Tell you what – you can’t complain about the seemingly endless marketing of ace disco-mixer Tom Moulton right now. The man has been directly responsible for putting ear-treats on our plates and dancing-shoes on our feet since the ’60s and, even at 73 years old, seems less likely to stop working than ever.
Philly ReGrooved 3 follows on from last year’s essential 4-CD box set celebrating Philly International’s 40th anniversary (also on Harmless), as well as (obviously) volume 2 of this occasional series. As with anything Moulton turns his hand to, the work on here is exemplary. Two CDs of freshly-extended disco anthems and soulful grooves ranging from the sublime to, yes indeedy, the sublime, starting with two out-and-out…
VBR~252 kbps | 273 MB | UL | CL | MC
…bangers from The Spinners (Could It |Be I’m Falling In Love) and New York City (I’m Doin’ Fine Now), both typical examples of the genre’s propensity to fill 12″ singles with great songs, sweeping strings and the deftest of grooves.
With Moulton at the helm, the majority of the songs are given space to breath and huge passages of percussive trickery and deeper bass-lines permeate your life like re-assuring mates buying you the best drink in the world. And where there’s disco, there’s also soul and funk – and that means BIG vocals. Melba Moore, Bettye Swann and Marc Evans have the type of tonsils that could have diverted traffic on a freeway and are precisely what took soul-music from being just about the ballads or conscious funk, onto the dance-floor and onward into the ’80s. If you dig Masters at Work, David Morales, Daft Punk, Strictly Rhythm, Nervous and even Massive Attack’s output of the ’90s, you’ll appreciate what Moulton, Kevorkian et al were doing decades before.
The absolute pinnacle of this set could arguably be put forward as one of the loveliest records ever created by a human. William De Vaughn’s lilting, languid stroller Be Thankful For What You’ve Got has been stretched like a limousine and given a first-class upholstering by Moulton, turning it into a 9 minute delight from beginning to end. I defy anybody to not at least feel just a little bit redeemed after hearing this and it’s a song that should be played to all schoolkids and gang-heads as part of their daily compulsory syllabus. The Ebonys, The Trammps (the classic Hold Back The Night) and Double Exposure etc can only nestle alongside this classic and wonder with envy.
1. The Spinners – Could It Be I’m Falling in Love [06:41]
2. New York City – I’m Doing Fine Now [08:20]
3. Sons of Robin Stone – Got to Get You Back [05:46]
4. Blue Magic – Look Me Up [10:25]
5. Philly Devotions – I Just Can’t Say Goodbye [06:43]
6. Melba Moore – Standing Right Here [09:00]
7. Bettye Swann – When the Game Is Played On You [10:28]
8. The Modulations – I Can’t Fight Your Love [08:30]
9. Marc Evans – The Way You Love Me (Exclusive Tom Moulton Philly Re-Grooved 2013 Remix) (Bonus Track) [12:54]
10. William de Vaughn – Be Thankful for What You’ve Got [09:22]
11. The Spinners – One of a Kind (Love Affair) [05:50]
12. New York City – Quick, Fast I’m in a Hurry [05:16]
13. The Ebonys – Making Love Ain’t No Fun (Without the One You Love) [08:10]
14. Loose Change – Babe [08:06]
15. David Morris Jr. – Jack in the Box [07:37]
16. Bettye Swann – Kiss My Love Goodbye [08:18]
17. The Trammps – Hold Back the Night [06:30]
18. Double Exposure – Soul Recession (Exclusive Tom Moulton Philly Re-Grooved 2013 Remix) (Bonus Track) [09:09]
