The Top 10 Philly Playlist for Valentine’s Day
Celebrate V-Day 2018 with these songs by artists with ties to the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.
1. The Delfonics: “La-La Means I Love You”
Written by Thom Bell and William Hart, this 1968 track remains their most enduring recording.
2. Todd Rundgren: “I Saw The Light”
The opening soft-rock track from the Upper Darby native’s 1972 Something/Anything? double album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB4weCzqGE
3. Three Degrees: “When Will I See You Again”
One of the most successful recordings of the “Philly Soul” era, 1974’s “When Will I See You Again” was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for the dynamic trio of Sheila Ferguson, Fayette Pinkney, and Valerie Holiday.
4. The Spinners: “Then Came You”
This Philadelphia Soul single became a 1974 Grammy-nominated hit for Dionne Warwick and The Spinners. The track was written by Sherman Marshall and Phillip T. Pugh, and produced by Thom Bell. The 1976 live performance featured here showcases the vocals and dance moves of The Spinners’ background singers.
5. Labelle: “Come With Me/Come Into My Life”
The soulful funk glam rock stylings of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash comprised Labelle, the first Black vocal group to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. “Come Into My Life” is the second track from their 1976 Epic Records album, Chameleon.
6. Lou Rawls: “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”
Rawls’s breakthrough hit, written by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff, opened the now-legendary vocalist’s live shows from 1977 onward.
7. Teddy Pendergrass: “Turn Off the Lights”
Regarded as one of Pendergrass’s famous “bedroom ballads” produced by Gamble and Huff, “Turn Off The Lights” was a hit single from his 1979 album Teddy.”
8. Daryl Hall & John Oates: “Kiss on My List”
Daryl Hall has described “Kiss” as a sarcastic anti-love song. The Hall & Oates hit made history as one of the music videos that aired on MTV’s first day in 1981.
9. The Roots: “You Got Me” (featuring Erykah Badu and Eve)
“You Got Me” was a 1999 collaboration of Philly-area hip-hop talent, with Erykah Badu singing the chorus; Eve, then known as Eve of Destruction, rapping the second verse, and co-writer Jill Scott, unknown at the time, recording vocals for the song’s chorus and bridge. The track won the collaborators their first Grammy.
10. Jill Scott: “A Long Walk”
Released in 2001 from her debut studio album, Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1., the song introduced the Philly native to the world and peaked at number 9 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYMKUtNuw8
