This R&B/soul singing group started out in Canton, Ohio in 1958 while the members were still at high school. The original members were Bill Isles, Eddie Levert, Bobby Massey, William Powell and Walter Lee WIlliams and they initially called themselves The Mascots.
They performed around their local area and renamed themselves The Triumphs. The group recorded the song “Miracles” which had some success in and around Cleveland, Ohio and they changed their name again to The O’ Jays as a tribute to Eddie O’ Jay who was a disco jockey on Cleveland radio.
In 1963 they released the single “Lonely Drifter” which them attention when it reached No. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Soon they released their debut album Comin’ Through. They added the guitarist and songwriter Frankie Little Jr. and he and the lead singer, Eddie Levert, collaborated on the group’s songwriting. Frank left the group after a few years and returned to Cleveland.
The O’ Jays recorded and released many singles over the course of the 1960s, all of which had minor success compared to what would come. These included “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow” which reached the R&B chart Top 10, “One Night Affair”, which has since been cited as being one of the first disco songs” and a cover version of “Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)” which reached No. 19 in Canada and No, 28 on the US R&B chart and has been performed by many other artists that include Amazing Rhythm Aces, The American Breed, the Beautiful South, Delbert McClinton and Ringo Starr.
In the very early 1970s the group had thought about stopping working and Bobby Massey and Bill Isles both left. Now performing as a trio they carried on and when Gamble & Huff signed them to their Philadelphia International record label their success didn’t take long to appear.
They released the album Back Stabbers and the single “Back Stabbers” became a huge hit with another No. 1 hit song from there being “Love Train”. In 1973 Ship Ahoy was the next album release and the singles “For the Love of Money” made it to No. 3 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 9 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and “Put Your Hands Together” went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles and No 10 on the Billboard Hot 100..
In 1975 they released Survival which reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 11 on the Pop chart with the single “Give the People What They Want” reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year it was the turn of Family Reunion, once again, topped the R&B chart reached No. 7 on the Pop chart and was certified platinum. The resultant singles included “I Love Music” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B and Disco charts and got to No. 13 in the UK and “Livin’ for the Weekend” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Souls Singles and No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The following year, in 1976, Message in Music was released and this time the chart topping singles were “Message in Our Music” and “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)”, which also reached No. 24 in the and was the fourth single to make the UK’s Top 30. This would be the last album that you would hear William Powell on as he sadly died from cancer the following year when he was only 35 years old. He was replaced by the vocalist Sammy Strain who had previously been a member of Little Anthony & The Imperials.
In 1977, around the same time William Powell died, they released Travelin’ at the Speed of Thought which reached No, 6 on the R&B chart and No. 27 on the pop chart. The single “Work on Me” reached No. 7 on the R&B chart. Next was So Full of Love in 1978 which reached No. 1 on the R&B chard and No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and contained the platinum rated single and final Top 5 hit “Use ta Be My Girl”. The following year, in 1979, Identify Yourself was released and reached No. 3 on the R&B album chart with the singles “Forever Mine” reaching No. 4 and “Sing a Happy Song” which reached No. 7 on the R&B singles chart.
When the 1980s came around they continued to release singles and albums and ended up having a total of 9 No. 1 singles in the UK. Their success lessened during the decade although in 1987 their Let Me Touch You produced the single “Lovin’ You” which went to No. 1 on the R&B chart
During the 1990s Sammy Strain left in 1992 to go back to The Imperials and they did relatively little recording after that until joined by Eric Grant. They released Love You to Tears in 1997.
In the new millennium they released For the Love… in 2oo1, which received a Grammy nomination, then Imagination in 2004, Christmas with the O’Jays in 2010 and The Last Word which was their final studio recording in 2018
They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, the Grammy Hall of Fame for “Love Train” in 2006, the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Grammy Hall of Fame for “For the Love of Money” in 2016.
They undertook their final tour dates in 2024 after more than 60 years of an extremely successful musical career.
Sources:
- https://www.mightyojays.com/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000892771
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_O%27Jays
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/the-OJays
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2079329/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
- https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8153c6ef-026c-481f-b081-974f2c948d9f
- https://rockhall.com/inductees/ojays/
- https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/the_ojays
- https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-ojays/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Night_Affair
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick_Traces_(on_a_Cigarette)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_Ahoy_(album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_(The_O%27Jays_album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Reunion_(album)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_in_the_Music
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelin%27_at_the_Speed_of_Thought
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000892771#credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/163490