Rhino's 1993 collection The Very Best of Wilson Pickett remains the best single-disc anthology of the fiery soul singer's work, choosing 16 of his best tracks for Atlantic and presenting them in excellent remastered sound quality. Pickett never departed all that much from the rough, swaggering vocals that first made his name, but he was utterly electrifying within that style, setting the standard for Southern soul singers behind Otis Redding. All of Pickett's early signature hits – "In the Midnight Hour," "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)," "Land of 1,000 Dances," "Mustang Sally," and "Funky Broadway" – lead off the disc in quick succession, capturing the emergence of Southern soul as a viable commercial style. But Pickett is just as charismatic on the rest of the material, nearly all of which made the R&B Top Ten and went under appreciated on the pop charts – he was just too much for white audiences to handle. Pickett did his best to shake up his formula – he cut a near-psychedelic soul tune, "Engine No. 9," with future Philly soul architects Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff; he helped bring Bobby Womack back into the music business by covering his "I'm in Love" and "I'm a Midnight Mover"; and he made some unpredictable cover choices in the Beatles' "Hey Jude," the Archies' bubblegum tune "Sugar Sugar," and Free's "Fire and Water."

MFSB was the legendary multicultural house band for the label Philadelphia International. Debuting as an act in 1973, the band released seminal early-disco tracks like "TSOP," "Love Is the Message," and the ballad "Something For Nothing." Although this effort didn't reach the heights of its predecessor, Love Is the Message, Universal Love has the band exhibiting even more skill as a hitmaking enterprise. As with the earlier hits, seven out of the eight tracks on Universal Love were arranged by Bobby Martin, who always got a classic sound out of any Philly production. The tracks "Sexy" and "T.L.C. (Tender Lovin' Care)" both effortlessly employ intonations of big band that came from the horn charts and Zach Zachery's tenor sax solos. At this point the gloss and rhythm style of the MFSB players, primarily the sound of bassist Ron Baker and drummer Earl Young, helped to initiate disco. Although they were no doubt influential, the songs "MFSB" and the hard-driving "Let's Go Disco" have an inimitable production.

Contrary to what its title suggests, The O'Jays in Philadelphia isn't a live album. Rather, the title of this studio date refers to the beginning of their association with Philly's R&B scene and producers/songwriters Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. What they didn't know in 1969 was just how long and fruitful that association would end up being. This album wasn't the major hit that Back Stabbers would be, but not for lack of strong material. From "One Night Affair" to "Let Me in Your World," this superb album is quintessential Philly soul. While Eddie Levert's gospel-influenced belting is as gritty as anything that came from Stax Records, the production is as notably sleek. A few years later, Gamble & Huff would produce a longer, heavily syncopated version of "Affair" for Jerry Butler that some soul historians exalt as the first disco single.

This collection covers Pendergrass' run of big hits from the Philadelphia International era, including "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Close The Door" and "Turn Off The Lights".

A super-sizing of this long-running but under-publicized group's productive years – from 1970 to 1979 – on Roulette, Philadelphia International, Epic, and Ariola Records. Only diehards will miss earlier (excluded) sides from 1965 to 1969 on Swan, ABC, Warner Bros., Metromedia, and Neptune. This set beams up their hits: "TSOP," "When Will I See You Again," "Maybe," "Dirty Old Man," "Long Lost Lover," etc, and spans to include scorching renditions of New York City's "I'm Doing Fine Now," Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On," and Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man." Essential for girl group fans, and a good buy for casual fans.