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The O'Jays

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One of the seminal Philly soul groups, The O’Jays are a 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, and topped the U.S. singles charts the following year with their anthemic “Love Train”.

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.

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soul, funk, motown, philly soul, rnb
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Back Stabbers
The O'Jays
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Ship Ahoy
The O'Jays
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The Essential O'Jays
The O'Jays
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The Ultimate O'Jays
The O'Jays
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Top Tracks

1	Love Train full track	1,398
2	For The Love Of Money full track	907
3	Back Stabbers full track	739
4	I Love Music full track	396
5	Now That We Found Love full track	193
6	Use Ta Be My Girl full track	160
7	Give the People What They Want full track	158
8	Time To Get Down full track	148
9	Sunshine full track	143
10	Stairway to Heaven full track	134
11	Forever Mine full track	101
12	Let Me Make Love to You full track	92
13	Emotionally Yours full track	83
14	Backstabbers	79
15	Put Your Hands Together full track	77

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chilled-out-777 wrote:
Saturday evening

The best Philly Soul group ever, i can't believe they have not had one million plays on lastfm yet.

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Rossinus wrote:
last week

why motown?

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olimak_Vo wrote:
last month

Love Train is super perfect=)

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NOHIDDENPATH wrote:
last month

FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY - superb track!

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Turtlemon wrote:
December 2009

Scrubs ftw. ALL ABOARD THE EFFIN' LOVE TRAIN!

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EWDestinations wrote:
October 2009

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adaaamm wrote:
September 2009

mint

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Funana777 wrote:
June 2009

Don't let it, don't let it. Don't let it, don't let money fool youuuu!

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jgcount wrote:
April 2009

I grew up with the O jays. They are still one of my most liked grips.

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Seaves wrote:
April 2009

Have several Ojays on original albums wonder if there worth anything? Still enjoy the tunes . Steve

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n2deep55 wrote:
March 2009

I love this old music.It relaxs me.

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rosebudz wrote:
March 2009

shoop shoop shoo do...

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circa1981 wrote:
March 2009

too good!!

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brasmeta01 wrote:
December 2008

Take a trip to the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s! Go now: http://www.youtube.com/brasmeta01 http://brasmeta01.blogspot.com http://www.lastfm.com.br/user/brasmeta01 http://www.lastfm.com.br/user/brasmeta01/personal http://www.imeem.com/brasmeta01 http://www.youtube.com/playtv10 My MP3 Shared Virtual Disk on 4shared Site: http://www.4shared.com/dir/10428534/42b27ca7/sharing.html Jr. and Sons

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LayzSnoes wrote:
December 2008

smooth sexy soul

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erickamoran wrote:
December 2008

In this time we all need MONEY,MONEY,MONEY

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Twiggystickstoo wrote:
December 2008

Sooooo niiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

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acn9874 wrote:
November 2008

they smile in your face

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Samanpka wrote:
November 2008

WHAT THEY DO.

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orly_40 wrote:
November 2008

Inmortales

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Feb 13 The O'Jays Ford Park, Beaumont, United States
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Recent Activity

FOSDD, bmcleroy7, SosaAG2010 and 19 other people added The O'Jays to their libraries. 4 hours ago
McSplivens wrote about The O'Jays in Recommended Songs. Sunday morning
Ozito90, rocksteadybaby, bluntman167 and 15 other people added The O'Jays to their libraries. Sunday morning
xchelsea-hoolsx tagged The O'Jays with rnb, funk and soul. Friday evening
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