With Hot Pants On, the Color of Her Skin

Back around 1998, England started its onslaught of soul and funk compilations. You could walk through a virgin megastore without tripping over stacks of blacksploitation double-disc sets and northern soul comps. Some labels even made their living doing it. Fortunately, things settled down after a while, and the cream of the crop are still standing. Which is why, in 2004, Soul Jazz is still putting out great material.

These two tracks come off of The Sound Of Philadelphia Vol. 2 [Buy it]. It follows the roots of soul music as it drifts into funk and eventually disco. While some of the other soul houses (like Motown and STAX) had strict guidelines for their artists, and strict roles for each to play, Kenny Gamble at Gamble & Huff offered a lot more freedom. Singers could write songs and play instruments, which was unheard of at Motown. The result is some fast and loose, dripping wet funky stuff that doesn't sound nearly as forumulaic as the stuff from Detroit.

Norma and the Heartaches didn't really have a career, with this "hit" only charting in Philly. The Family was actually a collection of all the Philadelphia session men with some members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. They cut this awesome version of Family Affair with a track called Nation Time on the flip. They later changed their name to MFSB and switched out to Philadelphia International Records (which, backed by CBS, could offer them more $$$ and better distribution). Oh, and MFSB stands for Mothers Fathers Sisters Brothers.