This article is for the song, for the record label see Philadelphia International Records

Philadelphia International Records

Philadelphia International Records is a record label founded by writer-producers, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff in 1971. It was famous for showcasing the sub-genre of Philadelphia soul music and released a string of worldwide hits during the decade.-History:...

"TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" is a 1974 hit recording by MFSB (Mother, Father, Sister, Brother)

MFSB

MFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...

 featuring vocals by The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees

The Three Degrees are an American female vocal group. Formed in 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, the group has always been a trio though there have been a number of personnel changes and a total of fourteen women have represented the group so far. The original members were Fayette Pinkney,...

. A classic example of the Philadelphia soul

Philadelphia soul

Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...

 genre, it was written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff

Gamble and Huff

Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...

 as the theme for the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musical television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 program Soul Train

Soul Train

Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...

, which specialized in African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 musical performers. The single was released on the Philadelphia International

Philadelphia International Records

Philadelphia International Records is a record label founded by writer-producers, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff in 1971. It was famous for showcasing the sub-genre of Philadelphia soul music and released a string of worldwide hits during the decade.-History:...

 label, and it is arguably the first disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

 song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song is essentially an instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 piece, featuring a lush blend of strings

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

 and horn

Horn section

In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...

s in the Philadelphia soul style. There are only two vocal parts to the song: a passage close to the beginning during which The Three Degrees sing "People all over the world!"; and the chorus over the fadeout, "Let's get it on/It's time to get down". The words "People all over the world!" are not heard in the original version. "TSOP" hit number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in the spring of 1974 and remained there for two weeks. It also topped the American R&B chart

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 (for one week) and adult contemporary chart (for two weeks). The Three Degrees would revisit the top of the AC chart later in 1974 with their hit single, "When Will I See You Again

When Will I See You Again

"When Will I See You Again" is a song by American soul group The Three Degrees, from their third album The Three Degrees. The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.It was one of the most successful recordings of the "Philly Soul" era...

".

Although it was rerecorded a number of times for future versions of the show, "TSOP" remained the theme song for Soul Train through the disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

, 1980s R&B, new jack swing

New jack swing

New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...

, hip-hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

, and neo soul

Neo soul

The term neo soul was originally coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill, and Maxwell...

 eras of black music.

"TSOP" was cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

ed by Dexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners are a British pop group with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid 1980s. They are best known for their songs "Come On Eileen" and "Geno", both of which went No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart....

 and released as a B-side on the 12" version of the "Jackie Wilson Said" single, later issued on the remastered version of the album Too-Rye-Ay

Too-Rye-Ay

Too-Rye-Ay is the second album by Dexys Midnight Runners, released in August 1982 . The album is best known for the hit single "Come On Eileen".-Track listing:#"The Celtic Soul Brothers" – 3:08...

. The band also used it to open some of their live shows.

Another cover was made in 1978 by reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 band Inner Circle, who had a history of covering American soul songs in the laid-back reggae style of the late 1970s.

Two more covers were made in 1987 (by George Duke), and 1999 (by Sampson); both versions would be used as themes for Soul Train. The 1999 theme would be used until ST's final episode in 2006.

The song is played at Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park

Citizens Bank Park is a 43,647-seat baseball park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, and home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Citizens Bank Park opened on April 3, 2004, and hosted its first regular season baseball game on April 12 of the same year, with the...

 in Philadelphia prior to every Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 home game. The song was also played after Vancouver Whitecaps NASL home games at Empire Stadium in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and after Vancouver 86ers CSL home games in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pilipinas, Game KNB?

Pilipinas, Game KNB?

Pilipinas, Game KNB? was a long-running Philippine game show aired on ABS-CBN. Hosted by Edu Manzano, past versions of the show were hosted by Kris Aquino and aired on primetime. It is also aired on The Filipino Channel...

, a Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 game show hosted by actor/politician Edu Manzano

Edu Manzano

-Television:*Unang Hirit *Family Feud: The Showdown Edition *Asar Talo Lahat Panalo! *Pilipinas Game Ka na Ba? *1 Vs...

, used an adaptation of TSOP (Tanya) called "Papayo Yowza" as its theme.