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/ The Three Degrees

February 3, 2025 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Everybody is a Star The Sly Stone Songbook

A timely new collection will pay tribute to the work of Sly & The Family Stone through a diverse group of covers and rarely-heard singles written and produced by the group's iconic frontman for others. Everybody is a Star - The Sly Stone Songbook is the latest entry in Ace Records' Songwriter Series, chronicling some of the greatest modern songwriters of the last century. Naturally, the man born Sylvester Stewart is a prime candidate for such an overview. His mix of R&B, funk, pop and

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Al Jarreau, Diana Ross, Gene Harris, Iggy Pop, Ike Turner, Jeff Buckley, Sly and the Family Stone, Sly Stone, The Five Stairsteps, The Jackson 5, The Three Degrees, Tina Turner

November 14, 2024 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

Here There and Everywhere

As fans prepare for the release of the new Disney+ documentary Beatles '64, chronicling The Fab Four's legendary inaugural trip to America, U.K. label Ace Records has an exciting release coming that same weekend, featuring nearly two dozen Black artists paying tribute to a series of songbooks that owed so much to soul music and rhythm and blues traditions. Here, There and Everywhere: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, available November 29, is the seventh of Ace's "Black

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Vinyl Genre: Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Billy Paul, Carmen McRae, Donny Hathaway, Esther Phillips, Four Tops, George Harrison, John Lennon, Keb' Mo', Linda McCartney, Margie Joseph, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney, Randy Crawford, Sarah Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta, The Beatles, The Chiffons, The Drifters, The Supremes, The Three Degrees, Wings

March 7, 2022 By Joe Marchese 10 Comments

VMP Philadelphia Intl Anthology

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,

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul 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

September 14, 2021 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

VMP Philadelphia Intl Anthology

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

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Dexter Wansel, Gamble and Huff, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

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

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets, CD, Vinyl Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Billy Paul, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, Spiritual Concept, The Intruders, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

May 15, 2021 By The Second Disc Leave a Comment

Stream

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,

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Categories: Features, The Weekend Stream Formats: Digital Download, Digital Streaming Genre: 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

April 3, 2018 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

MFSB Definitive Collection

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

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: Gamble and Huff, MFSB, The Three Degrees, Thom Bell

March 4, 2016 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

Three Degrees Strategy

For more than fifty years, The Three Degrees have been synonymous with the sound of Philadelphia R&B.  The group was formed in Philly in 1963 and released its first album on the Roulette label in 1970.  Over the course of the decades, the trio's membership has fluctuated considerably, but The Three Degrees' harmonious sound has remained a constant.  SoulMusic Records and Cherry Red have teamed up for the March 4 release of the group's thirteenth studio album, and first since 2009.  Strategy:

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Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download Genre: Disco/Dance, R&B/Soul Tags: The Three Degrees

March 4, 2016 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

Fleetwood Mac In Concert

Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a host of titles on CD and vinyl! Fleetwood Mac, In Concert (Warner Bros./Rhino)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 3-LP concert album features 22 live recordings from Fleetwood Mac's 1979-1980 tour, originally presented in December on the Tusk Deluxe Edition box set, for the very first time on vinyl.  The music heard on In Concert was recorded at four stops (Wembley, Tucson, St. Louis, Omaha) during the band's 111-show

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Categories: Release Round-Up Formats: CD, Digital Download, Vinyl Genre: Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock Tags: Bing Crosby, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin, Lords of the New Church, Loretta Lynn, Margaret Whiting, Mario Lanza, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, Vic Dana

May 6, 2014 By Mike Duquette 1 Comment

steeltown deluxe1

Big Country, Steeltown: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMC) The second, criminally underrated album by the Scottish rockers behind "In a Big Country" is remastered and expanded with a bonus disc of single sides and outtakes. (Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.)  UPDATE: This one's been pushed back to September, folks! Philadelphia International: The Collection - 2o Original Albums / The Very Best of Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, The Three Degrees, The Intruders, The O’Jays, Billy Paul and Harold Melvin

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets Tags: Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

October 29, 2013 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

looking good box

What is “femme mod soul,” you might ask?  Cherry Red’s RPM imprint has the answer with a new 3-CD box set, Looking Good: 75 Femme Mod Soul Nuggets.  This set aims to chronicle the girl group sound “from and for the underground.”  As Lois Wilson points out in an introductory essay, the box doesn’t paint a full picture of the girl group era.  Not only have there been countless compilations on the theme, but Rhino’s four-CD box set One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found

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Categories: News Tags: Reparata and the Delrons, Skeeter Davis, The Blossoms, The Three Degrees

November 2, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

the three degrees maybe

Big Break Records, an imprint of the U.K.'s Cherry Red Group, doesn't have an office in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  But it might as well.  Much of the remarkable music that emanated from ZIP Code 19107 has been revisited of late by BBR, and the latest title is one of the most fully loaded in the label's catalogue.  The Three Degrees' Maybe actually combines two early albums from that "When Will I See You Again" trio, both from the catalogue of Roulette Records: 1970's Maybe and 1975's So Much

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Categories: News Formats: CD Genre: R&B/Soul Tags: The Three Degrees

May 22, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

dean martin uncut1

Chubby Checker, It's Pony Time/Let's Twist Again/Durocs, Durocs/Terry Knight and the Pack, Terry Knight and the Pack/Reflections/The Orlons, The Wah Watusi/South Street/Various Artists, Remember Me Baby: Cameo Parkway Vocal Groups Vol. 1 (Real Gone Music) The latest group from Real Gone Music includes classics from the vaults of Philadelphia's Cameo-Parkway label plus power-pop from San Francisco's Durocs! Isaac Hayes and Dionne Warwick, A Man and A Woman/Cissy Houston, Presenting Cissy

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Categories: News, Release Round-Up Formats: Box Sets Tags: Neil Sedaka, Paul McCartney, The Knack, The Three Degrees

April 9, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

philly box details

Philadelphia International Records has turned 40, and you're invited to the party! Sony's Legacy Recordings thrilled fans earlier this year with the archival release of Golden Gate Groove, a Don Cornelius-hosted concert that brought together many of the label's biggest and brightest stars, from the O'Jays to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes featuring Teddy Pendergrass.  The folks across the pond at the Harmless label have already dropped Philadelphia International: The Re-Edits, with 21 tracks

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets Tags: Lou Rawls, Michael Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

January 31, 2012 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

the tymes so much in love2

Aretha Franklin, Knew You Were Waiting: The Best of 1980-1998 (Arista/Legacy) The Queen of Soul's comeback years, in a new anthology. Check back soon for a review from Joe as well as a Greater Hits from me stacking this set up to other compilations from this part of Aretha's discography. Various Artists,

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Categories: News Tags: Metallica, Run-D.M.C., The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, The Tymes, TSOP

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

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Categories: Reviews Tags: MFSB, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

January 30, 2012 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

pir moulton box

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

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Categories: News Formats: Box Sets Tags: Lou Rawls, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays, The Three Degrees, The Trammps

January 16, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

goldengategroove cover

England, Russia, China, Africa, Egypt, Israel…all of the above are stops on the O’Jays’ perennial “Love Train.”  We all know that the train started in Philadelphia, home to Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the song’s writer-producers, and Thom Bell, its co-arranger (with Bobby Martin).  But a new release from Philadelphia International Records and Legacy Recordings reveals another pivotal stop: San Francisco.  For one remarkable night, brotherly love washed over the city by the bay.  Golden Gate

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Categories: News Tags: The O'Jays, The Three Degrees

January 24, 2011 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

bbr

Cherry Red's Big Break Records imprint has been the busiest arm of the U.K. reissue label group's roster by far. Joe filled you in on the expanded edition of Melba Moore's first album for Epic in 1978, but there are 11, count 'em, 11! new reissues on the slate between now and March. Of the artists covered in the latest batch, Patti LaBelle and Jon Lucien each have the most - two albums each - being reissued. For LaBelle, it's her first and third solo albums originally released on Epic, 1977's

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Categories: News Tags: Patti Labelle, The Brothers Johnson, The Three Degrees

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