They only had one top 40 hit as lead artists, but their two studio albums for the PIR family were filled with gems, including this slow-building closer to 1980’s I Heard It in a Love Song. The pleading ballad transcends its generic title with a mighty extended outro, in which the intensity of the duo’s own increasingly desperate and frayed ad libs is given a shot in the arm by an out-of-nowhere disco acceleration. Gene McFadden and John Whitehead were one of the songwriting duos prolific and accomplished enough to deserve their own room at Philadelphia International, penning classics for the O’Jays and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, among others. McFadden and Whitehead, “Love Song Number 690 (Life’s No Good Without You)” ( I Heard It in a Love Song, 1980) Philadelphia International Records Marks 50th Anniversary With Yearlong Celebration: ExclusiveĬheck out our list below - with a Spotify playlist of all 50 songs at the bottom of our rankings - and rediscover (or find out for the first time) why people all over the world were grooving to the sound of Philadelphia International.ĥ0. (Releases on Philadelphia International subsidiary labels such as TSOP Records and ’70s-era Gamble Records are also included.) That ranges from the early-’70s releases from signature Philadelphia International acts like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and the O’Jays, to PIR-revived acts like Dee Dee Sharp and Lou Rawls in the decade’s second half, to later R&B hitmakers like Patti LaBelle and Phyllis Hyman in the mid-’80s - and all the lesser-known acts in between.
24) appropriately called “The Sound of Philadelphia” - Billboard has decided to pay tribute with a list of our staff’s 50 favorites from the label’s original 20-plus-year run. In honor of the iconic label’s 50th anniversary - being celebrated all through 2021, including with a new Kenny Gamble-hosted and -curated Sonos Radio station starting today (Feb. (Gamble and Huff recently discussed their memories of the challenges and triumphs of the period with our Gail Mitchell - read that interview here.)
But while the writer/producer duo scored many of their signature hits with seductive love songs and devastating torch ballads, they were equally capable of summoning the righteous fury that the period often called for on their records, as well as finding a balance with mini-epics that blended personal drama and social conscience - resulting in some of the most timely and resonant anthems of their era. It was through their work with Philadelphia International, though, that Gamble and Huff really turned Philadelphia into the Motown of the ’70s, with a trademark of sweet melodies, lush arrangements, dense productions, emotional lyrics and powerhouse vocal performances - as well as increasingly propulsive rhythms, which presaged and helped clear the way for disco’s incoming onslaught as the decade progressed. On Being Black: How Gamble & Huff Turned a Dream into Destiny
9”), proving themselves - along with go-to like arrangers Thom Bell, Bobby Martin and Norman Harris - as the preeminent sonic architects of Philly soul. Gamble and Huff had found success in the late ’60s helming hits for local acts like the Soul Survivors (“Expressway to Your Heart”) and The Intruders (“Cowboys to Girls”), as well as for national stars like Jerry Butler (“Only the Strong Survive”) and Wilson Pickett (“Engine No. Philadelphia International Records, founded by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, was formed in 1971 from the ashes of Neptune Records, with a number of up-and-coming R&B artists based out of the City of Brotherly Love. The Sound of Philadelphia was promised, and for the next 10 years and beyond, the Sound of Philadelphia was delivered. The new label offered a new style for a new decade, from a new geographical hub of elite writers, producers, singers, arrangers and session players. Fifty years ago, a new label started by two esteemed hitmakers turned the corner on the crossover soul-pop of Motown and gritty Southern R&B of Stax/Volt, which had defined the sound of Black America in the ’60s. Now you can play this song on your guitar with these Like I am Gonna Lose You Guitar Chords And Strumming Pattern By Meghan Trainor Ft. Here is the latest song Like I am Gonna Lose You By Meghan Trainor With John Legend From the album Title.