A QUESTION OF STYLE

Rip It Up, Issue 86, 1 September 1984, Page 10

A QUESTION OF STYLE

Murray Cammick

RUSSELL THOMPKINS FROM THE LAND OF PHILADELPHIA SOUL

Late 1977, the Sex Pistols were the prevailing fuss and somehow the successful town halls tour by the Stylistics (string orchestra and all) didn’t seem relevant to Rip It Up. Times change and the Stylistics have returned with a back-to-basics six-piece band, after completing an album for hip New York label Streetwise (the home of whizz producer Arthur Baker). So now they’re in the midst of the hip (or is it hop?), funky Big Apple. But let’s look back at where they've come from and what

they bring to the modern mix that you can barely define and can’t synthesise the richness of the vocal group tradition, the sound of a city.

As Detroit, with its Motown sound, dominated R&B music in the 60s and scored high in the pop charts, so Philadelphia, with artists like the Stylistics, the O’Jays, the Three Degrees and Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, was the major force in 70s soul music. Its only rival was the grittier southern sound of Stax Records, Memphis, a label that sadly folded in 1975. Even out-of-town acts in search of a bit of Philly magic recorded at the city’s Sigma Sound Studios Wilson Pickett (1971), Detroit's Spinners (ex Motown), David Bowie (1975) and Elton John (1979). The top Philly producers were Thom Bell, who recorded the Stylistics for Avco and the Spinners for Atlantic and Gamble and Huff, who recorded numerous acts (including the O’Jays, Tramps, Teddy Pendergrass) for their Philadelphia International Records (PIR). The Philly Sound, unlike the raw Southern soul sound of Memphis or Muscle Shoals, is smoother, sweeter soul in a lush setting —yet

at its best, its driving R&B basis and committed performances overcome its sweeter ingredients to produce perfect soul music. But the ideal balance eluded some producers. Robert Christgau in his Guide To Rock Albums of the 70s praised Thom Bell, noting that, compared to Van McCoy, Bell "knows the difference between strings and tomato soup.” The outstanding sweet soul voices of 70s Philadelphia music were Philip Wynne (the Spinners’ lead singer, who died earfier this year aged 46) and Russell Thompkins of the Stylistics, Wynne’s hits include ‘l’ll Be Around', Mighty Love’, 'Could It Be

I'm Falling In Love’, ’Rubberband Man’ and Thompkins’ tracks include ‘l’m Stone In Love With You’, Betcha By Golly Wow', 'Rock ’n’ Roll Baby’ and ’You Make Me Feel Brand New’. (By the way, the standout gruffer voices of Philadelphia were the O’Jays' Eddie Lavert and the Bluenotes’ Teddy Pendergrass.) At the Stylistics’ recent gig in Auckland, Thompkins' performance was captivating. The crowd erupted as he sang his lines, as he cut through the driving rhythms of the band, his unique voice overshadowing his fellow Stylistics, showing that as a soul vocalist he’s up there with the Clyde McPhatters and Smokey Robinsons. Although Thompkins doesn’t speak between songs, off stage he's friendly and assured about his music. When asked whether the Stylistics have a specifically Philadelphia sound, he says without qualification "Yes it is,” and notes that the group (three of the current four date back to the 70s hits) grew up together, same neighbourhood, same schools. "When we were kids, growing up in the late 50s and early 60s, the Philadelphia music scene was doing something very tremendous at the time, right before the

Motown era, and the music there set the trends for all the things we do now.” Thompkins cites Bobby Riddell, the Four Seasons, Len Barry and James Darren as some of the many artists who recorded at the old Cameo-Parkway studios in Philadelphia. He sees the influences that shaped the Stylistics’ sound as largely "from the local music, but Motown had a big effect on us. In the early 60s, when Motown first

started doing their thing with Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, the Four Tops when we first started singing rhythm and blues music we were singing their songs in talent shows. They had a tremendous influence one of my favourite vocalists is Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations.” Though the Stylistics’ sound has been described as neoclassic soul, Thompkins sees older harmony groups as only a minor influence.

"Not as much as 60s music with 50s doo-wop we were just coming of an age where we had comprehension of the music itself ’cause we were bom in the 505.” How crucial was producer Thom Bell in finding the Stylistics' sound? "Well, he took all the ingredients that we had in the raw and put a formula together and showed us how to use it, vocally, and along with the musical things he did and the lyrics written by Linda Creed, it

formed the Stylistics’ sound.” In soul music the producer is often all-powerful, the puppet-like vocalists coming off the road briefly to put the icing on the producer's cake. How much say did the Stylistics have when recording? "When I would first go down to the office and sit down with Tommy, he would have a list of songs and we would start working on them. I would start learning

some lyrics and singing them and if the song didn’t suit me, we would both agree that the song wasn’t right. We would weed through all the songs until we had 10 or so and said these were the tracks we’d record. “When we went in the studio the process went a bit further, we started recording them I started singing them up against tracks he’d put down. We'd listen to them back and if they didn't sound like they’d make it we’d get rid of the song and move onto something else. It wasn’t the fact of control, it was us all working together to get the best product.” Was the track and arrangement completed before you recorded the vocals?

“No, it would just be a riff, but Tommy, he possibly would have the arrangements finished, or in his mind, but when I went in to record there was no arrangements down, just the rhythm.” Thom Bell has been quoted as saying the Stylistics are particularly fast in the studio rehearsing 10 songs in four hours and recording them in three hours.

Thompkins responds with a cool, almost vain, dude-like “Oh, yeah,” and continues. ”oh, I think when I did the first album I put down all the lead vocals in a day’s work, about six or eight hours. I can still do it now. I just finished an album and did almost exactly that.” The Stylistics have just completed an album for Streetwise with Arthur Baker offsider Maurice Starr producing. Thompkins

elaborates; ’’The product is fantastic, they sent us into another mode. We’ve moved ahead, still doing some of the old things from the past but doing some of the things for now and some things of the future also.” The album features synth back plus regular musicians. The band on the NZ tour does not feature on the album but some members have worked on Stylistics albums on the Philadelphia International label (1980 to 1982). Some play in Gamble and Huff’s current MFSB orchestra all live in Philadelphia. “They are Philadelphia musicians, Philadelphia arrangers, Philadelphia producers they all work for the companies in Philly,” says Thompkins. “Musical director Joel Bryant and guitarist Darnell Jordan are both producers for Philadelphia International and Darnell co-wrote 'ls There Something On Your Mind’, a song that won best arrangement at the Tokyo Music Festival, two years ago.” After working with Thom Bell frorh 1971 to 1973, the Stylistics worked with Hugo and Luigi (with Van McCoy arranging) in New York or New Jersey. In 1980 they joined Gamble and Huff’s PIR label and recorded several underrated albums. Was 1980 the first time they had worked with Gamble and Huff?

• “No, Kenny Gamble wrote 'Break Up To Make Up’, one of our biggest hits, about 1972. Gamble and Huff were partners with Thom Bell, they were all part of a company called Mighty Three Music. So, when we were doing our recordings, even though we were not on their label, we were in Philadelphia and working with the Mighty Three Company then.” With veteran vocal groups the Dells and the Chi-Lites having recording success on Chicago’s Private I label, comparative newcomers the Stylistics also look set to return to the dance clubs and charts with their new Streetwise recordings and so a rich vocal tradition spins on into the 80s.