Philadelphia

Next stop, the City of Brotherly Love. Everybody out! Few towns can claim to have as funky an anthem as MFSB’s “T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia),” a strutting, stomping, wordless-but-not-exactly-instrumental (thanks, Three Degrees) salute to the Philadelphia International scene. A couple of years later, blue-eyed soul sensations (and hometown boys) Hall & Oates channeled the Philly soul sound at the top of the Pop charts with the sweet, sparkling ballad “Sara Smile.” But don’t get the idea that the city’s story stopped in the ’70s — PA girl P!nk popped up to put the pedal to the metal in 2001 with her hip-shaking, roof-raising hit “Get the Party Started.”

Revel in the regal R&B output of Philadelphia, in Next Steps.

The words Philly and soul are as inseparably linked together as rock and roll. From the late ’60s to the mid-’70s, the sleek, sexy sound of Philly soul monopolized the R&B and Pop charts. The suave, sophisticated Stylistics set the standard for soulful harmonizers with the glittering grandeur of hits like “You Make Me Feel Brand New.” Any sudden population increase at the end of the ’60s can probably be traced back to the inspiration d’amour of the Delfonics’ “La-La Means I Love You.” But the Philly soul scene had its share of heartbreakers, too, like the lovelorn melancholy of Blue Magic’s hit-bound tearjerker “Sideshow.”

Get hip to the secret heroes of the Philly scene, in Deep Cuts.

Philadelphia’s honor roll is full of artists who may not be household names, but who nevertheless had a huge impact on the direction of music for decades to come. These days, the Nazz is a name that probably comes up most often as an answer to a trivia question, but their ’60s psych-pop gem “Open My Eyes” introduced many to a talented young upstart by the name of Todd Rundgren. In the ’60s, legendary Philadelphia label Cameo-Parkway brought the world everybody from Chubby Checker to ? & The Mysterians, but they bankrolled their whole operation with a couple of ’50s hits from Philly boy/first-generation rock ’n’ roller Charlie Gracie, including the boppin’, finger-snappin’ “Fabulous.” And while Howard Tate turned heads with his heart-stopping take on Bob Dylan’s “Girl of the North Country,” the R&B cult hero also turned out to be a key influence on Janis Joplin.

Sure, those tasty cheese steaks and that bell with the big crack in it are great and all, but at the end of the day, who can deny that Philadelphia’s most moving legacy lies in its music? The ’60s and ’70s moved to the Philly soul sounds of the Stylistics and the Delfonics, but the story didn’t stop — or even start there. Over the years, the City of Brotherly Love has given us the doo-wop dynamite of Danny and The Juniors, the hard-grooving hip-hop of the Roots, the eccentric pop genius of Todd Rundgren, and plenty more. So we’ve filled our cup with classic cuts full of Philly magic, and all you’ve got to do is sit back and open up your ears while we pour.