The sound of music in Philadelphia today would most likely be described by the strong Rap scene in the city, or the flourishing DIY/Indie music scene if you asked around Temple University. I would have a similar answer too, maybe reaching back to artists like Todd Rundgren or Hall & Oats. I learned that there’s only one answer to “The Sound of Philadelphia” during my first class this Fall semester with Professor Joe Kraus. — I had heard about the days of the Philly sound before this semester but didn’t know about the legacy of Philly Soul until Professor Kraus talked about his experience working at Sigma Sound Studios.
Sigma Sound Studios and Philadelphia Soul
The artists and staff at Sigma Studios formed a new sound of Soul music that soon took over the entire genre. The outstanding influence of Philly Soul has lasted years beyond its era. Disco, 80s Dance, Rap, R&B, and so many more genres of music today have drawn influences from the Philly Sound. The lasting legacy of the music that came from Philly in the 70s is often forgotten even though its inspirations can be found in so much popular music from the past 40+ years.
The Sound of Philadelphia
“The Sound of Philadelphia” or “The Philadelphia Sound” was a unique genre of Souk music in the late 60s and 70s. While Rock was underground in commercial terms, Soul music dominated the airwaves and Pop charts. My thought of Soul at that time, before doing my research, was Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, and the Motown sound. What I didn’t know was that the touch of lush string, horn, and vocal sections in the 70s that gave Soul its soul was in large part thanks to the Philly Sound and those at Sigma Studios. A full orchestral sound, heavy reverb, and different effects set the genre apart from the Motown sound that came before it. To describe the unique qualities of the Philadelphia sound in words is a difficult thing to do, and can be understood much better by listening to the artists and songs of the era. You can find most of the songs and artists through either provided links or a Spotify playlist of some of my favorite tracks I’ve found during my research.
Philly Soul Groups
The O’Jays
One of Philly Soul’s forefront groups, The O’Jays found most success after signing with Sigma’s house label Philadelphia International Records. Their first album with the label, Back Stabbers, launched the group to #1 on the Pop charts with the hit Love Train. My favorite track from their 1978 album, Used Ta Be My Girl, is a perfect example of the upbeat, yet romantic characters of the Philly Soul.
*Note: Their So Full of Love album was the soundtrack to my brother’s 9th-grade heartbreak.
The Delfonics
The Delfonics were a Philly born who are a great example of the lush, romantic soundscapes that filled Philly Soul. The group’s biggest hits, La-La Means I Love You, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time), Ready or Not (Here I Come), and Hey! Love show the true soul of the Philly sound. (The last two were respectively covered by the Fugees and beautifully sampled and interpolated by the late Biggie Smalls.)
The Trammps
An early Disco incarnate born from members of Sigma’s house band MFSB. Being Sigma’s greatest claim to having a hand in the early Disco sound, the group’s class hit Disco Inferno was featured on the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever.
The Creators Behind the Sound
The Sound of Philadelphia wasn’t just created by the musicians of the time, but also the many staff members and entire attitude of Sigma Sounds Studios, most notably the studio’s founder Joe Tarsia, and songwriters/producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, And Thom Bell.
Joe Tarsia – Founding Chief Engineer
Sigma’s founder bought and renovated the Reco-Art studio on 12th Street in 1968 after a period as Chief Engineer of the Philly-based Cameo-Parkway Records. The label’s reputation with artists like Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell (Wildwood Days, Philly classic…) gave Tarsia enough connections in the industry to start Sigma off strong. Tarsia had worked with Gamble, Huff, and Bell who had all been playing sessions and writing songs at the Cameo-Parkway label.
Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff – Philadelphia International
Gamble and Huff were an established songwriting team that had worked with Atlantic Records and artists like Dusty Springfield before joining Tarsia at Sigma. Their work had attracted enough talent for them to sign a contract with Columbia Records to establish Philadelphia International Records. The label soon signed The O’Jays, Billy Paul, The Three Degree, and more who would produce countless hits at Sigma.
Thom Bell – Producer & Songwriter
Thom Bell had also established a name for himself and a working relationship with Tarsia, Gamble, and Huff before Sigma was founded. Before joining Philadelphia International, Bell found success producing early hits for The Temptations whose song Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) was nominated for a Grammy in 1970.
“If you build it, they will come.”
The success and influence of Sigma weren’t only felt by audiences, but also by the many artists who came to Sigma looking to capture some of the Philly Soul for themselves. Sigma attracted artists from Elton John to the Talking Heads. The most famous stories of those coming to Sigma are David Bowie and Madonna’s.
David Bowie – Young Americans (1975)
In 1974, after recording David Live during a residency at the Tower Theatre, Bowie decided to record his next album, Young Americans, at Sigma. Inspired by The Sound of Philadelphia, Bowie wanted to capture the sound at the source. The entire record shows influences of Soul and Funk that are best heard on the title track and his hit single Fame – Which Bowie performed live on Soul Train a year later (Theme song kindly provided by Sigma’s own house band MFSB).
Madonna – Debut Album (1983)
Although the Soul era was long gone and Disco was dead by the 80s, the Dance tracks that dominated the decade owed credit to their soulful predecessors. Madonna’s debut album, arguably one of the largest Dance records of the 80s (seriously, try not to dance), was recorded at Sigma Studios. Madonna’s track Borderline, as synth-driven as it is, still shares the lush production and rich melodies heard in Philly Soul.
Philly Rap and Neo Soul: A New Era for Sigma
Sigma was no longer the hit factory it used by the end of the 80s. Soul groups were no longer charting and others had transitioned to the new Dance sound like Michael Jackson who had previously recorded at Sigma in The Jacksons. With the Soul era far in the past (even Disco was long dead!), and a number of Philadelphia International’s roster gone from the label, Sigma struggled for relevancy in the industry and culture.
The next era at Sigma brought in Philly’s new Rap artists like The Roots and Schoolly D, a pioneer of Gangster Rap. This new wave of music gave Sigma both a stake to claim in the new genre, but also an opportunity for their catalog to live on with this new sound — The sample-based production of Rap music allowed for music to be processed, broken down, and reassembled to create new tracks. The Roots’ producers Questlove and Black Thought are heavily inspired by the Soul, Jazz, and R&B music that came before them and have sampled from a number of artists like Barry White, Al Green, and Stevie Wonder.
The Philadelphia sound inspired a revival of Soul at the same time with the Neo-Soul genre that brought more influences of Jazz, R&B, and Hip-Hop elements. The sound was defined by artists like Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, and Philly native Jill Scott. Both Badu and Scott recorded versions You Got Me for The Root’s classic Neo-Soul album Things Fall Apart.
Sigma Found in Music Today
Inspirations from Philly Soul can be found in so many genres of music today like Rap, Pop, and House music that trace their lineage to Soul, R&B, and Disco. The upbeat rhythms that transferred to Disco still drive Pop tracks like Dua Lipa’s Dance The Night from Barbie The Album, while the sweet melodies make perfect samples for Rap and House music. From inspiration, samples, and homages — Sigma continues to find its way into music today.
Here are a few songs from current artists that draw inspiration from Sigma’s Philly Soul :
Anderson .Paak
Anderson .Paak is one of the largest artists today to wear his influences of older Soul and R&B so prominently (with an apparent soft spot for the Philly Sound). Sticking with his fusion of Soul, R&B, Jazz, and Rap elements, Paak has sampled many artists from Philly and Sigma. His latest work with Bruno Mars as the Silk Sonic group has been the loudest homage to Philly Soul to date.
Silk Sonic – An Evening with Silk Sonic
Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak popularly teamed up during the pandemic to form the R&B group Silk Sonic to create something that reproduced the sound of the Soul and R&B that they grew up on. The album is full of the beautiful qualities of Philly Soul. The tracks Leave the Door Open, Skate, and Love’s Train sound like they came from a pile of lost tapes in a Sigma Studios annex.
The group’s success proved that there’s still a demand for the Philadelphia sound after winning all four Grammy nominations in 2022.
KAYTRANADA – Twin Flame (feat. Anderson .Paak)
House music is another sample-based genre that draws from the lineage of Dance music that goes back to Soul. KAYTRANADA is an Electronic/House artist who takes many samples from artists such as Minnie Riperton, Jill Scott, and The Roots. KAYTRANADA sampled the Philly-born Disco group Sister Sledge’s One More Time along with Paak on their song Twin Flame.
Domo Genesis – Dapper (feat. Anderson .Paak)
Along with Rapper Domo Genesis, Paak sampled the Philadelphia International staff member turned artist Dexter Wansel’s Voyager for their track Dapper.
Disco in Pop Today
The direction that Philly Soul took the genre in was simply disco music. If it can’t be heard in MFSB’s The Sound of Philadelphia, The Trammp’s Disco Inferno is a bit more obvious. Disco continues to be a common sound in a lot of Dance music today and has made its way onto the charts recently.
A discussion of modern Pop first mentions the current Queen, Beyonce, and the Disco and Soul influences she’s shown (Beyonce – Blow). Beyond Queen B, Disco can be heard in songs from some of the biggest names out right now. Dua Lipa’s Houdini, Coi Leray’s Players, and FIFTY FIFTY’s Cupid stay on the Pop charts with heavily Disco inspired production.
Philly’s Still Got Soul
There’s a chance that I’m experiencing a Baader-Meinhof phenomenon with Sigma Studios and the Philadelphia Sound, and I’m only seeing them show up everywhere because it’s a recent discovery. Like when you think, “Nobody ever drives a red car anymore.”, and then suddenly every other car you see on the road is red… But I don’t think that’s the case — Philly Soul and Sigma Sound Studios are still relevant in the music industry today even though underrepresented in comparison to Motown. Sigma might compete with Motown again, this time to stay as a legacy in Soul music.
The Sound of Philadelphia that came from Sigma has still left a large impact on the city despite the lack of attention and credit that the genre gets. Sigma Sound Studios established Philadelphia as a serious contender in the national and global music industry. To those who know, the studio shares a similar reputation to Hitsville U.S.A., Muscle Shoals, Electric Lady Studios, Abbey Road Studios, and other studios that were the epicenter of a sound. Sigma and Philadelphia International are a core part of this city’s history for establishing the city’s modern music industry.
I’m always surprised by what I learn when I research and write about something like this. Some of it was a trip to learn… I learned The Delfonics went to Overbrook Highschool and I drive by it every weekend. I didn’t expect to be so interested when I started this project. Now I’m all about that Philadelphia sound. To learn about the legacy of Sigma Studios makes me grateful that I have the ability to learn from someone like Joe Kraus who worked personally with Joe Tarsia and others. The same goes for the other professionals. It’s a rare opportunity to have professors from KYW, WXPN, NPR, NBC, and the studio that produced some of the most soulful music to ever exist. I’m thankful for the many reasons that I get this opportunity, but during this time I’ve learned to thank the history of the city for providing something so great. It’s a great music genre, a rich history, and now my lecture every Monday at 9 am.
My original design for this post wasn’t able to be transferred to this site. Some YouTube and Spotify elements weren’t able to be added and the photo spacing was a bit different. I was very happy with my design so if you would like to view that version of the site you can visit here: https://tul37250.wordpress.com/2023/11/30/5/
References
Seay, Toby (2012). Capturing That Philadelphia Sound: A Technical Exploration Of Sigma Sound Studios. Journal on the Art of Record Production
Jackson, J. A. (2004). A House on Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul. Oxford University Press.