The Three Degrees teamed up with Philly’s house band MFSB for the joyous soul anthem T.S.O.P. aka The Sound Of Philadephia.

I’ll admit I may have been put off The Three Degrees by those old photos of King (then Prince) Charles dad-dancing to his favourite group. They just never seemed funky enough for me; a little too clean-cut, a little too polite, a little too royal-friendly really.

Then they popped up when I was re-watching The French Connection the other day, in which they have a cameo singing Jimmy Webb’s Everybody Gets To Go To The Moon in a New York nightclub.

So I delved back into their catalogue for something with a bit more Ooomph, and I came across this tune, TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia). And it does exactly what it says on the tin, capturing the string-drenched signature sound of Philly soul.

It was recorded originally as the theme song of the long-running US television show Soul Train and became the first TV theme to hit No.1 in the singles chart after its release in 1974.

Not technically a Three Degrees song, it’s credited to the Sigma Sound Studio’s house band MFSB (aka Mother, Father, Sister, Brother): not really a band, but a loose collection of around 30 session musicians under the guidance of producers Gamble & Huff, and their arranger Thom Bell.

But that’s indubitably the gals coming in at the end to sing the joyous refrain: “Let’s get it on, it’s time to get down.” That’s it. But it’s magnificent. And I’d far rather listen to this than hear When Will I See You Again? Again.

It was later covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners on the B-side of the 12-inch version of Jackie Wilson Said, which means it must be in my collection waiting to be rediscovered.

Looking up The Three Degrees today, I see that they’re still going strong after 62 years, and have had 16 members down those years – but always worked as a trio. I wonder how many times they’ve played this one: