Richard Pratt was the bass singer with Philadelphia soul group Blue Magic, known for hits including “Sideshow.”
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Musical career
Pratt was a founding member of Blue Magic in 1972 in Philadelphia. Some of their earliest singles were moderately successful on R&B radio, including 1973’s “Spell” and “Stop to Start.” Their biggest success came in 1974 with “Sideshow,” a slow and dreamy ballad with a circus theme. It rose to No. 1 on the R&B chart and made it to the top 10 of the Hot 100. Blue Magic followed that hit with another circus-themed song, “Three Ring Circus,” which also had significant airplay on R&B and top 40 radio. They continued to chart R&B hits through the late 1980s, though Pratt left the group in the early ‘80s. In later years, he formed the splinter group Richard Pratt’s Blue Magic. The band reunited in 2018 to appear on the music documentary TV series “Unsung.”
Tributes to Richard Pratt
Full obituary: Soul Tracks
