If you were to gather together a bunch of soul buffs and ask them to name the greatest album ever, you'd be sure to hear named What's Going On, Oris Blue and Songs In The Key Of Life. One album bound to be acclaimed is Ship Ahoy by The O'Jays. The Miami Herald once called the title track "a dark, atmospheric, frightening masterpiece" while several DJs and critics today have suggested that the album's For The Love Of Money is the greatest piece of dance music ever recorded.
What is certain is that every component necessary in creating a true classic album came together in time (the early months of 1973) and space (Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studio). The individuals that producers and songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff assembled to record Ship Ahoy were as good as anyone working in popular music. Here were a vocal group whose lead singer, Eddie Levert, could wrench the listener from reflective introspection to surging joy; an arranger with deep jazz roots, Bobby Martin, who had expanded his skills to create luxuriant string and horn arrangements with moonlighting symphonians; songwriters like Bunny Sigler, Gene McFadden and John Whitehead; and hand-picked session musicians who had, by 1973, been dubbed MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) - Norman Harris, Roland Chambers and Bobby Eli (guitars), Vince Montana (vibes), Ronnie Baker and Anthony Jackson (bass), Earl Young (drums) and Larry Washington (conga, bongos), often with Leon Huff on electric piano - who were a foundation stone on which Gamble and Huff could build their Philly soul sound of the 70s. It was like the way Berry Gordy built the Motown sound of the 60s with the Funk Brothers.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2024 من Record Collector.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة July 2024 من Record Collector.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
WINDOWS ON THE WORLD
At the peak of their powers in the early 70s, by 1975 there were signs that Led Zeppelin were burning out, and their legendary appetite for excess, not to mention stadium-straddling, mythically charged, epically inclined hard rock, might be waning.
HI-FIDELITY?
Running a record shop is a dream for many music aficionados. Steve Burniston investigates how to run a successful one
THE ENGINE ROOM
The unsung heroes who helped forge modern music
UNDER THE RADAR
Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention
45 SHEFFIELD 45s
Continuing our celebrations of RC's 45th birthday and following on from our look at the best 45s to come out of Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol and Glasgow, we focus on the urbanisation formerly known as Steel City: Sheffield. Close to the (Nether) Edge: Jeremy Allen
Finished Symphonies
In the late 80s, Shelleyan Orphan made rarefied, ravishing, precious (both meanings) baroque pop, all chamber quartet accompaniment and literary reference points, like an 18th century Cocteau Twins.
"BLACK BRITISH PEOPLE HAD SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT"
Breaking new ground for black music in Britain from his teenage years in Matumbi in the early 70s, Dennis Bovell went on to become one of reggae's most highly regarded producers, helping popularise lovers rock. He also played a pivotal role in post-punk's experimental incorporation of dub influences on records like The Slits' Cut and The Pop Group's Y. As new compilation, Sufferer Sounds, reaches back to his early days to compile some of his best early dub plates, Lois Wilson gets the full backstory from one of British music's most enduring forces.
FRENZY REUNITED
Swindon's finest musical export, XTC were also one of the most quietly influential British bands, setting a template for Britpop while pioneering a brand of left-field guitar pop – from herky-jerky invention to consummate craftsmanship – that has spawned many imitators.
Paperback Blighters - The books every record collector should read.
The books every record collector should read. Vinyl, you may have heard, has made a big comeback. In 2022, sales of vinyl albums surpassed compact discs (CDs) for the first time in more than three decades in terms of global revenue, racking up more than $1.2bn.
"Beware the Savage Lure/of 1984..." - David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods.
David Bowie is one of the most venerated musicians ever. But even he had his bad periods. For many, 1984 remains the nadir of his Phil Collins” phase; an artistic/sartonial/tonsorial disaster area. But was it really that awful? Forty years on, Matt Phillips explores Bowie's so-called annus horribilis.
