Philadelphia and All Its Greatness

The Democratic Nation convention is this week in Philadelphia, drawing attention to this historic city. Yes the Declaration of Independence was signed in Philly, they have great cheese steaks, but it’s also the home of some of the best music ever recorded. You’ve heard of TSOP right? The letters stand for The Sound of Philadelphia.

Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes were originally called ‘The Charlemagnes’ until they chose the Blue Notes, adding the first name of their most successful front man Harold Melvin. After they broke up in the early 70s, Teddy Pendergrass took over as the lead singer. This group sold millions of albums and had countless singles on the charts.

MFSB, or (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother) was essentially the house band of the Philly movement at the famous Sigma Sound Studios, appearing on all the songs from the Philly sound (much like Los Angeles studio group the Wrecking Crew, or Motown’s ‘Funk Brothers’) hitting the charts on their own in the early 80s with instrumental MFSB, while influencing the disco sound from 1973 to 1979. Their biggest single became the opening theme song for ‘Soul Train’ as well.

Joan Jett, Blue Magic, Teddy Pendergrass, and Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian all hail from Philadelphia. Actors Kevin Bacon, Mike Douglass, Bill Cosby and Tina Fey were all born in Philly.