The Classics in Philadelphia (1976)

TRACKLISTING SIDE ONE For Elise (Beethoven) Lullaby (Brahms) Prince Igor, 1st Theme from Polovetsian Dance (Borodin) Symphony N. 5 from the New World (Dvorak) SIDE TWO Piano Concerto (Tchaikowsky) Reverie (Schumann) 1812 Overture (Tchaikowsky) A La Turka (Mozart)

Quickly capitalising on the success of Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band's 1976 hit A Fifth of Beethoven, which took such a dynamic disco take on Ludwig's Fifth Symphony and was immortalised by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, the Classicodisco Orchestra expand the thought by adding a theme. A 'what if' if you will. What if the musicians and arrangers that made up M.F.S.B., the driving force behind the Philadelphia Sound, recorded the classics?

Neat idea. Particularly as arranger/conductor Steve Gray had not only heard but absorbed enough from the arrangements of Gamble and Huff, Thom Bell, Baker Harris and Young (see First Choice - Armed and Dangerous) and M.F.S.B. supremo Vincent Montana to make a convincing job of it. Incorporating distinctive elements like Vince's vibraphone into the mix. Add in the efforts of the top British session musicians of the time, like Alan Parker, Herbie Flowers and Mike Morgan - who were simultaneously creating extremely funky backing music for TV programs like the 'The Sweeney' and 'Whodunit' - and the result can be heard. Though cheesy, chiefly when following the main themes, the tracks often stray into pure grooves as the musicans show just how funky they can get, for instance on A La Turka.

Released on the rather deliberately anonymous sounding 'Transatlantic Records' label, the theme is a close to anything truly transatlantic as this LP gets. Recorded in London and mixed in Brussels this is a Euro affair that may well have made Vince Montana jealous he didn't think of it first.

Further listening
The extremely funky incidental these session players created for TV programs like 'The Sweeney' has been released on Bite Hard: The Music De Wolfe Studio Sampler (1972-80) (Barely Breaking Even Records 1998).