Phil-L.A. of Soul 45s

Periodically I'll have a genre-specific record ripping binge. I have a non-dance oriented residency every Sunday at North Bowl in Philly, and I've been finding the urge to play a lot of soul and R&B. Unfortunately, most of my soul collection is sitting in shoeboxes. So last week I took out a stack of 45s and went to work.

Right there at the beginning of Box Number One was a solid grip of Phil-L.A. of Soul singles. All in all it's a good imprint, featuring early work from one of my favorites, Little Beaver and also a number of releases by later Philly movers and shakers such as Harold Melvin, The Peoples Choice and curiously named outfit The Philly Sound.

Cliff Nobles and Co.'s The Horse (1968) and The Fantastic Johnny C's Boogaloo Down Broadway (1967) were the two chart singles that jumped off the label, which was super prolific in the late 60s. A decent percentage of the subsequent Phil-L.A. Of Soul discography is either songs riffing on The Horse or Broadway (Hitch it to the Horse, Cool Broadway etc). Not surprisingly, these cuts are also the title singles from the label's two LPs. (Many people also know The Horse as the single from the Booker T and the MGs cover album with the bangin metallic silver cover art.)

Phil-L.A. of Soul eventually put out a few Miami-based artists and then disappeared after the late 70s.

Anyways, if you've ever had a dusty finger for 45s, these two should be quite familiar.

My apologies for these records sounding dusty and hissy and burnt as hell but hey, they're records that used to live in somebody's basement that now live in a shoebox at my house.

Cliff Nobles and Co. - The Horse
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The Fantastic Johnny C - Boogaloo Down Broadway
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