PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — One place in Philadelphia is responsible for some of the most memorable music ever recorded. But its own story has never been fully told — until now.
“Sigma Sound: The Sound Heard 'Round the World” is a documentary that’s been in the works for a decade, and you can finally see — and hear — it later this month.
The O’Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. We know the classics in the canon of the Sound of Philadelphia. But David Bowie? Robert Palmer?
“Once Sigma Sound perfected it, everyone wanted to come to the source,” said Bill Nicoletti, director of the documentary. “They wanted to capture that sound. They couldn't get it anywhere else.”
It had to be Philly. And it had to be Sigma Sound Studios.
“The people are real here: good, bad or indifferent. What you see is what you get,” Nicoletti said. “And that's the same for what took place in Sigma Sound. These people all came together. They were all taking chances on each other.”
Color, creed — no one cared. Chops are what counted.
The conductor of this entire enterprise? Sigma founder Joe Tarsia.
RELATED
“At a somewhat young age, I was introduced to Joe,” Nicoletti said. “And that was like the closest thing for me to playing for the Phillies. To be a part of something big and great. I just was completely enamored with it.”
Tarsia, who died last year, is a star in this film — right alongside the tunes that traveled the world from 212 N. 12th St.
“The music that came out of Philly — it's like a time machine,” Nicoletti said. “If I hear The Three Degrees’ ‘When Will I See You Again’ — boom, I'm right back in fifth grade, you know, in love with whoever.”
Among the stars featured in the film are Patti LaBelle, Gamble & Huff, John Legend, the late Thom Bell, and Daryl Hall, who still spelled his last name as “Hohl” when he recorded with The Temptones at Sigma in 1966.
There will be a preview screening of “Sigma Sound” at the Kimmel Center on Sept. 23. It’s part of the Fall Arts Fest and is free, but you have to reserve a ticket in advance.
The film has won support from Comcast and WSFS Bank, and KYW Newsradio and Audacy are proud to sing the praises of this love letter to the studios behind the Sound of Philadelphia.
Nicoletti, an Emmy winner and owner of Going the Distance Films in Manayunk, is negotiating a theatrical and streaming release.
“It’s time. It's time for it to be shared with the world,” he said.