Thom Randolph Bell, the record producer and songwriter who penned some of the biggest hits in music’s history, has died at age 79.
Bell was born on January 26, 1943, in Jamaica and he became known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s.
He is best remembered for his successes with the Philadelphia sound, having worked with such acts as the Delfonics, Stylistics, and Spinners. In June 2006, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and in 2016, he was honored with an induction into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Bell passed away on December 22, 2022.
Along with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff known as the Mighty Three created the “Sound Of Philadelphia”.
In a press release Gamble said, “Tommy and I have been best friends for over 60 years.” He continued, “When we first met, we decided to start writing songs together and form a singing duo ‘Kenny and Tommy’ and then our band The Romeos… He was a great talent and my dear friend. Rest in peace buddy.”
“Thom Bell was my favorite musician, arranger, songwriter, and music producer of all time!” added Leon Huff. “It was my esteemed honor and pleasure to work with him creatively and as a business partner. Rest in peace.”
As a child, Bell moved to Philadelphia and began singing with Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Daryl Hall (of Hall & Oates) in his teenage years. After being classically trained as a musician, he got his first big break in soul music at Cameo Records in Philadelphia.
There, he worked as a session player and arranger. In 1967, he was introduced to The Delfonics, a local group, and produced two singles for them on Moonglow, a subsidiary label. Bell’s haut en couleur style, a mellifluous and hypnotic sound, brought success in soul music. He produced many big hits for the group on Philly Groove label, run by their manager Stan Watson, including “La-La (Means I Love You)” and “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1970.
Other great works Bell helped to pioneer in the Philly Soul Seventies era are songs like “La-La Means I Love You” by the Delfonics, “Rubberband Man” by the Spinners, “Backstabber” by the O’Jays and the Stylistics’ “I’ll Be Around” and “Betcha By Golly Wow.” He also produced Elton John’s song “Mama Can’t Buy You Love.”
Hipgnosis Songs Fund CEO Merck Mercuriadis weas among the people in the industry who paid tributes to the legend on Thursday on social media.
He posted: “We use adjectives every day to describe people like “great”, “legend”, “icon”, “superstar”and “genius”. Thom Bell was all of those combined x 10.”
“Thom Bell not only wrote amongst the biggest smash hits (of cultural importance!) of the last 50 years but he would also be every songwriters favourite songwriter,” he continued.
