MFSB : Sexy

I feel like ending the week on an up note, so let's go with a little disco. MFSB (which stands for Mother Father Sister Brother, although it's never written that way or as an acronym) was a house band in Philadelphia that backed all sorts of classic soul singers from Wilson Pickett to The O'Jays to Billy Paul. The label also had them put out their own albums of instrumental funk (obviously). MFSB had their biggest hit in '74 with "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)", which was later adopted as the theme to Soul Train. They also did the incredible "K-Jee" on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in '77.

"Sexy" falls somewhere in between. It starts with a bit of Meters-like guitar, which pretty much completely disappears once the song gets going. Then it dives straight into that rump-shaking dance beat. After a couple of cycles it's joined by a wisp of porn guitar (chick-a-wow), and then a little later by a super-funky bass line. After four more trips around the beat, there's a bit of a build up, a drum roll, and the strings kick in.

Ahhhhh, the strings. Like hot water down the back of your neck on a cold morning, or good Swiss milk chocolate diffusing across your tongue, the strings swoop in and carry you off, leaving you with a warm melty feeling inside. There's nothing like it. After a bit more of the floaty strings, the band drops back into the main groove and cruises along, carrying on with a little solo sax and keeping up that peppy dancefloor vibe. They try the string trick a few more times, and it's always nice, but it's never quite as good as your first time.

"Sexy" comes from MFSB's '75 album, Universal Love, which isn't available on CD. You can also find it on Love Is the Message: The Best of MFSB which has all their hits and then some.

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