MFSB - The Second Disc

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Billy Paul, Bunny Sigler, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, MFSB, Mel Lewis, Monk Montgomery, Thad Jones, The Ebonys, The O'Jays

Vinyl Me, Please Releases Lavish “Story of Philadelphia International Records” Anthology

March 7, 2022 by Joe Marchese | 10 Comments

The legacy of Philadelphia International Records is as mighty as the famous three men most associated with the label: co-founders and songwriter-producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff and songwriter-producer-conductor-arranger Thom Bell. The three men didn’t do it alone, though; the PIR story involves the dozens of talented artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, and arrangers who passed through the doors of engineer Joe Tarsia’s Sigma Sound Studios on North 12th Street in Philadelphia, creating magic on a daily basis. That tale – one of symphonic soul and social conscience – is brought to vivid…

Categories:

Reviews

Formats:

Box Sets, Vinyl

Genres:

Tags:

Billy Paul, Dexter Wansel, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Leon Huff, Lou Rawls, MFSB, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

Here to Make Music: Vinyl Me, Please Announces Philadelphia International Records Anthology

September 14, 2021 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Sony Music’s celebration of Philadelphia International Records’ 50th anniversary has so far encompassed a new, vinyl-only series of hits collections as well as the first two releases in the ongoing complete albums series of CD box sets from the U.K.’s Snapper/United Souls label. Now, a major component of the golden anniversary celebration for the house that Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff built has been announced by the Vinyl Me, Please record club. VMP Anthology: The Story of Philadelphia International Records is the latest in VMP’s deluxe series of box sets celebrating artists…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, Vinyl

Genres:

Tags:

Billy Paul, Dexter Wansel, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

Put Your Hands Together: Second Volume of Complete Philadelphia International Albums Arrives in November

September 8, 2021 by Joe Marchese | 7 Comments

Satisfaction Guaranteed Philadelphia International Packshot

Back in late January, we shared news of Philadelphia International Records’ 50th anniversary plans. The centerpiece of the campaign announced by Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings was a series of fifteen CD box sets via the U.K.-based United Souls/Snapper Music presenting every PIR album in chronological order. The first of those box sets hit stores in late May, and now the second volume has been announced for November 19 release. The slipcased, 8-CD/1-12″ single hardcover book-style set entitled Satisfaction Guaranteed: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 2 will feature the following eight…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Features, The Weekend Stream

Tags:

Billy Paul, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, Spiritual Concept, The Intruders, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

Release Round-Up: Week of May 28

May 28, 2021 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Get on Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia Vol. 1 (Snapper/United Souls) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Burning Shed) Get On Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 is the first in a series of box sets from the U.K.-based United Souls label, an imprint of Snapper Music, which will ultimately collect the entire Philadelphia International albums discography on CD. The slipcased, 8-CD/1-12″ single hardcover book-style set will feature the following eight albums, originally released between 1971 and 1973: Billy…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Abbey Lincoln, Belinda Carlisle, Billy Paul, David Bowie, Dick Jensen, Donald Fagen, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, John Cleese, MFSB, Moby, Nat Turner Rebellion, Pink Floyd, The Intruders, The O'Jays, k.d. lang

The Weekend Stream: May 15, 2021

May 15, 2021 by The Second Disc | No Comments

While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it’s no secret that listening audiences are also digital – catalogue music lovers, too – and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we’ve introduced a new Saturday feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Various Artists, Philadelphia International Records: The Tom Moulton Remixes (Philadelphia International Records/Legacy)…

Categories:

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Billy Paul, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Lionel Richie, Lou Rawls, MFSB, The Intruders, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, They Might Be Giants

People All Over the World, Join Hands: United Souls Announces First Philadelphia International Records Albums Box Set, “Get On Board the Love Train”

March 8, 2021 by Joe Marchese | 14 Comments

Back in late January, we shared news of Philadelphia International Records’ 50th anniversary plans. The centerpiece of the campaign announced by Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings was a series of CD box sets presenting every PIR album in chronological order. Now, the first of those box sets is available for pre-order with a release date of May 28. Get On Board the Soul Train: The Sound of Philadelphia International Records Vol. 1 is a product of the U.K.-based United Souls, an imprint of Snapper Music. The slipcased, 8-CD/1-12″ single hardcover book-style set will…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Tags:

Billy Paul, Dick Jensen, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, The Intruders, The O'Jays, Thom Bell

Love Is The Message: Cherry Red Collects MFSB’s “Definitive Collection”

April 3, 2018 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

MFSB – a.k.a. Mother, Father, Sister, Brother (or a rather more off-color series of four words, depending on whom you ask) – remains one of the all-time great aggregations of studio musicians, right up there with The Funk Brothers, The Wrecking Crew, and The Nashville Cats. The legacy of the Philadelphia International group has just been celebrated by Cherry Red’s Robinsongs imprint on a new 2-CD, 32-track anthology entitled The Definitive Collection. The talented, versatile musicians at the core of the original MFSB, including guitarists Bobby Eli and Norman Harris, organist Lenny…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Gamble and Huff, MFSB, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

Review: “Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track” [Super Deluxe Box Set]

November 17, 2017 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments

Listen to the ground…there is movement all around… Saturday Night Fever didn’t invent disco…but in many ways, it epitomized the genre. With the December 1977 release of the John Badham-directed drama and its soundtrack album, the onetime underground dance movement which had been rising to the mainstream since at least 1974 became the mainstream. Disco’s alluring blend of the gritty and the glamorous gained a face in the form of John Travolta, whose tough yet tender Tony Manero of Bay Ridge, New York found solace in his escape each Saturday night to…

Categories:

Reviews

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

Tags:

David Shire, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, MFSB, The Bee Gees, The Trammps

Stayin’ Alive: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ Soundtrack Gets Super Deluxe Treatment

September 20, 2017 by Mike Duquette | 8 Comments

Capito UMe Saturday Night Fever 40th Anniversary Edition

Get ready to strut into record stores–Saturday Night Fever‘s immortal soundtrack is being reissued as a super deluxe set alongside the film itself. Based on a New York Magazine article that was later found to be fabricated, Saturday Night Fever ironically solidified the image of disco in popular culture. John Travolta’s rough-edged but sympathetic Tony Manero–a Brooklyn bum working in a hardware store by day and tearing up the floor of the 2001 Odyssey by night–established the young TV actor as a bona fide movie star and charming symbol of the ’70s….

Categories:

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Disco/Dance, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bee Gees, David Shire, KC and the Sunshine Band, Kool and the Gang, MFSB, Tavares, The Trammps, Walter Murphy, Yvonne Elliman

Let’s Go Disco: Big Break Gets Down With MFSB’s “Universal Love”

August 13, 2015 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

Big Break Records is letting the love come through – Universal Love, that is! – with its new reissue of the third album from Philadelphia International Records’ inimitable house band, MFSB. The only mystery about the 1975 album is how this No. 2 R&B smash (and respectable No. 44 Pop success, as well) has avoided compact disc release after all these years. Happily, it follows 1972’s MFSB and 1973’s Love is the Message into Big Break’s catalogue in a newly-expanded and remastered edition. The talented, versatile musicians at the core of the…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

MFSB

In His “Reality”: Philly Soul Meets Jazz On Monk Montgomery Reissue

September 10, 2013 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

UPDATE 9/10/13: Just yesterday, we published the following review of Monk Montgomery’s 1974 album Reality, produced, arranged, and co-written by a true legend of soul music and architect of The Sound of Philadelphia, Mr. Bobby Martin. Today, word has arrived that Martin, 83, has passed away following a brief illness. A masterful orchestrator of horns and strings with a background steeped in jazz, Martin created music that was sweet and sophisticated, romantic and wrenching. and always positively soulful. Whether with Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, The O’Jays, The Manhattans, L.T.D. or Monk Montgomery,…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Jazz, R&B/Soul

Tags:

MFSB, Monk Montgomery

The Roots of Philadelphia International: BBR Reissues O’Jays, MFSB Classics

June 6, 2013 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Though London, England is some 3,500 miles away from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States, the spirit of the City of Brotherly Love is alive and well thanks to Cherry Red’s Big Break Records label. Two more remarkable artifacts from Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International empire have recently arrived from BBR, and though both titles have previously been available on CD, these new reissues are their best representations in the format yet. Fans who only know The O’Jays from their massive hits like “Love Train” and “Back Stabbers” might be…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

MFSB, The O'Jays

Here’s Your Chance: Philly Soul Legends, Deep Soul Grooves Comprise BBR’s Next Release Slate

May 28, 2013 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

From the streets of Philadelphia to the deepest vaults of soul and R&B, this coming week’s slate of reissues from Big Break Records has got just about something for everyone. Enchantment, the Detroit soul group behind 1978’s hit “It’s You That I Need,” would make some changes in the ’80s, having moved labels a few times (from Roadshow/United Artists to RCA and finally Columbia for two albums) and also subtly altering their sound from a lush, disco feel to a Fairlight-led modern groove. While Utopia, their final album, did not chart, it still…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

MFSB, The O'Jays

Release Round-Up: Week of May 28

May 28, 2013 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

Wings, Wings Over America: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Hear Music/Concord) Paul McCartney’s first great U.S. tour was chronicled brilliantly on this 1977 live album, and it’s been greatly expanded herein for McCartney’s ongoing reissue campaign. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD (Best Buy exclusive) 4CD/1DVD box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Tony Bennett & Dave Brubeck,

Categories:

News, Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets

Genres:

Tags:

Burt Bacharach, MFSB, Paul McCartney, The Monkees, The O'Jays, Tony Bennett

Love Is (Still) The Message: MFSB Classic Expanded and Remastered by Big Break

September 25, 2012 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

There was clear irony in Bart Forbes’ cover artwork for MFSB’s Love is the Message. The 1973 album showed off Philadelphia International Records’ hallowed house band at its smoothest, espousing the gospels of peace, love, tolerance and unity. The cover illustration, however, depicts a skull clad in a military helmet, a mushroom cloud, a swastika, death, a howling dog, a Klansman and a grief-stricken man among its disturbing images. This was heady stuff, but then again, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s label never shied away from serious subjects even if they were…

Categories:

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

MFSB

Review: “Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia, Live in San Francisco 1973”

January 30, 2012 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

No love, no peace, no shoes on my feet…no home, just a shack where I sleep… In the fall of 1971, Philadelphia International Records launched its long-playing series with Billy Paul’s Going East, and the title opus in which the velvet-voiced crooner spins a slow-burning yarn of slavery. It was hardly Top 40 fare (Paul would have to wait till producers/songwriters/label entrepreneurs Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff gifted him “Me and Mrs. Jones” the following year) but signaled the dramatic experimentation with which the label would define TSOP, or “The Sound of…

Categories:

Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

MFSB, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

Vintage, Retro Mixes Shine on U.K. Philadelphia International Box Set

January 30, 2012 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

Now’s as good a time as any to get into the sweet sounds and lush arrangements of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. 2011 marked the 40th anniversary of legendary writer/producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s creation of a label that set the groundwork for some of the best soul and R&B sounds of the decade, and this year’s seeing a lot of excellent catalogue projects honoring that legacy. We’ve already told you about Legacy’s Golden Gate Groove: The Sound of Philadelphia Live in San Francisco 1973 (keep an eye out for a review from…

Categories:

Formats:

Box Sets

Genres:

Tags:

Lou Rawls, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, The Trammps

Wake Up, Everybody: Edsel Reissues Seven from Philadelphia International

August 9, 2010 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

When Sony Music Entertainment reacquired the rights to the full Philadelphia International Records (PIR) catalog in 2007 (after losing control of the post-1976 output in 1984 to EMI), hopes were high that much of that storied hit factory’s catalogue would finally be reissued on CD. Arguably the 1970s’ answer to Berry Gordy’s Motown empire, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff’s label boasted a top-notch roster: Lou Rawls, The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Three Degrees and the smokin’ hot house band MFSB, just to name a few. But…

Categories: