Victor Carstarphen (December 24, 1952 – February 6, 2015) – Music’s Takin’ Over (1977)

The songwriter and keyboardist who co-wrote Philly soul classics like "Wake Up Everybody" also co-wrote this overlooked jam by the Jacksons.

View most updated version of this post on Substack

Search our full archives

Victor Carstarphen was a songwriter, producer, and keyboardist who was one of the members of MFSB, the backing band for Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. Alongside the songwriting and production duo Gene McFadden and John Whitehead, he co-wrote several of the label’s classic songs in the 1970s.

See our earlier post on Gene McFadden for more on the masterpieces they created together, including “Bad Luck” and “Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Billy Paul’s “People Power,” and “Somebody Told Me” by Teddy Pendergrass.

One of the earliest tracks the three songwriters collaborated on was “People Keep Tellin’ Me,” the superb closing cut to the O’Jays’ second album Ship Ahoy (1973), with Eddie Levert and Walter Williams memorably trading leads. Produced by Gamble and Huff, it was issued as the B-side to the LP’s second single “For the Love of Money,” which hit #3 R&B and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1975, the three of them co-wrote and produced the very funky “Soul City Walk” for Archie Bell & the Drells.

Released as a single off their Dance Your Troubles Away LP, it only reached #42 R&B but went to #13 on the UK singles charts.

For Goin’ Places (1977), the second album the Jacksons recorded for Philadelphia International Records, McFadden, Whitehead, and Carstarphen co-wrote, arranged and produced its phenomenal opening cut “Music’s Takin’ Over.” The album was unsuccessful, becoming the Jacksons’ second-worst selling LP of all time.

But it was a musically solid release, and its commercial failure was largely because of bad marketing decisions, such as releasing the title track as its lead single in October, 1977 instead of much stronger songs like its opener or “Different Kind of Lady.” Written by the group themselves, the latter became a disco hit even though it was relegated to the B-side of the album’s second single “Find Me a Girl.” The LP also had poorly chosen cover art.

“Music’s Takin’ Over” was finally released as the fourth single from Goin’ Places in April, 1978, but only in the UK. It was too late to save the album, and the single itself failed to chart.

McFadden, Whitehead, and Carstarphen co-produced Melba Moore’s 1977 LP A Portrait Of Melba, and co-wrote nearly all of its tracks, including the socially conscious dancefloor anthem “Promised Land.” It was remixed two years later for her disco remix album Dancin’ With Melba (1979).

In 1980, Carstarphen produced the stellar love song “You'll Never Know (All There Is to Know 'bout My Love)” for the O’Jays’ album The Year 2000, which he played keyboards on and co-wrote with McFadden and Whitehead.

Starting in the eighties, he toured as the keyboardist for the Temptations, and was featured on several of their albums like Back To Basics (1983), Truly For You (1984), and Milestone (1991).

Today his son Victor Jr. serves as the mayor of Camden, New Jersey. The Camden County Historical Society’s Victor Carstarphen Sr. Legends Hall of Fame is named for him, a permanent exhibit memorializing the city's members of the music industry.

Rest in Peace, Victor Carstarphen.

Further info:

“R.I.P. legendary Philly soul man Victor Castarphen,” SoulTracks.com, February, 2015.

“The Awakening: 'Wake Up Everybody' by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes,” interview with Kenny Gamble, by Chris Williams, Wax Poetics, July 6, 2021.

“Making Sure Legends in Camden's History Do Not Fade Away,” TAPintoCamden, by Neill Borowski, April 13, 2023.

#soul #funk #disco #PhillySoul #McFaddenAndWhitehead #VictorCarstarphen