Electric Indian

A Brief History

The group formed of studio session musicians, offering up a sweet helping of Philly funkiness from 1969. The Electric Indian was assembled by sixties soul singer, Len Barry, who at this point co-owned Marmaduke Records with Bernie Binnick, who had owned Swan Records until closing up shop in 1967.


Some of the musicians who made up The Electric Indian were Bobby Eli on guitar, a young Daryl Hall on the piano, and Vince Montana Jr. on vibraharp. Eli and Montana were both integral parts of MFSB (Mothers Fathers Sisters Brothers), the large rhythm section that backed just about every hit out of Gamble & Huff’s Sigma Sound Studios. MFSB became more prominently known for the theme from Soul Train, “T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia),” which shot to the top of both the pop and R&B charts and won them a Grammy. Montana also went on to form the Salsoul Orchestra.


The A-side, “Keem-O-Sabe,” is a funky dance tune with The Lone Ranger TV theme reoccurring throughout, and it became an unexpected hit. United Artists picked it up and re-released it, as well as an Electric Indian LP, a collection of 10 tunes that did not feature "Broad Street"


The single "Broad Street"  was originally released on the Marmaduke label. Broad Street so called after Philly’s main street, which divides the east and west halves of the city. Rumor has it that it got its name because the trolley buses that ran north and south on it were a bit high to step up on. When women got on, their dresses hiked up and showed a little leg, causing men to hang out more on the street for those fine glimpses of luscious ankle. With more men to be found on the street, more prostitutes started to work it, and hence the name changed from 14th Street to Broad Street. Broads as in Dames, well that's the rumor, and sounds good too.

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