\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNews<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Philly\u2019s real soundtrack is bigger, louder, weirder, and impossible to pin to one hit. In a new anthology, music impresario Larry Magid gathers the musicians, mischief-makers, and scene-builders who scored a city that never stops remixing itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Back in 1974, Philly composers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wrote \u201cTSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),\u201d the irresistibly catchy theme song for the TV show Soul Train<\/em>. Its funky strings, bold horns, thumping bass, and cheeky lyrics (\u201cLet\u2019s get it on; it\u2019s time to get down\u201d) catapulted the song to No. 1 on The Billboard Hot 100, making it the first TV theme song ever to hold the spot.<\/p>\n The following year, \u201cTSOP\u201d nabbed a well-deserved Grammy for Gamble and Huff, a spectacular moment of pride for the hometown duo \u2014 yet too small of a recognition for the actual sound of Philadelphia, which is actually impossible to contain in a single song.<\/p>\n It\u2019s more like a crazy, multi-movement symphony: big, unruly, and ever-evolving as the city itself.<\/p>\n The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City<\/em>, a new anthology<\/a> edited by Larry Magid, attempts to capture all of it. Not just the artists who have contributed to its wild cacophony but the people, places, and cultural moments that have added weight, form, reference, and context to the soundtrack we move to.<\/p>\n Magid, of course, is the 82-year-old, West Philly-born rock-and-roll impresario, co-founder of the Electric Factory, producer of Live Aid<\/a>, steward of the Philadelphia Music Alliance, and all-around amplifier of the city\u2019s musical lineage. In Sounds of a City<\/em>, he has commissioned from more than a dozen contributors and journalists (including Philadelphia magazine\u2019s own Larry Platt) biographies of its best-known musicians, historians, critics, DJs, and scene-makers into one generous love letter to a town that refuses to stay in a single genre \u2014 or sing in the same key.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all music, and altogether it makes up the rhythm of a city,\u201d Magid says in Sounds of the City<\/em>. \u201cWhether it\u2019s an Eagles game and you\u2019re singing the Eagles fight song, or it\u2019s the Gamble and Huff songbook, it brings everybody together and you feel the pride in the city. From the Philadelphia Orchestra to Bill Haley to Bandstand<\/em> and the \u2018Philly Sound\u2019 \u2014 these things changed people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Here, a few of the musical characters that have contributed to the symphony, excerpted from Magid\u2019s brand-new The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City<\/em>, with the permission of Camino Books.<\/p>\n Eugene Ormandy \/ Photograph by Neil Benson, courtesy of the Atwater Kent Collection, Drexel University<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After a Philadelphia Orchestra concert at Carnegie Hall in fall 1952, the New York Herald Tribune<\/em> ran what remains one of the all-time great raves: \u201cThe Philadelphia Orchestra, believe it or not, is a better orchestra than it used to be. It is even better, I think, than any other orchestra has ever been,\u201d wrote music critic Virgil Thomson. He went on to ascribe credit: \u201cEugene Ormandy has achieved the seemingly unachievable.\u201d<\/p>\n Ormandy at that point had led the orchestra for 16 years, and his chance for success after the idiosyncratic, spotlight-adoring Leopold Stokowski was far from guaranteed. But he made their sound his own \u2014 and not just because he was at the helm for an astonishing 44 years. His great achievement was homogeneity \u2014 a blended, quite powerful overall orchestral sound so magnificent it made even less-than-first-rate music sound beautiful.<\/p>\n Born in Budapest as Jen\u0151 Blau, Ormandy started his career as a violinist. He came to the U.S. in 1921 and played in the orchestra of New York\u2019s Capitol Theater. Before one show, the scheduled conductor fell ill. Ormandy filled in and was named associate conductor. He was noticed in another concert by manager Arthur Judson, who booked the young conductor on radio shows and at orchestra summer venues \u2014 including one in Fairmount Park. He led the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra for five years before being tapped by Philadelphia in 1936.<\/p>\n Ormandy gave audiences what they wanted: Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, and showpieces \u2014 plus important premieres and American works\u2014and the orchestra recorded prodigiously. Broadcasts, tours, and recordings fixed in the ears of millions the way certain pieces should sound \u2014 the inexorable power of the Saint-Sa\u00ebns \u201cOrgan\u201d Symphony and the green lush and sparkle of Respighi\u2019s tone poems. This sonic imprint had a name \u2014 and an author willing to take credit for it. \u201cThe Philadelphia Orchestra sound,\u201d Ormandy once said in a New York Times<\/em> interview \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s me!\u201d \u2014 Peter Dobrin<\/em><\/p>\n Nina Simone \/ Image via Amazing Nina Documentary Film, LLC<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nina Simone was and remains an iconic figure in American music and culture. Outstanding as a singer, songwriter, and pianist, her eclectic embrace of jazz, folk, gospel, blues, Broadway, and classical music transcended conventional boundaries, while her conscience demanded she sing out about racial injustice as few other artists of her time dared, with pungent originals including \u201cMississippi Goddam,\u201d \u201cFour Women,\u201d and the anthemic \u201cTo Be Young, Gifted and Black.\u201d<\/p>\n Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, this child prodigy first aspired to a career as a classical pianist, confidently relocated with her family from North Carolina to Philadelphia to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, and then did not pass the audition. She blamed the rejection on prejudice (Curtis presented the artist with a belated honorary degree shortly before her demise). But two Curtis faculty notables \u2014 Vladimir Sokoloff and Harold Boatrite \u2014 took her on as a private student. Sokoloff famously suggested she do something with that jazz noodling he had heard.<\/p>\n Simone took a piano-playing gig in 1954 at the Midtown Bar and Grill in Atlantic City \u2014 the first time she used her stage name, to hide the job from her mom. At the club manager\u2019s insistence, she reluctantly started singing too, in a richly soulful, mahogany-toned voice that turned heads and eventually led to a contract with Bethlehem Records and her first album release, Little Girl Blue<\/em>, in 1958.<\/p>\n Back in Philly, another admirer then put her over the top. WHAT-FM jazz DJ Sid Mark jumped on Simone\u2019s tremendously touching take of \u201cI Loves You, Porgy,\u201d sometimes spinning it twice in a row \u201cto wake up the suits at Bethlehem that they were sleeping on a smash\u201d as he told the Philadelphia Daily News<\/em>. In 1959, the rendering became a national R&B hit and sold over a million copies. Thirty years later, another track from the same album, \u201cMy Baby Just Cares for Me,\u201d likewise took off internationally, after being featured in a Chanel perfume ad.<\/p>\n Prolifically recording over the next few decades for multiple labels, Simone also built a boundary-free following with distinctive covers of \u201cI Put a Spell on You,\u201d \u201cFeeling Good,\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t Let Me Be Misunderstood.\u201d After the 1968 death of Martin Luther King, Jr. \u2014 with whom she had marched in Selma, Alabama \u2014 Simone wrote and recorded the painful \u201cWhy? (The King of Love Is Dead).\u201d And she essentially washed her hands of America, taking exile in Liberia, Switzerland, France, Trinidad, and elsewhere, though periodically returning to record and perform.<\/p>\n Sometimes dismissed as a difficult diva, Simone\u2019s personal life was marked by turmoil and challenges. She faced racism, experienced financial difficulties, and struggled with mental-health issues. Today, Nina Simone\u2019s art is just as riveting and even more popular than it was in her lifetime. Her influence lives on in the conscious music and activism of many disciples, among them Lauryn Hill, Beyonc\u00e9, Alicia Keys, and John Legend. \u2014 Jonathan Takiff<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Kevin Eubanks \/ Photograph by Oliver Abels<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For Kevin Eubanks, music transcends life, taking you on an unimaginable carpet ride if you don\u2019t take things too seriously. He grew up in North Philly and described \u201call the time\u201d access to music, hitting tambourines and bass drums in his grandmother\u2019s church with his older brother Robin, and having two jazz musician uncles close by \u2014 Ray and Tommy Bryant. Yet his mother, Vera, a classically trained gospel pianist, was his primary educator. Eubanks loved funk and recalls the seminal impact of seeing James Brown perform at the Uptown Theater. Afterward, while he and his brother were standing by the curb waiting for their father to pick them up, he decided that he did not want to dance, sing, or try to be James Brown, but only \u201cto play guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n A local bar, the Chatterbox at 24th and York, asked Eubanks to play there. He thought, I can\u2019t play in a bar, I\u2019m only 15, and my dad is a gold-shield detective<\/em>. He was surprised when his mother convinced his father to approve the gig, with supervision. She knew he needed to perform to become a successful musician. In his Germantown High School days, every neighborhood had a band with a hip name \u2014 Breakwater, Black Gold, Pitch-black, and Eubanks\u2019 band, Sundown. Battle of the Bands was the place where funk musicians jammed and competed. Having an instrument also earned access to rival gang neighborhoods.<\/p>\n After leaving Philly, Eubanks graduated from Berklee College of Music and performed with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Wynton and Branford Marsalis. The latter hired Eubanks to join him on the Tonight Show<\/em> with Jay Leno in 1992. A highly publicized blowout between Leno and Marsalis allowed Eubanks to become musical director in 1995.<\/p>\n Kevin Eubanks\u2019 smile, laugh, and easygoing nature allowed him to co-star with Leno on the Tonight Show<\/em>, the Jay Leno Show<\/em>, and currently You Bet Your Life<\/em> on the FOX network. \u2014 Brent White<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Solomon Burke in Billboard<\/em>, 1967<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Born in the Black Bottom neighborhood of West Philadelphia, soul singer Burke\u2019s mother was a nurse, teacher, and pastor; his and stepfather, a rabbi. He was born to perform, hosting a radio show on WHAT-AM as a teenager while traveling to revival meetings on weekends.<\/p>\n Burke recorded for the gospel label Apollo in the 1950s, starting with his self-penned song \u201cChristmas Presents.\u201d Like Sam Cooke and Wilson Pickett, he hit his stride when crossing over to the secular realm. He made that move with two singles on Philadelphia label Singular Records in 1959, and the next year inked a deal with Atlantic with Jerry Wexler, who later called him \u201cthe greatest male soul singer of all time.\u201d Burke\u2019s R&B hits at Atlantic were profoundly influential: \u201cJust Out of Reach (of My Two Open Arms)\u201d and \u201cI Really Don\u2019t Want to Know\u201d found common ground between soul and country. The blues-based numbers \u201cEverybody Needs Somebody to Love\u201d and \u201cCry to Me\u201d were recorded by the Rolling Stones, and the latter song turned up in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing<\/em>.<\/p>\n Burke was always one of soul music\u2019s most compelling characters. For years, he ran his own mortuary business in Los Angeles for many years. And his family was huge: he had 21 children and 90 grandchildren. \u201cI got lost on the Bible verse that said, \u2018Be fruitful and multiply,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t read no further.\u201d A career resurgence began with his 2002 album Don\u2019t Give Up on Me, with new songs written by Bob Dylan, Dan Penn, Tom Waits, and producer Joe Henry. It won a Grammy and put Burke back in the public eye \u2013 and acknowledged his rightful place in history. In the end, he had to be brought to his throne in a wheelchair but still carried himself like royalty. \u2014 Dan DeLuca<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Born in Philadelphia, Lisa \u201cLeft Eye\u201d Lopes was a fiery soprano rapper, singer, and songwriter. She got her nickname when an admirer noticed her asymmetrical eyes and stated the left one was bigger and therefore prettier than the right. She was the most flamboyant and creative member of TLC, one of the biggest girl groups of all time. Formed in Atlanta in 1991, the name was created from the first initials of the group\u2019s best-known lineup: Tionne \u201cT-Boz\u201d Watkins, Left Eye, and Rozonda \u201cChilli\u201d Thompson. With their feisty anthems of women\u2019s empowerment, TLC was part of the new jill swing era, which featured female performers doing a combination of hip hop and contemporary dance beats. Their songs also addressed serious subjects including drug abuse and safe sex.<\/p>\n Their 1992 debut album, Ooooooohhh\u2026 On the TLC Tip<\/em>, was a critical and commercial success, selling four million copies in the U.S., with three top-ten singles. CrazySexyCool<\/em>, their 1994 release, spent seven weeks at the top of Billboard\u2019s charts and contained their biggest hit, \u201cWaterfalls.\u201d It sold 11 million copies. The video for \u201cWaterfalls\u201d made TLC the first Black act to win an MTV Video Music Award. Despite their worldwide success, TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995, citing a highly unfavorable deal with their management. Nevertheless, FanMail<\/em> debuted at number one on the charts in 1999 and sold 10 million copies worldwide. Together TLC sold over 65 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling \u201cgirl\u201d recording group since the Supremes.<\/p>\n The life of Lisa Lopes was marked with as many headlines as hits. A harsh childhood left scars. By 1994 she was in a turbulent relationship with Andre Rison, a wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons. After a fight, she set fire to his basketball shoes in a bathtub and accidentally burned down his house. She was fined and placed on probation, and their relationship continued. Although Lopes seemed to be a lighthearted, outrageous, even goofy human, she also had a deeply spiritual side. This was evident in her final production, a documentary for VH1 filmed over a 27-day spiritual retreat. It was ultimately titled The Last Days of Left Eye<\/em>. At age 30, with so much of her life before her, Lopes died in an auto accident. \u2014 Juli Vitello<\/em><\/p>\n Sister Sledge \/ Photograph by Gijsbert Hanekroot \/ Redferns<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Siblings Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge are the daughters of tap dancer Edwin and actress Florez Sledge and the granddaughters of opera singer Viola Williams. First billed as \u201cMrs. Williams\u2019s Grandchildren,\u201d the sisters got their start singing at Williams Temple CME Church in South Philadelphia. Their initial commercial release came in 1971, and their first dance club hit arrived in 1974 with \u201cLove Don\u2019t You Go Through No Changes on Me.\u201d That year, the sisters were featured in Zaire 74<\/em>, the all-star concert in Africa that included performances from James Brown and Miriam Makeba. And they are featured in the 2009 concert film Soul Power<\/em>.<\/p>\n Their Circle of Love<\/em> debut was released in 1975, when they were still teenagers. Neither that album nor 1977\u2019s Together<\/em> was successful, but the group hit pay dirt two years later. We Are Family<\/em>, the album, was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic. It turned Sister Sledge into international stars. Along with Gloria Gaynor\u2019s \u201cI Will Survive,\u201d the song \u201cWe Are Family\u201d is the most enduring empowerment anthem of the disco era. \u201cRecording it was like a one-take party \u2014 we were just dancing and playing around and hanging out in the studio,\u201d Joni said in a Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> interview. The song has been covered by the Spice Girls, the Corrs, Babes in Toyland, and characters from The Muppet Show<\/em>. The album\u2019s \u201cHe\u2019s The Greatest Dancer\u201d and \u201cLost in Music\u201d were also hits, with the former sampled in Will Smith\u2019s \u201cGettin\u2019 Jiggy Wit It.\u201d<\/p>\n Sister Sledge has continued to perform, in various configurations, in the decades since their disco-era commercial peak. Kathy went solo in 1989, scoring a dance club hit in 1992 with \u201cTake Me Back to Love Again.\u201d She did not join her sisters when they preceded Pope Francis onstage at the 2015 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Joni died in 2017, but Debbie and Kim continue to perform as Sister Sledge.\u00a0 \u2014 Dan DeLuca<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The Philadelphia Music Book: Sounds of a City is a collaboration between Camino Books and the Philadelphia Music Alliance, and r<\/span>oyalties from sales of the book supports the Philadelphia Music Alliance<\/span>. Established in 1986, the Philadelphia Music Alliance is a community-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting Philadelphia\u2019s rich musical legacy by increasing awareness of the city\u2019s great musical tradition and supporting the current music scene. To order a copy of <\/i>Sounds of a City, click here<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.phillymag.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" News Philly\u2019s real soundtrack is bigger, louder, weirder, and impossible to pin to one hit. In a new anthology, music impresario Larry Magid gathers the musicians, mischief-makers, and scene-builders who scored a city that never stops remixing itself. Get a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning \u2014 great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2157660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2157659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Larry-Magids-New-Book-About-the-Best-of-Philly-Music.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2157659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2157661,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2157659\/revisions\/2157661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2157660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2157659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2157659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2157659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\n\t\t\tGet a compelling long read and must-have lifestyle tips in your inbox every Sunday morning \u2014 great with coffee!\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Eugene Ormandy, 1899-1985<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/03.05-ormandy.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNina Simone, 1933-2003<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/05.31-simone-960x1405.jpg\")
<\/p>\nKevin Eubanks, b. 1957<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/05.52-eubanks-960x640.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSolomon Burke, 1940-2010<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/17.05-burke-s.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLisa \u201cLeft Eye\u201d Lopes, 1971-2002<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/17.11-lopes.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSister Sledge<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn10.phillymag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/33.02-sledge-960x960.jpg\")
<\/p>\n