1977
LET'S CLEAN UP THE GHETTO * PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL ALL STARS *
PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL 5451* IT
The song has a great talking introduction from Lou Rawls talking about municipal workers on strike in New York City, after which Billy Paul, followed by Archie Bell, then Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays and Dee Dee Sharp (Gamble) all take turns in singing a about the ghetto, its problems and how best to tackle them; and a great backing from MFSB, which can be found as just an instrumental on the B side. Let's Clean Up The Ghetto was originally meant to be an album track for Lou Rawls but quickly developed in to a full scale 'urban awareness' project, with not only the artists doing their bit but the record company offering to donate all profits for five years to charity projects in the ghettos. The song was written by Philadelphians Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble both of whom also owned the label, it was clearly a foretaste of Gamble's philanthropical nature as he would later found Universal Cos. a nonprofit umbrella company comprised of a slew of real estate development, educational, and retail operations devoted to not only 'cleaning up' the ghetto but revitalizing it as well, more power to the man. The above picture cover, the same picture as on the album , is an Italian release.