Philadelphia International and The Sound of Philadelphia put out some great music in the 70s, early 80s. Stylistics, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, Spinners, Blue Magic, MFSB, O'Jays. The people could really sing, without all the melisma and overdoing it, the records had full orchestras backing up the vocalists including full string and horn sections. Great stuff that will probably never be recorded in a like manner ever again. Many of the songs have since been sampled.

Great tunes like:

You Make Me Feel Brand New
Stone in Love With You
Use ta Be My Girl
TSOP- the theme from Soul Train
Backstabbers
Bad Luck
When Will I See You Again?
I'll Be Around
Aint No Stoppin Us Now
Sideshow
Three Ring Circus

It was obvious that the producers Gamble and Huff and Thom Bell had studied music technique to put this stuff together. One of a kind. People say 70s music sucked, but this didn't. Even the songs about heartbreak have an uplifting vibe to them. Compare this to the stuff on the urban and pop stations now.

I was just listening to all this stuff on my ipod the past couple of days. You named pretty much all the essentials, though you can't forget Teddy Pendergrass' solo stuff, Billy Paul and the Intruders, responsible for the song that's perfect for this time of year (I'll Always Love My Mama). I love all those groups, though it's something about Thom Bell's Stylistics and Spinners work that makes that stuff a favorite. Then the O'Jays (For The Love of Money) and Bluenotes (Wake Up Everybody), great stuff. I agree, most stuff today doesn't compare with 70's soul.

Yes, I definately love it! :biglove:

I always love the Philly sound rather that Motown. I actually love Motown too. Gamble & Huff and Thom Bell are good producers originally from the City of Brotherly Love. The Spinners (aka The Detroit Spinners - UK version) was originally from Motown in the 60's and moved to Philadelphia in the 70's with producer Thom Bell. The Delfonics, Blue Magic, The O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Intruders and the Stylistics are good soul groups of the 70's and 80's.:) Harold Melvin of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes made his interview with Sunny Joe White on Sunny's last show on Boston's WVBF back in February, 1993. Here is that clip (Go to the link and click here which it says "Sunny Joe White, WVBF Boston, 2-11-1993" to listen to his interview with Harold Melvin):
http://www.reelradio.com/pg/index.html#sjwwvbf93

Originally posted by ElvisDustyfan
Yes, I definately love it! :biglove:

Me too! The Stylistics! The O'Jays! Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes! The Spinners! Oh, get down, brother! :)

The reason that we'll probably never get music like this today is that they had a full orchestra backing up the singers. MFSB did a lot of the backing instrumentation and made some albums on their own. That group had like 40 members. Today it would cost a fortune to pay for all those people to be on a record with union requirements and all. So much easier to go the cheap route with some computerized musical backing. Live instruments are vast becoming extinct in r&b today.

Also, as I posted on BrooklynGuy78's Four tops post, the group camaraderie isn't that strong in music anymore so acts like stylistics, spinners, o'jays who stuck together and harmonized as units are becoming almost extinct. Now it's much easier to be a solo act so you don't have to split the money 5 ways. Outside of some of the rock bands everyone is out for themselves and it shows.

I love it and I lived it.........

The Stylistics are my absolute favorite.

Originally posted by Pitooey
I love it and I lived it.........

The Stylistics are my absolute favorite.



Give me the Stylistics over Justin Timberake and Michael Jackson anyday. Russell Tompkins, the lead singer of the group had that falsetto but didn't sound girlish or wimpy at all. Now you have all these Radio Disney sounding singers who are just awful.

The 70s soul had efferversence and grit. Grit came from those black people (and some of the white ones too) having come up from some real rural poverty. The top 40 singers today don't convey that deep sense of blighted suffering and joy and overcoming and happiness amidst tears and loss. The modern radio singers seem much more shallow. And Michael jackson is extremely confused.

I liked the Philly soul sound too. I liked The Ojays, The Stylistics, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Jean Carne. The Stylistics only made one album on The Sound Of Philadelphia records if i'm not mistaken. The name of the album was Hurry Up This Way Again which came out in 1980. The title track was a hit for them. The dude who was the lead singer of their group had a nice voice but his voice sounded kinda girlish to me. I also like their People Make The World Go Round song which was sampled by rap group Westside Connection for their song Gangstas Make The World Go Round. EPMD also sampled that song. The Ojays have been sampled a lot by rappers too. Ja Rule sampled their Cry Together song for his I Cry song & Thug Life also sampled that for their Pour Out A Little Liquor song which 2Pac rapped on by himself. Jean Carne had the hit song Don't Let It Go To Your Head that came out in 78 on the Philly record label.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
The 70s soul had efferversence and grit. Grit came from those black people (and some of the white ones too) having come up from some real rural poverty. The top 40 singers today don't convey that deep sense of blighted suffering and joy and overcoming and happiness amidst tears and loss.

They're not top 40 singers but if you're looking for that type of music today, you need to check out Anthony Hamilton's Comin' From Where I'm From and Donnie's The Colored Section. Anthony's album in particular is exactly what you described (sense of blighted suffering and joy and overcoming and happiness amidst tears and loss).