Various Artists: Conquer the World: The Lost Soul of Philadelphia International

Originally released as a vinyl-only, ten-track wonder only a few months ago, the expanded CD version of Conquer The World is a feast of deep funk and rare soul from the Seventies' greatest R&B label. It also manages to challenge the conventional wisdom of Philadelphia International as a mere disco or soft-rock label.

As the musical market expands from the influence of the internet, digging deep has become an obsession that even dilettantes can afford to expend time on. Which is why you may be over and done with Philadelphia International, that seminal R&B label that paved the way for disco with hits by the O'Jays, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and the Three Degrees. But there were a number of local Philly hits that, for one reason or another, never made it nationally, and this 16-track collection -- an expansion of a vinyl-only release from late last year -- collects some of the best.

Unlike Motown, where sifting through dross is almost a given, this particular black-owned label scored whether it was on the charts or not. It's a little frightening to think that mere circumstance kept Bunny Sigler or Bobby Bennett from being superstars: you might be able to understand why the opening "Hard Workin' Man," by Pat and the Blenders, may have put early-Seventies audiences off with its rather retro shuffle, but that doesn't explain the failure dealt Bennett's shaggy-dog slow burn "Days Go By," which is the equal of several similar Harold Melvin ballads, or Love Committee's gorgeous and direct "Darling Come Back Home," or especially the breathtaking "Conquer The World Together," which updates the old Marvin and Tammi formula for David Sigler and Dee Dee Sharp (yes, that one, who should have made her comeback here) with a touch of "MacArthur Park" grandiosity.

The real revelation, however, may be the handful of stellar funk tracks from a label not celebrated for its hardness -- Bunny's blaxploitationesque joints "Theme From Five Fingers Of Death" and "Everybody Needs Good Lovin'" or Yellow Sunshine's jazzy eponymous track, sort of Philly Int'l's answer to the Atlantic group's "Funky Nassau" (Beginning Of The End, remember)?