Harold Melvin

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes were one of the very first groups to achieve global success for Philadelphia International Records within its first year as a CBS-distributed label. The 1972 release of two consecutive ‘tell-it-like-it-is’ ballads – ‘I Miss You’ and ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ – marked the start of a four-year association that yielded some of the most enduring recordings in contemporary soul music, in the process creating – with label founders Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff and a burgeoning coterie of talented songwriters, arrangers and musicians – a handful of timeless dance music classics including ‘The Love I Lost’, ‘Bad Luck’ and ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’.

BBE Records proudly presents its 5th and arguably most exciting compilation with the French dj and ambassador of disco, Dimitri from Paris. This compilation focuses on Dimitri’s essential disco era tracks - made in Philadelphia, that feature the core of the rhythm section that created and defined the sound of the genre. For this compilation Dimitri has exclusively reworked 5 tracks from the original multitrack tapes of Gamble and Huff with a further 4 being edited from the original 2 track stereo masters.

The soundtrack to the Hughes Brothers' tribute to early-'70s blaxploitation gets the sound of the era right, featuring hits by the O'Jays, the Spinners, Isaac Hayes, Al Green, and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, among others. The inclusion of Danny Elfman's instrumental theme interrupts the flow of the album, but for the most part, Dead Presidents is a first-rate collection of prime soul.

Released by Legacy in the U.K., this compact box set contains 20 albums – inside adequate LP replica sleeves – released by Philadelphia International. When it was issued, it retailed at a price that was roughly equivalent to the sum of three or four full-price titles, which made it a significant bargain. These albums don't represent the absolute best that PIR had to offer; instead, the box offers an assortment of commercial hits and misses, creative masterpieces and not-quite-failures, and showcases a significant portion of the label's roster.

Released by Legacy in the U.K., this compact box set contains 20 albums – inside adequate LP replica sleeves – released by Philadelphia International. When it was issued, it retailed at a price that was roughly equivalent to the sum of three or four full-price titles, which made it a significant bargain. These albums don't represent the absolute best that PIR had to offer; instead, the box offers an assortment of commercial hits and misses, creative masterpieces and not-quite-failures, and showcases a significant portion of the label's roster.