Michael Smerconish: The Other Sounds of Philadelphia

'W

E LOST our voice."

What fitting words for Phillies President David Montgomery to use to express the significance of the passing of Harry Kalas. Whether singing "High Hopes" or declaring a Mike Schmidt home run "outta here," Harry had a gift. He was our voice and we will miss him.

But when it comes to giving good voice, Philadelphians are lucky. Not every sports town can boast of a legend like Harry the K or a voice like John Facenda.

In fact, many sports fans, news junkies and music lovers never find that specific broadcaster, news anchor or deejay to put up on a pedestal. But we're still surrounded by a number of incredible voices.

SID MARK. If Harry the K narrated the soundtrack to summer, Sid narrates the soundtrack of our lives. Host of the legendary "Friday with Frank" and "Sunday with Sinatra" programs, Sid had a front-row seat to Ol' Blue Eyes and the Rat Pack beginning with a 1966 dinner with Mr. S in Las Vegas.

In that calm, melodious voice, even his commercials are compelling.

Truly, you get so caught up that it's hard to know where the programming ended and the advertisement has begun.

KENNY GAMBLE. You could fill an iPod with the hits he wrote and produced with Leon Huff.

Billy Paul reached No. 1 on the pop and R&B charts with "Me and Mrs. Jones." Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes performed the gut-wrenching "If You Don't Know Me by Now."

The O'Jays hopped on the "Love Train" long before Coors Light. Those are the voices Gamble produced along the road to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

With that kind of track record, it's easy to forget that Gamble's own voice is itself exceptional.

PIERRE ROBERT. He's been a Philadelphia rock institution for more than a quarter-century since he arrived here from San Francisco in a white van named Minerva. Like Ed Sciaky, he's a big part of why this is such a great rock town and why WMMR is still among the biggest, most respected rock stations in the country. The guy who calls listeners "citizens" and treats them with due respect has been good for Philly radio and the city in general.

JERRY BLAVAT. The Geator with the Heator is his own man - the kind of guy who comes only from Philly. (When he was 14, Sammy Davis Jr. told him, "You're like a white me.") More a performer than a deejay, the Boss with the Hot Sauce has been imparting "the Music," as he calls it, to eager audiences for more than 40 years.

JILL SCOTT. Already a Grammy-winning singer and an accomplished songwriter and poet, North Philadelphia's Scott is now starring in the HBO series "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency."

And we know she gets it when it comes to great Philly music: "I don't think people understand the level of variety Philadelphia artists have," she once said during a show at TLA. "There's something in the water. I don't know what it is. But I'm glad I drank it." So are we.

LARRY KANE. The dean of Philly TV anchors, Kane is the only one to have anchored newscasts on all three major network affiliates and the guy who coined the term "The Big Story" on Action News. While Kane often speaks now through his word processor, his deep pipes remain among the best in the biz.

MERRILL REESE. The Voice of the Eagles for 32 seasons and counting, Reese got his start broadcasting Big Five games on WRTI as an undergrad at Temple. He spent the better part of a decade as the voice of the Big Five and still calls a high school basketball game or two each winter on WBCB-AM in Bucks County. (He's a part owner.) You know it's football season when you hear those two words piercing through the radio: "It's Goooooooood!"

TOM McGINNIS. He's got great pipes, but Philly loves 76ers radio play-by-play man Tom McGinnis because he's always the most riled-up guy in the Wachovia Center - sellout or not.

"People are always telling me they almost drive off the road when they're listening to Tom," Marc Zumoff, the Sixers' TV play-by-play man, once said, "because he gets them so worked up." Are you kidding me?! *

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.mastalk.com.