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The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor hit "Lonely Drifter" in 1963, but reached their greatest level of success once the producers Gamble & Huff signed them to their Philadelphia International label in 1972. With Gamble & Huff, the O'Jays emerged at the forefront of Philadelphia soul with Back Stabbers (1972), and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 the following year with "Love Train". Several other US R&B hits followed, and the O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013.
Capital Punishment is the debut studio album by American rapper Big Pun, released by RED, Loud Records and Fat Joe's Terror Squad Productions. Released on April 28, 1998, it is the only album released during his lifetime and is regarded as a hip-hop classic, described by Black Thought of the Roots as "super groundbreaking" upon release. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 charts and number one on the Top R&B Albums chart for two weeks. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1999 Grammy Awards, but lost to Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. It was also the first solo Latin hip hop record to go Platinum.
MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O'Jays, the Stylistics, the Spinners, Wilson Pickett, and Billy Paul.
Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert performed with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon with the R&B vocal group, LeVert. Levert was also a member of LSG, a supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and himself. Levert was the son of Eddie Levert, lead singer of the R&B/soul vocal group the O'Jays. He released nine solo albums, six as a member of LeVert, two with his father, and two as a member of LSG. Levert was also credited with the discovery of R&B groups the Rude Boys, Men at Large, and 1 of the Girls. Levert was also part of the R&B groups Black Men United and LSG.
Edward Willis Levert is an American singer best known as the lead vocalist of The O'Jays. He is the father of Gerald Levert (1966–2006), Sean Levert (1968–2008) and Ryan Levert (2002–2024).
"Darlin'" is a song by American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album Wild Honey. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, it was inspired by singer Danny Hutton and was originally intended to be recorded by an early version of Three Dog Night. Carl Wilson ultimately sang the lead vocal.
"Love Train" is a hit single by the O'Jays, written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Released in 1972, it reached No. 1 on both the R&B Singles and the Billboard Hot 100 in February and March 1973 respectively, and No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart and was certified gold by the RIAA. It was the O'Jays' first and only number one record on the US pop chart. The song has been considered one of the first songs of disco music.
"I Love Music" is a song by American R&B group The O'Jays. It was written by production team Gamble and Huff. The song appeared on The O'Jays 1975 album, Family Reunion. The single reached number five on the US US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the soul singles chart. In the UK, the song peaked at number 13 in the Top 40 singles charts in March 1976. The single spent eight weeks at number one on the US Disco File Top 20 chart.
"Back Stabbers" is a 1972 song by the O'Jays. Released from the hit album of the same name, it spent one week at number 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It was also successful on the pop chart, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1972. The narrator in "Back Stabbers" warns men about their male "friends" who smile to their faces, but are secretly planning to steal their wives or girlfriends. It was inspired by an earlier hit with a similar theme, the Undisputed Truth's "Smiling Faces Sometimes", the chorus of which is quoted at the end of this song. It was part of the soundtrack for the 1977 movie, Looking for Mr. Goodbar. In 2002, the song was sampled by R&B artist Angie Stone for her single "Wish I Didn't Miss You".
"Message In Our Music" was a hit song for the R&B vocal group The O'Jays in 1976 from their album Message in the Music. Written by famed songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, it spent a week at number one on the R&B singles chart in October, 1976, and peaked at number forty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
"Use ta Be My Girl" is a song by R&B vocal group The O'Jays. Released from their hit 1978 album, So Full of Love, it became a crossover hit. The song spent five weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart. It also peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "Use ta Be My Girl" became one of the biggest and most familiar hits by The O'Jays. The song has also been certified by the RIAA as a million-seller.
Gerrell Gaddis, better known by his stage name Rell, is an American R&B singer and songwriter from Bowman, South Carolina. He was the first male R&B singer to sign to New York City-based label Roc-A-Fella Records, where he recorded with artists such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Consequence, and Young Gunz.
So Full of Love is the twelfth album by the O'Jays, released in 1978 by Philadelphia International. The album contains the No. 1 R&B hit "Use ta Be My Girl", and was awarded RIAA platinum certification for sales of 1,000,000 copies.
"Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" is a song first recorded by New Orleans singer Benny Spellman in 1962. It was written by Allen Toussaint under the pseudonym Naomi Neville. The song became Spellman's only hit record, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. The flip side of the single was "Fortune Teller", made famous by The Rolling Stones cover among others.
"This Time Baby" is a song written by the songwriting team Bell and James which, after being introduced by the O'Jays in 1978, became a 1979 disco hit for Jackie Moore.
"Lovin' You" is a 1987 single by the O'Jays from their album, Let Me Touch You, and written by songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The single, which topped the Billboard R&B chart for one week, was the O'Jays first number one on that chart since "Use Ta Be My Girl" in 1978. The song is the final O'Jays number one to be written and produced by Gamble and Huff.
Soft Touch is the third studio album by guitarist Brian Tarquin, released in May 1999 on Instinct records. Tarquin recorded Soft Touch in London once again with producer Ernie McKone, bass player from the UK acid jazz band Galliano. Once the tracks were all recorded, Instinct didn't want to keep the live playing on the album. This was due mainly because one of the A&R people attended a Radio & Records conference, and had noted that radio was playing programmed grooves. So two other producers Tony Campbell and Chris Ingram were brought in to program the songs and re-record everything. Despite the setbacks, this was another commercially successful album as Smooth Jazz radio embraced the featured single, Darlin Darlin Baby, originally recorded by The O'Jays. Another single from the album, Tangled Web, was a very big radio hit as well, becoming #1 in the New York City market on CD101.9 as well as reaching # 9 nationwide on the Smooth Jazz radio charts. Tarquin also covered another Jeff Beck song, You Know What I Mean.
Travelin' at the Speed of Thought is the eleventh album by the American R&B group the O'Jays, released in 1977 on Philadelphia International Records. Unusual for the time, there had been no advance single release from the album; the only single subsequently issued, "Work on Me", became a #7 R&B hit but failed to reach the pop listings, making this the first O'Jays PIR album without a top 100 pop single. Travelin' at the Speed of Thought peaked at #6 on the R&B chart and reached #27 on the pop chart. The album achieved a gold certification.
Survival is the eighth album by American R&B group The O'Jays, released on April 1975 via Philadelphia International Records label.
Soft Touch is the third studio album by guitarist Brian Tarquin, released in May 1999 on Instinct records. Tarquin recorded Soft Touch in London once again with producer Ernie McKone, bass player from the UK acid jazz band Galliano. Once the tracks were all recorded, Instinct didn't want to keep the live playing on the album. This was due mainly because one of the A&R people attended a Radio & Records conference, and had noted that radio was playing programmed grooves. So two other producers Tony Campbell and Chris Ingram were brought in to program the songs and re-record everything. Despite the setbacks, this was another commercially successful album as Smooth Jazz radio embraced the featured single, Darlin Darlin Baby, originally recorded by The O'Jays. Another single from the album, Tangled Web, was a very big radio hit as well, becoming #1 in the New York City market on CD101.9 as well as reaching # 9 nationwide on the Smooth Jazz radio charts. Tarquin also covered another Jeff Beck song, You Know What I Mean.
References
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 438.
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