Saturday Night Frazz
Cidu Bill on Feb 6th 2010
Keera: This isn’t a CIDU, because I get the joke. I’m just wondering about the 70’s reference to Sound of Philly. Or is there a new Philly sound these days - with strings attached?
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, Frazz, Jef Mallet, Philadelphia, comic strips, comics, disco, humor, music | 14 responses so far
Wayne Feb 6th 2010 at 07:31 pm 1
I think that “paving the way for disco” suggests that the reference is to 70s Philly Soul.
Charlene Feb 6th 2010 at 07:47 pm 2
I’d never even heard of 70s Philly soul before this very moment.
Phil Feb 6th 2010 at 08:13 pm 3
Philly International Records was the home of the Gamble/Huff songwriting and producing team that made The Sound of Philadelphia famous–O’Jay’s, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes–etc. They even wrote the theme to Soul Train.
They were extremely heavy on background string productions and some folks say that their sound was one of the bridges from soul to disco.
Actually, a very funny comic! Music geekiness rules!
Freezer Feb 7th 2010 at 03:58 am 4
Differing tastes and all, but I still wanted to give a big middle finger the characters and artist both.
Freezer Feb 7th 2010 at 04:04 am 5
Besides, what he’s talking about really was more MFSB (the aforementioned Soul Train guys) than Philly Soul in general. And when you take them away, Motown was a much worse offender.
Freezer Feb 7th 2010 at 04:09 am 6
One more thing (I promise): I must restate my continuing bafflement at the hatred and disdain Disco continues to draw. It ain’t everybody’s cuppa to be sure, but to hear some say it, the stuff caused cancer.
mitch-4 Feb 7th 2010 at 09:45 am 7
I’ve long wondered if the other streets mentioned in “South Street” are enough to narrow it down to specifically Philly allusions, or somewhere else?
[”You can take East Street, West Street, North Avenue, but South Street’s the best street to have a do with you.” approximately]
Keera Feb 7th 2010 at 04:25 pm 8
Come on, Freezer, tell us how you really feel!
Me, the strings were what I loved about disco. Hated it when they were replaced with synthesizers.
Elton John did a nod to the sound of Philly with his 1975 hit “Philadelphia Freedom”. The best part about that single was that it had an excellent B-side: Elton and John Lennon doing “I Saw Her Standing There” live at Madison Square Garden.
Keera Feb 8th 2010 at 01:42 am 9
Freezer #6, how the heck did you slip in before both Mitch-4 and my comment? Because I sure didn’t get the impression that you liked disco based on comments 4 & 5.
Most of 70’s music had strings, and disco had the most. I love disco, still. Cheerful, upbeat music and a lot of it associated with my first car and the freedom that brought. Where I’m weird is that I can’t stand movies about disco(s). The most boring movie I ever saw (and if I hadn’t been on a date, I would have left the theater mid-movie) was “Saturday Night Fever”. I have seen it again since, to make sure my teen self hadn’t missed something, and it’s still a piece of crap. The soundtrack’s great, though!
Freezer Feb 8th 2010 at 01:46 am 10
Keera #9: I actually made all three of those comments in a row. The third automatically went to a moderation queue.
And I’m not so much a fan of disco (I’m a much bigger fan of Parliment/Earth, Wind & FIre-style funk) as I confused by the “Disco Sucks” crowd - particularly those too young to have experienced disco as anything other than pop culture history.
Keera Feb 8th 2010 at 04:38 pm 11
Freezer #10, re #6: Why would that comment go to moderation? Oh, never mind.
The hate-disco thing is snobbery in reverse, IME. You know, that anti-elitist thing or whatever. I experience a similar reaction here in Norway, where most folks claim to prefer blues because it’s Real. Ironically, when I point out that country is where you can still find some darned good lyrics that tell a story, they snort and will have nothing to do with that.
Keera Feb 8th 2010 at 04:39 pm 12
Sorry about the missing .
mitch4 Feb 8th 2010 at 05:04 pm 13
I tend to suspect some measure of faking when someone says “Oh I love music so much, that I wouldn’t choose among styles … I like all eras and genres equally.” But it’s just the equally that I’m squinting at, it seems a good aspiration to say “There are at least a few things I can like in almost all genres.”
Recently I saw and enjoyed the movie “Crazy Heart”, in which Country music writing and performance are a main part of the subject. Though it’s not really a genre I gravitate towards very much, I’m glad the film enabled me to set aside that hesitation and enter into a real enjoyment of the songs themselves and their emotional meaning in the storyline. (Of course, if I were a real devotee, I probably would have had a better grasp of things like their discussion of who is “artificial country” and who is “real country”, and maybe might have distinguished the numbers written for the movie from previously-existing songs selected and put into the movie.)
The Bad Seed Feb 10th 2010 at 12:13 am 14
People may say they hate disco, but when I have the iPod on shuffle and the awesomely stereotypical and cheesy disco comes on, EVERYONE gets up and dances - even if it’s in the office. Some day people will be brave enough to admit how much they love it!