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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