This is probably the soppiest song I like. It’s the antithesis of the soul music I like best – the gritty, sweaty, southern soul of Stax and Muscle Shoals. And yet…

Thom Bell, the perfectionst producer/arranger who single-handedly invented the creamy Philly soul sound in the late Sixties, sandpapered the surface and sweetened the sound with saccharine.

He replaced the heartfelt testifying with silky-smooth harmonies and swathed everything in syrupy strings. Many hardcore soul fans dismissed it as muzak for smooching with the laydeez. And yet…

It’s much more than that. Think of it as the the distaff side of what came out of Stax in Memphis and Muscle Shoals in Alabama.

It sold on a scale that dwarfed those southern stars like Otis, Aretha and Wilson Pickett – and even surpassed the success of Motown stars like the Temps and the Tops.

British audiences couldn’t get enough of the new sound, especially The Stylistics, The O’Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes and The Detroit Spinners – and The Delfonics.

A trio of brothers from Philadelphia, William and Wilbert Hart plus school friend Randy Cain, they were one of the first to define that Philly Sound.

William, known as “Poogie”, sang lead vocals and co-wrote the songs with Thom Bell who took care of the arrangements and produced the records, with the music played by the peerless house band MFSB.

Released in 1968, La-La (Means I Love You) was their first US hit, though it took another three years to reach the UK charts – by which time Randy had been replaced by Major Harris. Over here it was their second hit after following Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time) in the summer of 1971.

Both feature prominently in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, when Robert Forster’s character goes out to buy a cassette of The Delfonics’ Greatest Hits. It’s also been extensively covered (everyone from The Jackson 5 to Prince and even Todd Rudgren) and sampled (most notably by Ghostface Killah on Holla).

Apologies for the glitchy video transfer here but it’s worth it for the dance routine with the Marcel Marceau hand movements – and the fact that, unlike the Top of the Pops clips, it features Randy rather than a miming Major Harris.