The Spinners

Could It Be I’m Falling in Love

Written by Thom Bell

R.I.P. Thom Bell

RIP to legendary singer, songwriter, & musician

Thom Bell (1943-2022)

THOM BELL MEDLEY- "PEOPLE MAKE THE WORLD GO ROUND" [ft. Latrese Bush] (2014)

Jamaican born Thomas Randolph Bell (1943 - 2022) was an American record producer, arranger and songwriter known as one of the creators of The Sound of Philadelphia (’TSOP’) in the 1970s. He found success as a producer and songwriter for The Delfonics, The Stylistics, and The Detroit Spinners. He is also famous for his production of three songs for Elton John in 1979 with the ‘Are You ready for Love’ extended play single.   

RIP  Thom Bell   January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022

Dionne Warwick and The Spinners  Then Came You  

Throwback: R.I.P. Thom Bell

Throwback: R.I.P. Thom Bell @TheSpinners2 @RealStylistics @DelfonicsLaLa @mrkennygamble @LeonAHuff

Thom Bell was a Kingston-born, American singer/songwriter, classically trained piano, arrangement and composer. best known as one of the architects — along with frequent collaborators Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff — of the famed Philadelphia soul sound in the 1970s. Bell found success as a songwriter and producer for the likes of The Delfonics, The Stylistics and The Spinners — or better put, he’s…

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The Stylistics - People Make The World Go Round

R.I.P. Thom Bell

Thom Bell, one of the creators of the Philadelphia soul sound, died last Thursday at age 79. Bell's earliest successes as an arranger go back to his days of working with the local group The Delfonics and producing their hits "La-La (Means I Love You)" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)?" He later joined Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's record company and arranged music for The O'Jays, Archie Bell & The Drells, Dusty Springfield, Jerry Butler and Jerry Bell. The three of them also formed the Mighty Three Music publishing company. Bell's production genius went on to produce The Stylistics, The Spinners, James Ingram, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dionne Warwick, Deneice Williams and The Temptations.Bell had formed a songwriting partnership with Linda Creed that was responsible for the hits with The Spinners and The Stylistics. 

The sound Bell developed with Gamble and Huff had joyful orchestration, rumbling bass lines and what Fred Wesley described as "putting the bow tie on funk." Bell's training as a classical pianist gave him the vision to add violin and the oboe to his arrangements which was unheard of in R&B. His admitted influence from Burt Bacharach was so strong that he was called the Black Burt Bacharach. The songs he produced were the backbone of '70s soul and his work with Williams in the '80s was on two of her biggest song; "Silly" and "It's Gonna Take A Miracle." Bell retired from music in the '90s around the same time Mighty Three Music was sold to Warner Chappell Music. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2006, the Musicians Hall Of Fame and Museum in 2016 and in 2017 received a Grammy Trustees Award. 

Delfonics leader William Hart dies; How a whirlwind of history killed his group’s best chance to hit No. 1 in 1968

Delfonics leader William Hart dies; How a whirlwind of history killed his group’s best chance to hit No. 1 in 1968. #RIPWilliamHart #Delfonics #LaLaMeansILoveYou

(July 16, 2022).  William “Poogie” Hart, lead singer of the legendary R&B/soul group the Delfonics, died on July 14 of complications from surgery following a respiratory illness.  He was 77. William “Poogie” Hart, 1945-2022 Hart was the lead singer and one of the founding members of the Delfonics, initially a quartet under various other names consisting of him, his brother Wilbert, the late…

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♫ I'll Be Around ♫

In a comment on a recent music post, Kamchak included this one … an oldie but goodie that I haven’t heard in years, and upon listening, I immediately knew (or was pretty sure) that I had today’s music post! According to SongFacts … This song of devotion is heartbreaking on a deeper level. The lyrics, written by the aptly named Phil Hurtt, find our hero unable to move on from a relationship that…

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181: The Delfonics // The Delfonics

The Delfonics The Delfonics 1970, Philly Groove

Extremely slick sleeve befitting one of the slickest groups of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s: the textured, matte jacket creates such an extreme contrast between the Delfonics in their bold red outfits (those rose-print trousers on Randy Cain!) and the pure black background that it gives the guys a hyperreal look. Speaks to their confidence too that they don’t see any need to start their self-titled off with a fast one to get the people going; instead, we open on fluttering silk. “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” the supreme example of Philly soul, is the kind of song so good it wouldn’t surprise me if a few buyers never really listened past it, despite the labour of having to get up to raise the needle and draw it back to the outer rim—you might even feel like pulling the table over to your nightstand to keep it within reach.

But there’s a lot more to The Delfonics than that singular classic. There might not be a better example of producer Thom Bell’s signature sound: high-higher-highest vocal harmonies; orchestral charts that could soundtrack your reunion with your dead true love and long-lost dog on a cloud; prominent roles for the sitar and harpsicord; enough funk in the rhythms to keep everybody honest. In the ‘fonics’ William Hart, Bell found an able creative partner whose penchant for writing plaintive, searching melodies lent the producer enough real estate in the upper air to compose his most eloquent fantasias.

“Trying to Make a Fool of Me” in particular might be the equal of “Didn’t I” as a complete writing and production masterpiece. The best Delfonics songs transition from verse to chorus to bridge with the buttery slide of a montage—from loveliness to loveliness, such that it might take a few listens for it to register that the song gracefully pivots towards its conclusion on a third act sitar solo. Every time “Trying to Make a Fool of Me” pauses to gather itself to leap toward another peak, Bell feathers its wings with harp strings.

Interestingly, Bell only arranges the first eight songs, leaving the final two songs in the hands of Anthony “Bones” Dorsey (with William Hart taking sole writing credit). While the arrangements are not quite as (broad hand gestures) everything as those of Bell, they’re a nice credit to the Delfonics own talents. The fine ballad “I Gave to You” in particular allows us to tune into the suppleness of Hart’s falsetto, an instrument which can sometimes fade into the background when Bell is in full flower.

R&B greats are often condemned to live on only in compilations (or, more shabbily still, Time Life Anthologies), but The Delfonics stands as one of the most complete LP statements of the pre-What’s Going On era. It isn’t anything more than a collection of great love songs, but they hang together well, and “Down is Up, Up is Down” is the only one I’d maybe sweep into the gutter. If the usual streaming playlists aren’t scratching your Philly soul itch, this is the one to reach for.

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