The O'Jays

The O'Jays
The O'Jays (2010)
General information
Genre (s)	Soul , Phillysound
founding	1958 as The Triumphs
Founding members
singing	William Powell (until 1977)
singing	Walter Williams
singing	Eddie LeVert
singing	Bill Isles (until 1965)
singing	Bobby Massey (until 1972)
Current occupation
singing	Eric Nolan Grant (since 1997)
singing	Walter Williams
singing	Eddie LeVert
former members
singing	Sam Strain (1977-1991)

The O'Jays is an American singing band that was one of the most important representatives of Philly Soul in the 1970s . Her greatest hits Back Stabbers (1972), Love Train (1973), For the Love of Money (1974), I Love Music (1975) and Use ta Be My Girl (1978) reached the top 10 of the US charts and went gold -Awards .

Band history

The vocal ensemble was founded in 1958 by Walter Williams and Eddie LeVert as "The Triumphs". Shortly thereafter, Billy Powell, Bill Isles and Bobby Massey joined them. After being renamed "The Mascots" in 1959, the formation first appeared in Cleveland , where DJ Eddie O'Jay became aware of them and gave them a new name, "The O'Jays". Under his direction, the band recorded their first single Miracles in 1961 at Wayco Records . It flopped and the O'Jays initially moved to King Records until they signed with Imperial in 1963 .

In 1965 The O'Jays had a medium hit for the first time with Lipstick Traces , which barely missed the top 50 of the pop charts and at least made it to number 28 on the R&B charts. Nevertheless, the group first had to earn a living as a background choir for stars like Nat King Cole or The Ronettes . In the same year Isles turned his back on the O'Jays. Then they changed labels again and finally signed in 1968 with Bell Records , their producer was George Kerr.

The successes of the following publications were still not the desired, but they caught the attention of producers and composers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff , who now took on the O'Jays. After two single releases on Neptune Records , a sub-label of Chess , they had to switch again due to the death of Leonard Chess and the sale of the Chess label. As a result, Massey also left the band in 1972, which finally signed with Philadelphia International Records , Gamble and Huff's own label.

O'Jays - Back Stabbers

In the autumn of the same year, the wave of success finally began. The single Back Stabbers (about the dangerousness of deceitful people) from May 1972 reached No. 3 in the US pop charts and No. 1 in the R&B charts as a crossover , becoming the group's first big hit. By the end of 1975, other hits followed in the US pop charts such as Love Train (No. 1), Put Your Hands Together (No. 10), For the Love of Money (No. 9), Give the People What They Want (No. 45), Let Me Make Love to You (75th place) and I Love Music (5th place). Some of their albums also made it into the charts. In 1977 Powell died of cancer, whereupon The O'Jays found a replacement in Sam Strain. 1978 and 1979 were also good years for the group with Livin 'for the Weekend (20th place) and Use ta Be My Girl (4th place). The wave of success only ebbed in 1980, until the group finally disappeared from the charts around 1982.

On the 1985 album Love Fever , the band tried to pick up on trends by using elements from hip-hop . Nevertheless, there was no success. In 1990 The O'Jays received an American Music Award and went on tour with Regina Belle . After a small line-up change (Strain dropped out in 1991 and was replaced by Nathaniel Best) they even brought two albums, Emotianally Yours (1991) and Heartbreaker (1994) into the top 100 of the US charts . In 1997, Eric Nolan Grant joined the band and replaced Nate Best. In 2005, The O'Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Discography

→ Main article : The O'Jays / Discography

Studio albums

year	Title music label	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes)			Remarks
		UK	US	R&B
1972	Back Stabbers Philadelphia I. 31712	-	US10 gold (44 weeks)US	R&B3 (39 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1972 318th place on the Rolling Stone 500 (2012 list) Producers: Bunny Sigler, Kenny Gamble , Leon Huff
1973	In Philadelphia ( Reissue ) Philadelphia I. 32120	-	US156 (8 weeks) US	R&B37 (7 weeks) R&B	Re-release: April 1973 originally on Neptune in 1969 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
	Ship Ahoy Philadelphia I. 32480	-	US11 platinum (48 weeks)US	R&B1 (47 weeks) R&B	First published: October 1973 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
1975	The O'Jays Bell 6082	-	-	R&B52 (6 weeks) R&B	First published: January 1975 Reissue of the album Back on Top Recordings from 1967-68 Producer: George Kerr
	Survival Philadelphia I. 33150	-	US11 gold (24 weeks)US	R&B1 (23 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1975 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
	Family Reunion Philadelphia I. 33807	-	US7th platinum (34 weeks)US	R&B1 (29 weeks) R&B	First published: November 1975 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
1976	Message in the Music Philadelphia I. 34245	-	US20th gold (22 weeks)US	R&B3 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: September 1976 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Bunny Sigler, John Whitehead , Gene McFadden , Victor Carstarphen
1977	Travelin 'at the Speed ​​of Thought Philadelphia I. 34684	-	US27 gold (16 weeks)US	R&B6 (26 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1977 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, John Whitehead, Gene McFadden, Victor Carstarphen, Dennis Williams, The O'Jays
1978	So Full of Love Philadelphia I. 35355	-	US6th platinum (28 weeks)US	R&B1 (29 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1978 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell , Dennis Williams, Eddie Levert , Walter Williams, Bunny Sigler
1979	Identify Yourself Philadelphia I. 36027	-	US16 platinum (30 weeks)US	R&B3 (30 weeks) R&B	First published: September 1979 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Thom Bell
1980	The Year 2000 TSOP 36416	-	US36 (12 weeks) US	R&B6 (20 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1980 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Bunny Sigler, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Victor Carstarphen, Dunn Pearson, Gene McFadden , John Whitehead
1982	My Favorite Person Philadelphia I. 37999	-	US49 (13 weeks) US	R&B7 (29 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1982 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Cecil Womack , Bunny Sigler, Gene McFadden, John Whitehead, Walter Williams, Eddie Levert
1983	When Will I See You Again Epic / Philadelphia I. 38518	-	US142 (5 weeks) US	R&B19 (20 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1983 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Stephanie Huff, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Keni Burke, Bunny Sigler, Morris Stewart
1984	Love and More Philadelphia I. 39367	-	-	R&B35 (17 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1984 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Dexter Wansel, Keni Burke, Bunny Sigler
1985	Love Fever Philadelphia I. 53015	-	US121 (12 weeks) US	R&B20 (25 weeks) R&B	First published: September 1985 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Reggie Griffin, Bunny Sigler, Eddie Levert, Matt Rose, Walter Williams
1987	Let Me Touch You Philadelphia I. 53036	-	US66 (25 weeks) US	R&B3 (50 weeks) R&B	First published: June 1987 Producers: Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Casey James, Leroy Bell, Thom Bell, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams
1989	Serious EMI 90921	-	US114 (17 weeks) US	R&B4 (46 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1989 Producers: Gerald Levert , Marc Gordon, Eddie Levert, Terry Stubbs, Walter Williams, Dennis Lambert
1991	Emotionally Yours EMI 93390	-	US73 gold (20 weeks)US	R&B2 (48 weeks) R&B	First published: February 1991 Executive Producer : Ron Fair
	Home for Christmas EMI 46420	-	-	R&B78 (5 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1991 Executive Producer: Ron Fair
1993	Heartbreaker EMI 89740	-	US75 (11 weeks) US	R&B7 (22 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1993 Producers: Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas, WED Productions
1997	Love You to Tears Volcano 61422-31149	-	US75 (10 weeks) US	R&B14 (18 weeks) R&B	First published: July 1997 Producers: Gerald Levert, Edwin Nicholas, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, Joe Little III
2001	For the Love ... MCA 088 112 718	-	US53 (5 weeks) US	R&B11 (14 weeks) R&B	First published: October 2001 Producers: Eddie Levert, Matthew Rose, Walter Williams, Steve "Stone" Huff
2004	Imagination Sanctuary Urban 322	-	US178 (2 weeks) US	R&B19 (11 weeks) R&B	First published: October 2004 Executive Producers: Eddie Levert, Matthew Knowles, Walter Williams
2010	Christmas with the O'Jays Saguaro Road	-	-	R&B45 (5 weeks) R&B	First published: November 2010 Executive Producer: Ron Fair

More studio albums

• 1965: Comin 'Through ( Imperial 9290)
• 1967: Soul Sounds ( Minit 24008)
• 1968: Back on Top (Bell 6082)
• 1968: Full of Soul ( Sunset 5222)
• 1969: In Philadelphia (Neptune 202)
• 1971: Super Bad (Little Star Records 1000)
• 1974: O'Jays Meet the Moments ( split album , with The Moments ; Stang Records 1024)

literature

• Irwin Stambler: The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul . 3rd revised edition. St. Martin's Press, New York City 1989, ISBN 0-312-02573-4 , pp. 497-499.
• Jay Warner: The Billboard Book of American Singing Groups. A History 1940–1990 . Billboard Books, New York City 1992, pp. 425-427.

swell

1. ↑ Chart sources: UK US
2. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
3. ↑ RS500 albums (list 2012)

Web links

• The O'Jays at Allmusic (English)
• The O'Jays in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Profile at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame