Spinners

They were from Detroit — they even had to be called the Detroit Spinners in the UK thanks to a pre-existing band of the same name — but it turned out that the Philly sound suited them even better than Motown ever did. The MFSB-backed Thom Bell co-write “I’ll Be Around” became their first and biggest hit of their Atlantic years — punchy drums, blankets of low-end, and strings that sounded nearly as soaring as Bobbie Smith’s feat of pulling off the near-oxymoron of a confident plea. And the cuts with Philippé Wynne on lead, especially the hip-rocking slinkiness of “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” sound like the ’60s vision of Berry Gordy given a metalflake sheen.