Vince Montana (February 12, 1928 – April 13, 2013) – It Looks Like Love (1978)

The genius percussionist and key member of MFSB who also founded the Salsoul Orchestra wrote and produced Goody Goody's sexy disco masterpiece.

View most updated version of this post on Substack

Search our full archives

Vince Montana was a multi-talented vibist, percussionist, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He was a key member of MFSB, the house band behind Philadelphia International Records, and went on to found the Salsoul Orchestra. Some called him the “Godfather of Disco” (although that title was also bestowed on Mel Cheren, the co-owner of West End Records who financed the Paradise Garage).

Born and raised on the South Side of Philadelphia, Vincent Montana Jr. started playing the drums at a young age. He was eight years old when he first performed onstage, playing the orchestra bells at a school Christmas play and wowing the audience with his natural born talent. His father gave him a xylophone, and arranged for him to take piano lessons. Montana also learned the marimba, and after meeting Xavier Cugat’s percussionist Diablito, he took up the vibraphone and began playing in Latin bands.

He was soon regularly playing jazz clubs around Philadelphia. He once sat in with Charlie Parker, and when he was 18 or 19 played in a group alongside legendary trumpeter Clifford Brown. He later formed a group with future Miles Davis Quintet pianist Red Garland, and worked in Vegas during the 1950s arranging for and playing with greats like Harry Belafonte. Towards the end of that decade he came back to Philly and played vibes and other percussion on Frankie Avalon’s #1 hit song “Venus” (1959).

In 1967 Montana helped engineer Joe Tarsia construct Sigma Sound Studios, using construction knowledge he had gained from working on his own house. He kept his vibes there, and got to know producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell when they began recording at Sigma Sound. As Montana recalled in a 2008 interview, they asked him:

“‘Vincent, you play vibes? Why don’t you work on my session? I’ll give you twenty-five dollars.’ So that is how I started getting work. Tommy Bell wanted my sound…Gamble also, on some of his recordings.”

He played on the Delfonics’ 1967 breakthrough hit “La-La (Means I Love You),” the early Intruders hit “Cowboys to Girls” (1968), and Jerry Butler’s signature song “Only the Strong Survive” (1969). Montana became an integral part of the backing band behind the three producers’ recordings that eventually grew into MFSB (Mother Father Sister Brother), the house band for Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records (PIR). It was under his direction that it expanded from a small rhythm section to a 30-piece orchestra.

The label blew up right out of the gate and he worked relentlessly (“Night and day, 24/7, and either I played—vibes, orchestra bells, marimba, timpani—or wrote arrangements”) and had a hand in virtually everything PIR released in its first few years, from 1971-74. He also found time to work for other labels, such as when he and key members of MFSB backed William DeVaughn’s “Be Thankful for What You Got.” It was initially recorded in 1972 and went to #1 R&B when it was released two years later on Roxbury Records, the soul subsidiary of Wes Farrell’s Chelsea Records.

Montana had a falling out with Gamble and Huff over money, and left PIR in 1974. One of his first solo projects was producing a single for Philly soul singer Ronnie Walker. The motivational anthem “You’ve Got To Try Harder (Times Are Bad)” was the A-side.

The beautiful love song “No One Else Will Do” was on the flip. Both sides were arranged by Montana, who co-wrote and co-produced them with Walker.

When he was trying to get a Latin vocal group signed, he met Kenneth, Stanley, and Joseph Cayre, three brothers who co-owned Caytronics, a New York-based Latin music distributor and ran the Mericana Records label. After they discovered he was MSFB’s key arranger, Ken Cayre asked, “We want to do a thing on an orchestra. Could you write for a big orchestra like MFSB?” Joe Cayre said, “In a couple of weeks, I want you to do three songs with a good orchestra. But it has to have that Latin feel, that salsa feel.” He then wrote him a check for $10,000. It was huge money compared to the $25 per song Montana was being paid to play on at PIR as a member of MSFB, and $50-$60 for arranging.

Montana set up a full disco orchestra for the Cayres. They established a new label, Salsoul Records, and the group became the Salsoul Orchestra.

Several members of MFSB jumped ship from PIR to join Montana, because like him, they were also tired of being paid so little. One of their first recordings was “Salsoul Hustle,” written, produced, arranged, and conducted by Montana. It became the title track to their first album, and hit #44 R&B as a single. The LP itself was a big seller, landing at #14 on the Billboard 200 and #20 on the R&B album charts.

Montana wrote, arranged, conducted, produced and played on most of the orchestra's material for the next several years, including the stellar title track to their second album Nice 'n' Naasty (1976), which was famously remixed by Walter Gibbons, and the phenomenal “Runaway” featuring Loleatta Holloway from their 1977 LP Magic Journey.

Despite the Cayres’ initial display of generosity, they eventually stiffed Montana. As he explained in 2008:

“Salsoul, with the three brothers, were very sharp business people. I never studied law, so I signed some bad contracts, and we had a problem with royalties. They never paid me my royalties. They made millions of dollars on me. But even through their greed, they put my music out there. What can do? I am still alive, able to write. You know, like they say, ‘That’s the Salsoul sound.’ I say that’s not the Salsoul sound, that’s the ‘Vince Montana sound’.”

In 1978 he left Salsoul and released several albums on Atlantic Records. One was by a group called Goody Goody, featuring his daughter Denise on vocals. Their debut self-titled album was notable for containing one of the sexiest songs of the seventies, the epic disco jam “It Looks Like Love.”

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Vincent Montana, Jr.

Further info:

“Heavy Vibes: Vibist and Arranger Vincent Montana Jr. Brought the Orchestra to the Dance Floor,” by Robbie Busch, Wax Poetics, Issue 33, 2008.

“Vince Montana: Musician known as 'the Godfather of Disco',” obituary, The Independent (UK), June 30, 2013.

#soul #funk #disco #PhillySoul #MFSB #SalsoulOrchestra #vibes #VinceMontana