The group was formed in Canton, Ohio, in 1958 while its members were attending Canton McKinley High School. Originally known as The Mascots, and then The Triumphs,[5] 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 Cleveland radio disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, who was part of the powerful management team of Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett, and O'Jay.[6] In 1963, the group saw the release of their song "Lonely Drifter," their first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100,[5]. The single peaked at number 93. Their debut album, Comin' Through, was released shortly thereafter.[5]
In the early 1960s, member Frank "Frankie" Little, Jr. joined the group as a guitarist and songwriter. He worked with lead vocalist Eddie Levert, assisting with some of the writing for the group, including 1964's "Do the Jerk," 1966's "Pretty Words," and 1967's "Oh, How You Hurt Me." He is also credited with vocals on 1962's "Down at the Corner." According to Walter Williams, "Frankie was a guitarist and songwriter in the very early O’Jays. He came with us when we first ventured out of Cleveland and traveled to Los Angeles, but he also was in love with a woman in Cleveland that he missed so much that he soon returned back to Cleveland after a short amount of time."[7] In 2021, human remains discovered in 1982 at Twinsburg, Ohio, were identified as those of Frankie Little.[8]
Throughout the 1960s, the group continued to chart with minor hits such as "Lipstick Traces"[5] (which they performed nationally on the ABC television program Shivaree), "Stand In for Love,"[5] "Stand Tall," "Let It All Out," "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow,"[5] "Look Over Your Shoulder," "Deeper in Love with You," and "One Night Affair." However, while they issued dozens of singles throughout the decade, they never hit the US top 40 (although "Lipstick Traces" made it to number 19 in Canada). On the R&B chart, the O'Jays were somewhat more prominent, but their only top 10 R&B single prior to 1972 was 1968's "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow."[5]
In spite of their success as a touring group and on the R&B chart, the group had been considering quitting the music industry in 1972. Around that time, original members Bill Isles and Bobby Massey departed, leaving the group a trio.[5] The remaining three original members, Eddie Levert, William Powell, and Walter Williams, continued recording together, and Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters with whom the O'Jays had been working for several years, signed them to their Philadelphia International label.[5] Suddenly, the O'Jays released their first million-seller, "Back Stabbers,"[9] from the album of the same name.[5] This album produced several more hit singles, including "992 Arguments," "Sunshine," "Time to Get Down," and the number 1 pop smash, "Love Train."[5]
After adding Sammy Strain (of Little Anthony and the Imperials), the O'Jays continued recording, though with limited success.[5] In 1978, the group released "Use ta Be My Girl," which was their final top-five hit, though they continued placing songs on the R&B charts throughout the 1980s.[5] The O'Jays also saw some success in the United Kingdom, where they scored nine singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1972 and 1983, including four of which became major hits, reaching the top 20 on that chart.[10] Their 1987 album, Let Me Touch You, included the number one R&B hit "Lovin' You."[5] The O'Jays never again achieved pop success. In 1992, Sammy Strain left the group and returned to the Imperials. Later in the 1990s, the group did little recording.
LeVert was an American R&B vocal group from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Formed in 1983, LeVert was composed of Sean and Gerald Levert and Marc Gordon.
Gerald Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of 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 9 solo albums, 6 as a member of LeVert, 2 with his father, and 2 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 group Black Men United.
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.
Back Stabbers is a studio album by Philadelphia soul group the O'Jays, released in August 1972 on Philadelphia International Records and the iTunes version was released and reissued under Epic Records via Legacy Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972.
The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number one R&B singles, "And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and "Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers scored 15 top-ten R&B singles, and 8 top-ten R&B albums with two of them, The Whispers and Love Is Where You Find It, reaching the No. 1 spot. They have earned two platinum and five gold albums by the RIAA.
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) and Sean Levert (1968–2008).
Ruby & the Romantics was an Akron, Ohio-based American R&B group in the 1960s, composed of Ruby Nash, George Lee, Ronald Mosely, Leroy Fann and Ed Roberts.
"For the Love of Money" is a soul, funk song that was written and composed by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson; it was recorded by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays for the album Ship Ahoy. Produced by Gamble and Huff for Philadelphia International Records, "For the Love of Money" was issued as a single in late 1973, with "People Keep Tellin' Me" as its B-side. The single peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart, and at No. 9 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart in spring 1974. Though the album version of the song was over seven minutes long, it received substantial radio airplay. The song's title comes from a well-known Bible verse, 1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The song was also used as the opening theme song for NBC’s The Apprentice.
"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.
William L. Griffin is an American singer and songwriter. He replaced Smokey Robinson as the lead singer of The Miracles in 1972.
Sean Edward Levert was an American singer-songwriter and actor. Levert was best known as a member of the R&B vocal group LeVert. Levert was the son of O'Jays lead singer Eddie Levert and younger brother of singer Gerald Levert.
So Full Of Love is a 1978 album by the O'Jays. 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.
Ship Ahoy is an album by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays, released in 1973 on Philadelphia International Records. The album was a critical and commercial success, entering Billboard on November 10, and reaching No. 11. It reached No. 1 on the "Black Albums" chart and launched two hit singles, "For the Love of Money" and "Put Your Hands Together." Conceived as a theme album built around the title track, Ship Ahoy includes socially relevant tracks and love songs under a cover that is itself notable for its serious subject matter. The album, which achieved RIAA platinum certification in 1992 for over 1 million copies sold, has been reissued multiple times, including in a 2003 edition with a bonus track. Ship Ahoy was the highest selling R&B album on the Billboard Year-End chart for 1974.
"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.
Identify Yourself is a 1979 album by American R&B group the O'Jays, released on the Philadelphia International Records label. It was recorded at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, with four tracks produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, three by group members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams and one by the esteemed Philadelphia producer and composer Thom Bell.
Miki Howard is the third studio album by American R&B singer Miki Howard, released in 1989 on Atlantic Records. The album peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart. Howard scored her first number-one song with the lead single released from the album, "Ain't Nuthin' in the World", on the Billboard R&B Singles chart.
"I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)" (also known as "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow") is a 1967 hit single by the O'Jays, the group's best-selling single on Bell Records.
Ponderosa Twins Plus One was an American soul vocal group formed in 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio. The group featured two sets of identical twins, Alfred and Alvin Pelham, and Keith and Kirk Gardner, along with Ricky Spicer. The group released one studio album, 2 + 2 + 1 = Ponderosa Twins Plus One, in 1971, before disbanding in 1975.
Joe N Little III is an American singer, songwriter and producer who is best known as the lead singer of the 90s R&B group, Rude Boys, who had two No. 1 R&B singles, "Written All Over Your Face" and "Are You Lonely For Me", on Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Chart. They received a Billboard Award for "Written All Over Your Face", as the No. 1 R&B song of 1991.
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