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While songwriting credits at Philadelphia International often went to Gamble and Huff or other staff writers at the label, the MFSB team actively participated in developing the songs and creating their signature instrumental parts. Indeed, the phrase “TSOP” came to refer to the unique Philadelphia International sound as much as the specific recording. Philadelphia International ruled the pop and R&B charts with this formula through most of the 1970s. It has many of the defining characteristics of the Philadelphia International sound: a lively, danceable beat with a pulsating rhythm, a highly polished arrangement with lush strings and crisp, punctuating horns, all wrapped in a sophisticated multilayered production. Its brief vocal parts notwithstanding, “TSOP” is essentially an instrumental piece. “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” was recorded by Huff & Gamble’s Philadelphia International Records’ studio band, MSFB, who also provided backing tracks for the O’Jays’ number-one hit “Love Train” and briefly featured vocal tracks by label mates The Three Degrees. Soul Train had a number of different theme songs over the years, including several remakes of the original “TSOP,” before going off the air in 2006. “TSOP” served as the Soul Train theme until 1975, when the show adopted a new song. Cornelius later came to regret his decision, calling it one of the biggest mistakes of his career.
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Gamble and Huff intended to call the song “Soul Train” after the TV show for which it was written, but Cornelius would not allow use of his program’s name on the record so they entitled it “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” instead.
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The song also topped the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts. Recorded in 1973 and released as a single in early 1974, “TSOP” rose to number one on the Billboard Top 100 chart that spring, the first television theme song ever to reach that mark. MFSB members helped shape it with their ideas and Bobby Martin (1930-2013), one of Philadelphia International’s top arrangers, added string and horn parts. With input from Cornelius, Gamble and Huff developed the song’s basic melody and rhythm. In 1973 he came to Philadelphia to work with Gamble and Huff. As Soul Train grew increasingly popular in the early 1970s, its creator and host Don Cornelius (1936-2002) sought a new theme song for the program.
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Gamble and Huff originally wrote “TSOP” as the theme song for the African American TV dance show Soul Train, which debuted as a local program in Chicago in 1970 and was syndicated nationally the following year. The Three Degrees, a female vocal trio that also recorded for the label, had brief singing parts on “TSOP.” “TSOP” was written by Philadelphia International Records’ Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, shown here in 1997 with Mayor Ed Rendell. MFSB, short for “Mother-Father-Sister-Brother,” was the collective name for the thirty or so studio musicians that constituted Philadelphia International’s house band. 1942), and recorded in late 1973 by MFSB with the Three Degrees, “TSOP” came to be regarded as a quintessential example of the label’s style.
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Written by Philadelphia International’s owners and chief songwriter/producers, Kenny Gamble (b. In spring 1974, “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)” became a hit song for Philadelphia International Records, the local record label renowned for its “Philly Soul” sound of the 1970s.