KMOX now has online the podcast/ MP3 of my interview today with Mark Reardon on AmeriCorps and Mandatory Service….

The Spinners and Thom Bell have provided a lot of uplift over the years.

The Spinners and Thom Bell have provided a lot of uplift over the years.

“Philadelphia Freedom” was my first Elton John song. It was on a K-Tel compilation. I like that song “Three Way Love Affair.” Isn't that on the Thom Bell album?

http://blogsportsoul.blogspot.com/2009/02/phili…

He really was an awesome singer, and a terrific improviser. I love one of his ad-libs near the end of “Could It Be I'm Falling in Love” the most; it goes something like “I used to sing 'cry cry cry' / But right now I feel so good, I sing 'la la la la.'”

The Spinners were the first Philly soul artists I knew and loved thanks to several of their songs getting lots of play on the “easy listening” station where I grew up. “Could It Be,” “The Rubberband Man,” and “I'll Be Around” still sound great.

According to Bell, when he was first contacted about the project that was eventually released as “The Complete Thom Bell Sessions,” John told him he didn't want to do anything except sing the songs; he refused to even play the piano in the studio. I guess that's what Philadelphia freedom means to Elton John.

I wish we had more recordings of Philippe Wynne; he's one of the greatest soul singers of all time, and one of the deepest too. I love “Love Don't Love Nobody” from the live version. I love how the crowd recognizes the song from the first note, long before the vocal starts in. And this is crazy: I love the ending, with the applause. Then the Spinners thank them, and someone (Philippe?) says, “Thank you. Beautiful people! Thank you.” And then the horns start on “Mighty Love.” What I would give to have witnessed the transition alone, what to speak of the songs.

David Byrne recorded with Thom Bell? That's nuts. I know Elton John did.

I bought that Spinners double live album back in August. I love what they produced with Thom Bell guiding them. Did you ever hear the songs he produced for David Byrne's “Look Into the Eyeball” in 2001? They're throwbacks to his '70s work, but they're fantastic. I loved his sound.

I'm more of a song guy too, but I wish the neo-soul artists would inject more peaks into their albums to balance out all the valleys. It's like when you're making a mix tape or CD (or, these days, just a Zip file with no particular order for the songs): nobody wants to hear a bunch of slow songs in a row, so make sure you vary the tempo. A great album, to me, is really just a well-sequenced collection of great songs that makes you feel like there's an emotional through-line even if there isn't.

You are so right. 77 minutes used to mean a double album. There weren't too many of them by soul artists in the 1970's. The exceptions were huge: Amazing Grace and Songs in the Key of Life,, and a couple of live albums by the Spinners Jacksons, Marvin Gaye (and Here, My Dear, which is telling and funny).

In the end I'm more of a song than an album person anyway, so the MP3 age suited me very well, since there aren't too many albums on the charts that have more than two songs I want to hear over and over again. I was happy with my three or four great songs from Miseducation, though eventually I broke down and bought the album. Then I ended up going back to the same handful of songs anyway.

JUSIPER started with some friends in the runup to the 2004 election. It started out more academic, but over time I ended up being the only one writing, so now it's just a forum for anything I want to write.

Lots of people love “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and “Voodoo,” but I think one problem with lots of '90s and '00s albums is that no one cut these guys off after 45 minutes of solid material was collected. Instead, they wound up with 77-minute behemoths, where the good stuff is diffused by all the meandering tracks. (Those albums are like my self-edited posts here at Popdose, but I'm doing this for free, so I have TOTALLY legitimate excuses.)

Oh yeah, and I much prefer “Fear of a Black Planet” over “It Takes a Nation,” but that's just me.

When did you start Jusiper?