The O'Jays are a Canton, Ohio
-based soul/R&B group, originally consisting of
Walter Williams (b. August 25, 1942), Bill Isles, Bobby
Massey, William Powell (January 20, 1942–May 26, 1977) and
Eddie Levert (b. June 16, 1942). The O'Jays
were inducted into the
Vocal
Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and
The Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 2005. The O'Jays (now a trio after the departure of
Isles and Massey) had their first hit with "Lonely Drifter", in
1963. In spite of the record's success, the group was considering
quitting the music business until
Gamble & Huff, a legendary team of
producers and songwriters, took an interest in the group. With
Gamble & Huff, the O'Jays emerged at the forefront of
Philadelphia soul with
Back Stabbers (
1972), a huge pop hit.
Career
They
formed the group in Canton,
Ohio in 1958 while
attending Canton McKinley
High School. Originally known as The
Triumphs, and then The Mascots, the
friends began recording with "Miracles" in 1961, which was a moderate hit in the Cleveland
area. In
1963
they took the name "The O'Jays", in tribute to radio disc jockey
Eddie O'Jay (Toop, 1991), and released "Lonely Drifter", which
charted nationally. Their debut LP was
Comin' Through.
Throughout the 1960s, they continued to chart with songs such as
"
Lipstick Traces"
(which they performed nationally on the ABC Television program,
Shivaree), "Stand In
For Love", "Let It All Out", "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow", "Deeper In
Love With You" and "One Night Affair", along with several other
regional and national Pop and R&B hits. In 1972, they finally
scored with their first million-seller, "
Back Stabbers", from the gold
album of the same name. By this time, original member Bobby Massey
had also departed, leaving the group a trio. This album produced
several more hit singles, including "992 Arguments", "Sunshine",
"Time To Get Down" and the #1 Pop smash, "
Love Train". They became known as "The Mighty
O'Jays" due to their exciting, emotion-packed stage performances,
led by the dynamic Levert, and the cool, multi-range vocals of
Walter Williams, coupled with the matinee idol looks and smooth
first tenor voice of William Powell.
During the remainder of the 1970s the O'Jays continued releasing
chart-topping singles, including "Put Your Hands Together" (Pop
#10), "
For the Love of Money"
(Pop #9), "
Give
the People What They Want", "Let Me Make Love To You",
"
I Love Music" (Pop #5),
"
Livin' for the Weekend",
"
Message in Our Music" and
"
Darlin'
Darlin' Baby ". Original member William Powell died of
cancer in 1977 at the age of just 35.
After adding Sammy Strain (born
December
9,
1941) (of
Little Anthony & the
Imperials), the O'Jays continued recording, though with limited
success.
1978's "
Use ta Be My Girl" was their final Top
Five hit, though they continued placing songs on the R&B charts
throughout the 1980s. Their 1987 album,
Let Me Touch You,
was a breakthrough of sorts, and included the #1 R&B hit
"Lovin' You". Though they continued charting on the R&B charts
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the O'Jays never again achieved
pop success. In 1992, Sammy Strain left the group, and returned to
the Imperials, to be replaced by Nathaniel Best, and later, by Eric
Grant. Later in the 1990s, the group did little recording, though
they remained a popular live draw. Their latest album was
Imagination in
2004.
In 2003, they co-starred in the movie
The Fighting Temptations,
which starred
Cuba Gooding Jr. and
Beyonce Knowles. In the film, they
played three barbers who joined the local church choir to help out
the film's protagonist Darrin (Gooding) who was the choir
director.
In 2005
the O'Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
. Original members Eddie Levert, Walter
Williams, Bobby Massey and, posthumously, William Powell, were
inducted. In a note of controversy, 70's O'Jays member Sammy Strain
was also inducted with the group, while original member Bill Isles
was not. (Strain is one of the few artists in popular music history
who is a double RRHOF inductee: with The O'Jays in 2005, and The
Imperials in 2009). In 2006, the O'Jays performed at the
ESPY awards, hosted by
Lance
Armstrong. "For the Love of Money" is the theme song to the hit
reality TV show
The
Apprentice, starring
Donald
Trump, which is ironic considering that the lyrics warn of the
evil people will do for the love of money.
On February 23, 2007, Radio-Canada's website reported that Canadian
Industry Minister Jim Prentice had used the song "For The Love of
Money" without the group's permission during a political event, a
faux pas since Prentice is responsible for the application of the
Copyright Act in Canada. Radio-Canada also reports that Prentice
has since been contacted by the attorneys for both the O'Jays and
Warner/Chappell Music.
On June
28, 2009, at the 2009 BET Award Show in the
Shrine
Auditorium
the O'Jays
were honored with BET's 2009 Life Time
Achievement Award. Tevin
Campbell,
Trey Songz,
Tyrese Gibson, and
Johnny Gill performed a medley of the groups
songs followed by the presentation of the award by
Don Cornelius. The group reminisced, joked
with the audience and accepted their award before performing a
rendition of their hit songs.
Discography
Top Twenty singles
The following singles reached the Top Twenty on either the United
States
Billboard Hot 100 pop
singles chart or the United Kingdom
UK
Singles Chart.
Top Twenty albums
The following albums reached the Top Twenty on the United States
Billboard 200 pop albums chart.
- 1972: Back Stabbers (US
#10)
- 1973: Ship Ahoy (US
#11)
- 1974: The O'Jays Live in London (US #17)
- 1975: Survival (US #11)
- 1975: Family Reunion (US #7)
- 1976: Message in the Music (US #20)
- 1978: So Full of Love
(US #6)
- 1979: Identify Yourself (US #16)
See also
References
- Toop, David (1991). Rap Attack
2: African Rap To Global Hip Hop. New York. New York:
Serpent's Tail. ISBN 1-85242-243-2.
- (2007). "Lawsuit Comes Between Members of O'Jays:
Sammy Strain says Eddie and Walter "conspired" to Rob Him of
Royalties." Accessed 3-14-08.
External links
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