Groovy, Sexy & Soulful Part 51 Love Songs

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The Three Degrees
When the Three Degrees aligned their recording fate with Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label, after years of struggling, they hit immediate paydirt in 1973 with 'Dirty Ol’ Man'. Soon after came 'TSOP', which featured the ladies with the Philly house orchestra MFSB. The following year came ‘When Will I See You Again'. All tracks were on their first album for Philadelphia International: "A fine bridge between sugar soul and the sexy disco strings lurking in the band's future." (Amy Hanson/Allmusic.com). Original (and still current) member Valerie Holiday (on the left) tells on their website that they weren’t aware of the potential of the label when they first signed. “But at our first session with them, we felt the magic. It was different from anything we had ever experienced before." She was very disappointed when they left the label. “I thought that Kenny and Leon were the best writers and producers we had ever worked with. I liked their work and I liked working with them.” 'What I did for love' that I selected for this cloudcast is from 'Standing up for love', their last album for Philadelphia International.

Aretha Franklin’s version of ‘What a fool believes’ is nice and danceable, but for some reason it is not as intense and soulful as the one from Michael McDonald and the Doobie Brothers, even though Aretha is often called ‘the Queen of Soul’. It was recorded at a time in her career when Aretha didn’t know where to go to. She tried to make a pop album and left the soul out…

Enjoy this 51st part of ‘Groovy, sexy and soulful’!

Tracklist:

Ed Motta – Dondi (2013)
Gordon Lightfoot – Sundown (1974)
Earl Klugh – Dance With Me (1977)
Stephen Bishop – On And On (1976)
The Isley Brothers ‎– Love The One You’re With (1971)
Nolan Porter ‎– If I Could Only Be Sure [Slight Edit] (1972)
Kathe Green – And So You Go (1976)
BC Camplight – Just Because I Love You (2015)
Taste Nasa – Time Goes By (2015)
Jon Lucien – Mi Vida (1976)
Tullio De Piscopo ‎– Stop Bajon (1984)
Randy Edelman – Concrete And Clay (1975)
The Three Degrees – What I Did For Love (1977)
Bill Champlin – Gotta Get Back To Love (1981)
Aretha Franklin – What A Fool Believes (1980)
Phil Carmen ‎– On My Way In L.A. (1985)
James Walsh Gypsy Band – Cuz It’s You, Girl (1978)
Evie Sands – One Thing On My Mind (1975)
Kissing The Pink – One Step (1985)
Idra Kayne – Don't Stop The Music (2015)



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