As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)

Friday, December 23, 2022

Thom Bell

https://variety.com/2022/music/obituaries-people-news/thom-bell-dead-soul-music-producer-sound-philadelphia-philly-1235469048/

 

Bell, a Grammy-winning producer and a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, is best known as one of “the Mighty Three” — a co-creator of the richly-orchestrated “Sound of Philadelphia” brand of soul along with fellow songwriters and producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Together, the Philly trio was responsible for smashes from the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers” to Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes’ “I Miss You.”

 

Independent of Gamble and Huff, however, Bell was famed for writing and producing creamy, dreamy, harmony-laden R&B hits of the late ’60s and ’70s such as “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” for the Delfonics, “You Are Everything” and “Betcha by Golly, Wow” for the Stylistics, and “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love” and “Games People Play” for the Spinners.

 

There’s also a great quote from Bell in the same article: “All I wanted to be was a piano player in the rhythm section, then an arranger and a conductor. I was forced to do these other things, like writing, to get noticed. I mean, ‘Who is Thom Bell?’ had to be the question at that time. The only bell they knew in Philly had a crack down the middle. So, I started writing melodies.”

 

Favorite songs written or co-written by Thom Bell:

Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) – The Stylistics

Living A Little, Laughing A Little – The Spinners

A Brand New Me – Dusty Springfield

I’ll Be Around – The Spinners

People Make The World Go Round – The Stylistics

La-La-Means I Love You – The Delfonics

You Are Everything – The Stylistics

I’m Doin’ Fine Now – New York City

Break Up To Make Up – The Stylistics

You Make Me Feel Brand New – The Stylistics

 

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