Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (1979)

If there's any song likely to bring the latent soulboy out in us all, this would be the one. It starts with those opening bars, so recognisable, then the soaring chorus arrangement accentuated by the clap on the beat, this is music that always makes you feel good. And want to dance. You're tapping your fingers now. Admit it.

Too easily dismissed as one hit wonders, John Whitehead and Gene McFadden had met a school in Philadelphia in the 60s where they had formed The Epsilons with Lloyd Parkes, later a member of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. An invitation to become part of Otis Redding's revue when he came to Philadelphia led to a short record deal with Stax, and a minor R&B hit with The Echo in 1970. After the departure of Lloyd Parkes the pair changed the name of their group to Talk Of The Town, where they came to the attention of pioneering producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, joining their minor North Bay label. Discovering their talent for writing and producing Gamble and Huff soon had the pair join their stable of producers on their major label, Philadelphia International Records. Here McFadden and Whitehead scored several hits, including I'll Always Love my Mama for The Intruders, Soul City Walk and Don't Let Love Get You Down for Archie Bell & The Drells, Backstabbers for the O'Jays, and Bad Luck and Wake Up Everybody for Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. Productions away from the label included Standing Right Here and Pick Me Up I'll Dance for Melba Moore.

When McFadden and Whitehead came to record their own album in 1979 they used elements that were so much a part of the Philadelphia sound. Not only musically with the constant assembly of musicians that played on nearly every recording on the label into the eighties. Known as M.F.S.B. (Mother Father Sister Brother) they regularly included such talents as Norman Harris, Earl Young and Vince Montana. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now also plays on a tone that had been present since one of the Philadelphia International labels earliest hits, Love Train. Here McFadden and Whitehead underpin the song with a message so cunningly enigmatic that it applies to everyone. No matter what race, colour or creed. The epitome of a dancefloor anthem, there is something deeply spiritual about being one of several hundred people dancing in unison to this song at a Soul Weekender. Believe me.

They continued to produce and record into the eighties, and in 1988 Gene produced a solo album for John Whitehead, the rather aptly titled I Need Money Bad John having just served time in prision for tax evasion. More recently, John's sons have made become successful on the US Soul scene recording as The Whitehead Bros.