producer Al Johnson, the group released the album The Lonely One later that year, and it briefly reached the Soul top 40. All Music Guide asserts that by the time "The Lonely One" was recorded, Special Delivery had already broken up and that the single and subsequent album were actually recorded by Huff, Johnson and Huff's brother, but were nonetheless credited to Special Delivery. Huff informed me that his split with Special Delivery occurred two weeks before the release of "I Destroyed Your Love" due to a dispute about songwriting credit for the song (Huff is generally credited as the sole writer of the song).
Special Delivery regrouped in 1977 without Huff, and charted one more time, with 1978's "This Kind of Love," before fading into oblivion with their 1981 release Living On the Run. Though he entertained offers following his split with Special Delivery, Huff's solo career never materialized, and his national notoriety wound up being limited to two wonderful Soul ballads.
The name Special Delivery was later used by a completely unrelated country/folk act, which released This Is Special Delivery in 1994. You won't find Terry Huff's sweet falsetto on that disc. Just a whole lotta picking and strumming.
by Chris Rizik
