The Stylistics, Payback is a Dog | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 30^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Payback is a Dog” by the legendary Philly soul collective, The Stylistics.

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. . In the 30^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “Payback is a Dog” performed by The Stylistics.

“By mistake, I heard / Some news about you / I just turned my head / And closed my eyes / It hurt so bad.” Oh, my goodness, Russell Thompkins Jr., what did you hear??? The lead singer of the iconic Philly collective,  The Stylistics, realizes in the second verse of “Payback is a Dog”, “I saw how big a fool I was / To love you so / And when I turned my back / I had nowhere to go.” My, my, my! “Payback is a Dog” is the fifth track from The Stylistics’ third studio album, Rockin’ Roll Baby, released in 1973.  Notably, the song was composed by Philly soul royalty: Thom Bell (1943 – 2022) and Kenny Gamble (1943 – ).  Bell also produced this fabulous non-single.

“Payback is a Dog” is four-and-a-half minutes long. Even though the payback is devastating (“One day, you’ll know / Just how it feels”), it’s music to the listener’s ears.  The musical accompaniment and production are lush, refined, and soulful.  The sound is Philly soul through and through. The complexity of the harmonic progression – the track’s underpinnings – also deserves a shout-out. It goes beyond three chords! Thompkins Jr. sounds marvelous on lead vocals, particularly when he dips into his falsetto.  He brings those memorable lyrics and melodies to life. Some of the simplest lyrics are what catch the ears the most.  Looking at you, chorus! 

“Payback is a dog

(Dog, it’s a dog)

Payback is a dog

(Dog, it’s a dog).”

Woof, woof! “Payback is a Dog” marks another masterpiece by The Stylistics. It deserved to be a single!

The Stylistics // Rockin’ Roll Baby // Amherst // 1973

The Stylistics, Payback is a Dog: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 30 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Amherst; AcatXlo, OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]