Various Artists: Philadelphia International Classics: The Tom Moulton Remixes
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Genre: Disco, Soul/R&BPros:
1977's Philadelphia Classics with all-new Tom Moulton mixes that are just as good as the '70's releasesCons:
Obvious need to expose delicious rarities hurts the "classics" banner. A few more classics (i.e. The Jones Girls's "You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else," the Jacksons's "Enjoy Yourself) would've completed the setThe authentic, non-exaggerated mixing style from disco innovator proves its majesty on Philly soul 12″ single workouts
The authentic, non-exaggerated mixing style from disco innovator proves its majesty on Philly soul 12″ single workouts
The legend surrounding Tom Moulton is one that’s seeped deep down in the extended grooves he grinds. He usually takes a three-minute song and stretches it until he’s completely satisfied. That level of ambition in his mixing style helped inspire the first generation of DJs to follow in his footsteps; sometimes even re-inventing the game. Moulton was content with simply mixing good songs and making them better; the next class of DJs – comprised of Walter Gibbons, Shep Pettibone, John Luongo, Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and dozens more – was more ambitious to re-mix. And that’s probably what separates Moulton from the rest of the pack: His uncompromising ability to marinate the beats, extend the instrumental breaks and create a seamless story on the dance floor from beginning to end.
Inside this four-disc box set honoring the majesty of Philly disco, Mouton’s legacy is enshrined with the help of the nostalgia curators at UK’s Demon Music Group and by Tom Moulton himself. He’s seen most of these tunes, even working on the single edits of the originals (even though he hardly got the infamous “A Tom Moulton Mix” credit). Moulton’s hand has been in the Gamble & Huff’s treasure chest since he laid his fingers on People’s Choice’s “Do It Any Way You Wanna,” a mostly-instrumental funk jam pieced together by Leon Huff. The song is featured here, lengthened an extra two minutes from the familiar radio version. Those who recall the 1977 double-LP Philadelphia Classics may recognize the bulk of the tracks lifted to this collection (Harold Melvin’s “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” the Three Degrees’ “Dirty Old Man,” MFSB’s 12-minute disco suite “Love Is the Message,” O’Jays’s “Love Train” and “I Love Music”), but there’s still a lot of surprises to get giddy about. Moulton’s love for The Trammps’ body of work at PIR is extracted, exposing the superpowers of Norman Harris’s delicious arrangements. Now in his early 70’s, a far-from-retirement Moulton jumps behind his trusty mixing console to revive great deep cuts like “Trusting Heart” and “Love Epidemic.” He provides the same judicious treatment on more rave grooves like Billy Paul’s “The Whole Town’s Talking,” Teddy Pendergrass‘s funky uptempo hit “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” the foot-stomping “Jam Jam Jam” by People’s Choice and the dangerously soulful “The Devil Made Me Do It” by former Trammp Robert Churchill. But it is his picture-perfect remodeling of the eternal soul classic “Backstabbers” that simply steals the entire show. It exposes the powerful performance of the MFSB machine, while offering relatively-new ad-libs of Eddie Levert and Walter Williams deep inside the nine-minute odyssey. And if that doesn’t solidify the album’s glowing performance, Archie Bell’s “Let’s Groove” and Lou Rawls’s “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” are proudly transformed into the 12-inch workouts they were never afforded before disco went bust.
