Fleamarketfunk.com does a superb job of placing Arctic Records and "Cooler Than Ice" in the context of Philly soul, noting the box set as "the definitive collection of the label that started the Soul movement in the City of Brotherly Love." Click here to check out the full review . Order Arctic box set here.
Excerpts from the review:
If you are a fan of Soul, specifically Philly Soul, then this box set will set your world on fire. Hell, even if you aren’t a fan, it’s going to keep you busy for quite some time until you become a fan....Founded in 1964 by WDAS-AM’s Jimmy Bishop, Arctic Records was the jump start that gave Philadelphia its S-O-U-L. With 60 A and B sides from every single the Arctic label ever put out as well as releases on the subsidiary label Frantic, this retrospective covers the label from the very beginning right until the end. A young Kenny Gamble, Harold Melvin, and Daryl Hohl aka Daryl Hall make appearances in groups on this box set alongside label stalwart Barbara Mason, plus Honey and the Bees, Dee Dee Barnes, The Volcanos and more. Some of these singles have not seen the light of day for 50 years.
Check out the New York Times' prominent 2013 holiday-roundup review of Cooler Than Ice in the box-set round up here. Buy it here for $110 including shipping worldwide.
Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times:
‘COOLER THAN ICE: ARCTIC RECORDS AND THE RISE OF PHILLY SOUL’ The talent pool for the independent Philadelphia soul label Arctic Records in the 1960s included Kenny Gamble, Daryl Hall, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and Barbara Mason, whose 1965 “Yes, I’m Ready” was the label’s big pop hit. Arctic didn’t have many of those, but a majority of the singles it released — presented in numerical order in this boxed set, most with both A and B sides — have craftsmanship and spirit. Arctic’s producers and songwriters were very clearly looking toward Motown or, far less often, to Stax.
But their knockoffs were spiffy — not just the perpetually devoted Ms. Mason, but more obscure figures like Dee Dee Barnes, Kenny Hamber and a high-octane gospel singer, Mary De Loach . And in songs from Mr. Gamble and Honey & the Bees, there are harbingers of the close-harmony Philly soul of the 1970s. (Jamie/Guyden, six CDs, six 45-r.p.m. singles, $149.98.)
Check out our newly updated catalog of artists from 1963, including Bobby Peterson , Dale & Grace , Maxine Davis , The Waveriders , and Dick Van Dyke !
Barbara Lynn returned for a triumphant Dig Deeper concert in Brooklyn , Saturday October 12 at Littlefield at 622 Degraw Street.
Continuing his mega-hit shows in Brooklyn on June 15 and Wilmington on September 21, John tours with his new 2-CD release "Up From Funk." The only thing better than his CD is catching him live:
Fri Sept 27 10PM Bangor Bangor Football Club
Sat Sept 28 11:30 PM Blackburn King George’s Hall
Sun Sept 29 6:45 Derby Rolls Royce
Sun Sept 29 10PM Reading The Calcot Hotel
The excellent new film, "Lovelace," captures the moods and tones of the 1970s with the help of 3 Jamie recordings: John Ellison & The Soul Brothers Six's " Funky Funky Way of Makin' Love ," The People's Choice's "Oh How I Love It," and L.J. Waiters and the Electrifiers' " If You Ain't Gettin' Your Thing. " It stars a wide-eyed and innocent-looking Amanda Seyfried as Linda Lovelace, star of "Deep Throat" -- the "Gone With the Wind" of pornographic films.
June 13, 2013 By Peter Crimmins, @petercrimmins Buy it now. The Philadelphia Sound first gained traction in 1965 with "Yes, I'm Ready," a song written in about 10 minutes in the Francisville neighborhood by a lovesick teenager named Barbara Mason. I don't even know how to hold your handJust to make you understand…
