Butler was first approached by Gamble & Huff in Philly, a city that’s proven fortuitous in his career. The duo had freshly scored with the Soul Survivors’ “Expressway to Your Heart” and Archie Bell & the Drells’ “I Can’t Stop Dancing.” The meeting led to a collaboration resulting first in The Ice Man Cometh, which made its Billboard Top Albums chart debut in January 1969 and included three big singles: “Lost,” “Hey, Western Union Man” and “Only the Strong Survive.” Of the many Gamble and Huff-produced artists, including the O’Jays, Billy Paul, Lou Rawls and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Butler enjoyed the distinction of being the only one with whom the duo co-wrote.

Butler was hopeful through the years that Western Union would utilize his like-named hit in a commercial, but it was never to be. “And,” he told Sculatti in the notes, “now email has screwed us out of that deal.”

Ice on Ice arrived in stores later in 1969, and contained two Gamble-Huff-Butler–penned hits, “Moody Woman” and “What’s the Use of Breaking Up?” In addition, one of the album tracks, “A Brand New Me,” became a huge hit not for Butler but for both Aretha Franklin (it was the airplay-gleaning B-side of her version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”) and Dusty Springfield. It was even covered by Liberace.

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