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| Wish I had a shot of them writing... |
If you bet me $20 this song is in the movie Running Scared, I would take the bet. Even though I think I’m wrong…wait, yeah, that was based in Chicago...helluva cast, man...
The Hit
“During the 1970s, the label released a string of worldwide hits that emphasized lavish orchestral instrumentation, heavy bass and driving percussion.”
McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” puts that description into musical form. Since picking around Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes a couple years back, I’ve spent the time in between trying to figure out how and/or why that sound clicks so easily with me. My best guess is that was what the music I heard growing up and that lets it check a bunch of boxes on the lizard-brain level.
It doesn't hurt that it just works. What starts as a strong bass-line line turns busy and bubbly under a medley of strings that tickle your ears like a summer breeze; what's not to love? To admit one drawback - especially for a guy who later switched on to songs with a hard three-minute limit (and most wrapped up in two-and-a-half) - your average Philly soul song tends to play out on a groove that lasts nearly that long.
That didn’t stop “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” from climbing high on the charts; it topped the R&B charts through the summer of 1979 and ticked up as high as No. 3 on the mainstream pop chart. It had a real cultural resonance as well, with some people calling it “the new black national anthem” and Philadelphia sports adopting it as an anthem of their own. According to a blog post on a site called From the Vaults (best single source I read, fwiw), McFadden & Whitehead recorded their hit in just one take; it also claims Whitehead made up the lyrics on the spot. For anyone wondering how the pair reached such a high level of proficiency, here’s…
The Rest of the Story (don’t sue me from beyond the grave, Paul Harvey)
Gene McFadden and John Whitehead grew up on the hard-scrabble side of Philly in the 1960s. There isn’t much about them growing up (e.g., no musical parents, no playing at church or performing in the choir, all common back-stories), but they formed a band they named The Epsilons by the mid-‘60s, i.e., in their late teens. They recruited other members - Allen Beatty, James Knight and, future member of the Blue Notes, Lloyd Parks - and start performing locally. The group did well enough for Otis Redding to bring them on, an arrangement that lasted until Redding died in a plane crash in 1967. From the Vaults' post includes a sentence that hints at even broader exposure, but it’s hard to really nail that down due to an absent verb:
The Hit
“During the 1970s, the label released a string of worldwide hits that emphasized lavish orchestral instrumentation, heavy bass and driving percussion.”
McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” puts that description into musical form. Since picking around Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes a couple years back, I’ve spent the time in between trying to figure out how and/or why that sound clicks so easily with me. My best guess is that was what the music I heard growing up and that lets it check a bunch of boxes on the lizard-brain level.
It doesn't hurt that it just works. What starts as a strong bass-line line turns busy and bubbly under a medley of strings that tickle your ears like a summer breeze; what's not to love? To admit one drawback - especially for a guy who later switched on to songs with a hard three-minute limit (and most wrapped up in two-and-a-half) - your average Philly soul song tends to play out on a groove that lasts nearly that long.
That didn’t stop “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” from climbing high on the charts; it topped the R&B charts through the summer of 1979 and ticked up as high as No. 3 on the mainstream pop chart. It had a real cultural resonance as well, with some people calling it “the new black national anthem” and Philadelphia sports adopting it as an anthem of their own. According to a blog post on a site called From the Vaults (best single source I read, fwiw), McFadden & Whitehead recorded their hit in just one take; it also claims Whitehead made up the lyrics on the spot. For anyone wondering how the pair reached such a high level of proficiency, here’s…
The Rest of the Story (don’t sue me from beyond the grave, Paul Harvey)
Gene McFadden and John Whitehead grew up on the hard-scrabble side of Philly in the 1960s. There isn’t much about them growing up (e.g., no musical parents, no playing at church or performing in the choir, all common back-stories), but they formed a band they named The Epsilons by the mid-‘60s, i.e., in their late teens. They recruited other members - Allen Beatty, James Knight and, future member of the Blue Notes, Lloyd Parks - and start performing locally. The group did well enough for Otis Redding to bring them on, an arrangement that lasted until Redding died in a plane crash in 1967. From the Vaults' post includes a sentence that hints at even broader exposure, but it’s hard to really nail that down due to an absent verb:
