The 29th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1987, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.
The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Valerie Holiday and Freddie Pool with Tabitha King temporarily filling in for Helen Scott who is on "health leave". The group were particularly successful in the UK, achieving 13 Top 50 hit singles between 1974 and 1985.
MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O'Jays, the Stylistics, the Spinners, Wilson Pickett, and Billy Paul.
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre of the 1970s. In addition to forming their own label, Philadelphia International Records, Gamble and Huff have written and produced 175 gold and platinum records, earning them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the non-performer category in March 2008.
Paul Williams, known professionally as Billy Paul, was a Grammy Award-winning American soul singer, known for his 1972 No. 1 single "Me and Mrs. Jones", as well as the 1973 album and single War of the Gods, which blends his more conventional pop, soul, and funk styles with electronic and psychedelic influences.
The Jacksons is the eleventh studio album by the Jacksons, the band's first album for Epic Records and under the name "the Jacksons," following their seven-year tenure at Motown as "the Jackson 5". Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson stayed with Motown when his brothers broke their contracts and left for Epic, and he was replaced by youngest Jackson brother Randy. The album was released in 1976 for Epic Records and Philadelphia International Records as a joint venture.
Goin' Places is the twelfth studio album by the Jacksons. It would be the last Jacksons' album released as a joint venture between Epic Records and Philadelphia International Records. Goin' Places peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the United States, and at No. 11 on the US Soul Albums chart. The album sold over half a million copies worldwide. A concert tour to promote the album, named the Goin' Places Tour, ran from January to May 1978.
"For the Love of Money" is a soul, funk song that was written and composed by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson; it was recorded by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays for the album Ship Ahoy. Produced by Gamble and Huff for Philadelphia International Records, "For the Love of Money" was issued as a single in late 1973, with "People Keep Tellin' Me" as its B-side. The single peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart, and at No. 9 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart in spring 1974. Though the album version of the song was over seven minutes long, it received substantial radio airplay. The song's title comes from a well-known Bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The song was also used as the opening theme song for NBC’s The Apprentice.
Sunshower is the debut album of Thelma Houston, released in 1969 on Dunhill Records. It was produced by Jimmy Webb and charted at number 50 on the Billboard R&B chart.
International is a 1975 studio album released by the female girl group The Three Degrees.
Potpourri is a 1974 big band jazz album recorded by the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra and released on the Philadelphia International Records label. The album was nominated for a 1975 Grammy award in the category, "Best Jazz Performance - Big Band" and Thad Jones' arrangement of "Living for the City" was also nominated in the Best Instrumental Arrangement category that same year.
Out of the Past Into the Future is the title of the studio album by the female vocal group The Three Degrees, featuring their revisited hits and new material. It was released in 1993, and was produced by Ralf Stemmann and Christian De Walden . It features a cover version of Brigitte Nielsen's song "Give Me A Chance", from her album I'm The One... Nobody Else. Three tracks were provided by Thomas Anders aka Chris Copperfield. Two tracks were released in Europe, "Dirty Ol' Man" and "Hurry, Hurry" as singles.
Live! Coast to Coast is a live album by the R&B crooner Teddy Pendergrass. It was recorded in Philadelphia in 1978 and Los Angeles in 1979. It did rather well on the Billboard album charts, reaching #33 Pop and #5 R&B.
The Spirit's in It is the fifth studio album by American singer Patti LaBelle. It was released by Philadelphia International Records on August 28, 1981 in the United States, her first with the label.
This Is The Story is a box set, released in 2006, comprising The Supremes' albums from the period 1970-1973, featuring new lead singer Jean Terrell, along with Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong and Lynda Laurence In addition to the five studio albums Right On, New Ways But Love Stays, Touch, Floy Joy, and The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb, the set also includes thirteen tracks from the group's unreleased 1972 album, Promises Kept. Not included from the same time period are the three duet albums recorded with Four Tops; these were issued in full in 2009 on the 2-CD compilation Magnificent - The Complete Studio Duets, which included 13 previously unreleased recordings.
Bobby Eli is an American musician, arranger, composer and record producer from Philadelphia. He is a founding member and lead guitarist of Philadelphia studio band MFSB.
Going East is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. The album was arranged by Bobby Martin, Lenny Pakula and Thom Bell.
360 Degrees of Billy Paul is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. It was produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and arranged by Bobby Martin, Lenny Pakula and Norman Harris. Released in 1972, it includes the Grammy Award-winning number 1 pop and soul single "Me and Mrs. Jones" and its follow-up "Am I Black Enough for You?" which reached number 29 on the soul chart and number 79 on the pop chart. The album was expanded and remastered by Big Break Records for compact disc in 2012 with three bonus tracks, new liner notes by Andy Kellman, and new quotes from Billy Paul.
When Love is New is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. It was produced by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff; arranged by Bobby Martin, Dexter Wansel, Norman Harris, and Jack Faith; and engineered by Joe Tarsia. Released in December 1975, it reached #139 on the Billboard Pop Album chart and #17 on the Soul chart. It includes the singles "Let's Make a Baby" which hit #83 on the Pop singles chart, #18 on the Soul chart, and #30 in the UK and "People Power" which reached #82 on the Soul chart and #14 on the U.S. Dance chart. The album was reissued on CD in 2010 by the U.K.'s Edsel Records. This was the final album where Paul was backed by MFSB, the house band of Philadelphia International Records (PIR).
"Never Give You Up" was a single by Jerry Butler that reached no. 20 in the Billboard chart in 1968. It was written by Gamble & Huff. Butler was also credited as co-composer. The song has also been covered by Eddie Floyd, Buddy Greco, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers, Leonard Julien III, Rod Stewart and The Black Keys.
