“TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” (MFSB featuring the Three Degrees)

Today’s classic instrumental song of the day is a tasty slice of Philly Soul, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” by MFSB, featuring the Three Degrees. Released in February of 1974, this track hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard’s Easy Listening chart, Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, and the Cashbox Top 100. You can’t get much better than that.

“TSOP” was written and produced by the legendary team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, two of the founders of what became known as the Philadelphia sound. The song was designed to feature the house musicians of Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios, where most of the hits for Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International records were recorded. That house band was given the moniker MFSB, which officially stood for Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers.

Gamble and Huff wrote “TSOP” to be the theme of the Soul Train TV show, which it was for a year or so; the show also used it for a while as the outro number. If you were a teenager in the ’70s you probably remember watching Soul Train on Saturday afternoon TV, the mighty Don Cornelius presenting the soul hits of the day in his velvety smooth voice and the hippest dancers in the known world doing their thing to the groovy beats. It was like American Bandstand but for African-American audiences—although a lot of us white kids watched, too. All the top R&B groups played (or lip-synched) there.

“TSOP” was one of the first tracks to prominently feature the then-burgeoning disco beat. That beat is basically a four-on-the-floor bass drum with 16th-notes on a closed hi-hat, opening on every upbeat. “TSOP” has that beat in droves.

The song also features a guest appearance by Philly vocal group the Three Degrees, singing “People all over the world” and “Let’s get it on, it’s time to get down.” Those vocals are incidental, however, so the song still qualifies as an instrumental. (You know the Three Degrees for their hit 1974 single, “When Will I See You Again,” also written and produced by Gamble and Huff.)

Who were the musicians in MFSB? The group was actually a revolving assemblage of Philly’s best studio musicians, including (at any given time) Harold Ivory Williams, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell on keyboards; Norman Harris, Roland Chambers, Bobby Eli, and T. J. Tindall on guitar; Winnie Wilford and Ronnie Baker on bass; Karl Chambers, Earl Young, and Norman Fearrington on drums; Vincent Montana Jr. on vibes, timpani, orchestra bells, chimes, and percussion; and Larry Washington on congas and bongos. Montana also served as the primary arranger and conductor of the orchestra.

The Philly Soul sound ruled the charts from the late 1960s through most of the 1970s. The sound blends R&B with lush orchestral and vocal arrangements. Think of it as kind of like Motown but for a more sophisticated ’70s audience—and, starting mid-decade, a driving disco beat. It’s time to get down, fellow babies!