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Bell & James

Songwriting and disco soul funk duo of multi-instrumentalists [a=Leroy M. Bell] and [a=Casey James] from Philadelphia. Bell's uncle was Philly soul mainstay [a=Thom Bell], so they signed as songwriters at Mighty Three Music, a company he co-owned with [a=Gamble & Huff]. They started writing songs for the roster of [l11910] ([a=The O'Jays], [a=MFSB], [a=Teddy Pendergrass] etc.) In early 1978 they were signed to A&M where they released three albums, spawning hits like "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)", "You Never Know What You've Got", "Shakedown", "Only Make Believe". After parting ways, both did much session work.