For some reason, Philadelphia PA has always been ignored as one of the centers of music. For jazz, just think in terms of John Coltrane, Stan Getz and McCoy Tyner, and yet get the idea. Even during the disco craze, Philly had its own unique blend of harmony and horns, and let’s not forget the Philadelphia Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy. Pass the hoagie!
Here, you get exhibits A and B of how the city that gave us Pat’s Steak House also delivered some of the best sounds from various parts of Philly, most notably the Italian South Philly and black North Philly/Germantown. This collection of two three disc sets divides the music into the six main labels, and almost every one of these 185 songs was a top 100 hit, and a ton of them were in the top 10 and #1s as well.
From South Philly, you got a ton of Goombas like Freddie “Boom Boom” Cannon, Frankie Avalon, Freddie and the Juniors and Fabian rocking and swaying to things like the hot under the collar “Palisades Park” and “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans” while the more mellower and suave boys from 11th and Catherine croon with “Venus” and “Turn Me Loose”.
Volume two includes pretty boys like Bobby Rydell, trying to sound both safe and rebellious on “Wild One”, guitarist Duane Eddy inspiring a generation of six stringers with songs like “Rebl Rouser” and then a chap by the name of Chubby Checker who turned the world upside down with a series of “Twist” songs. Vocal groups were also popular, such as the Orlons creating a new dance with “The Wah Watusi” and The Rays serenading with “Silhouettes”. IT’s surprising how fresh all of this still sounds, and it’s also refreshing to hear music with a mixture of innocence. Where did that ever go?
Before the Beatles came along, songs like “Tiger” and dance crazes like The Twist are what defined the teenage culture. If you can believe it, once upon a time, kids used to dance, and with each other!