Count To Ten FRANKIE AND THE SPINDLES Video Steven Bogarat

R.I.P. Frankie and the Spindles lead, Franklin Kennedy
2016 has been a sad year for music fans, as many of the great singers of the 1960s and 70s have passed on. Today, we're sad to inform SoulTrackers of the death of Franklin Kennedy, the lead singer of classic soul group Frankie and the Spindles, at age 67.
The Baltimore native started his group as a teen, and they successfully rose among the ranks of the local soul acts of the late 1960s. Ultimately, the group came to the attention of legendary producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (of Philadelphia International Records fame), and recorded the now classic single, "Count To Ten."
The group continued to record and perform into the early 70s, but Kennedy left to work at several jobs in and around Baltimore, while raising his family and singing at local churches.
Franklin Kennedy is survived by his wife, Dorothy, three generations of descendants.

They had started out on the Baltimore soul scene as two separate groups -- one was known as Frankie and the Spinners and the other, Little Ray and the Playboys. The groups eventually got together because one member had quit and another went to join the Marines. In 1968 the group started to record and had to change their name because of Motown group, the Spinners. Thus Frankie and the Spindles came to be.
The were still playing gigs as Frankie & the Spinners in late April 1968 but had their Roc-ker 45 on the US national soul chart by July, so I guess they had only changed their name when the 45 had escaped into the shops.

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