Ghetto Child (song)

"Ghetto Child" is a 1973 song recorded by American R&B music group the Spinners (known as "Detroit Spinners" in the UK) for the Atlantic label. It was written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed. It was produced by Bell, and recorded at Philly's Sigma Sound Studios with the house band MFSB providing the backing instrumentation. It is notable for being one of few songs that all three main leads, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne and Henry Fambrough sing lead (Wynne and Fambrough on the verses and Smith on the songs bridge).[1] The song were focused on racial injustice and as a result on the 1967 Detroit Riot caused on Black-Ghetto people living due to segregation.

"Ghetto Child"
Single by The Spinners
from the album Spinners
B-side	"We Belong Together"
Released	July, 1973
Recorded	1972-1973 at Sigma Sound Studios (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Genre	Philadelphia soul, R&B
Length	3:47
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Linda Creed Thom Bell
Producer(s)	Thom Bell
The Spinners singles chronology
"One of a Kind (Love Affair)" (1973) "Ghetto Child" (1973) "Mighty Love" (1973)

The group's fifth hit at Atlantic, the song peaked at number four on the R&B chart and number twenty-nine on the Billboard Pop Singles chart.[2][1][3]

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Philippé Wynne, Henry Fambrough and Bobby Smith
• Background vocals by Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne, Pervis Jackson, Henry Fambrough and Billy Henderson
• Additional background vocals by Linda Creed, and the Sigma Sweethearts, Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson and Yvette Benton
• Instrumentation by MFSB

Chart history

Chart (1972)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart	29
U.S. Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles	4
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks	20
UK	7

References

1. "1973: The Top 100 Soul/R&B Singles".
2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 545.
3. "US Charts > The Spinners". Allmusic. Retrieved 2018-01-22.