AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The O'Jays

Artist:The O'Jays

Song:Love Train

Album:The Ultimate O'Jays

The 1972 single Love Train topped the charts and was the breakthrough hit for the legendary Philly Soul group The O'Jays. Though The O'Jays are closely identified with Philly Soul, they are from Canton, OH. Lead singer Eddie Levert grew up singing in church. He and the other members of The O'Jays met at Canton McKinley High School. The other members are Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. At first they were called The Mascots then The Triumphs. They started calling themselves The O'Jays in 1963 after Cleveland DJ Eddie O'Jay. In the 60s, The O'Jays recorded for Imperial, Minit and Bell. They had some success but they weren't able to break through to a larger audience. They were bouncing around different labels. They recorded the 1970 album The O'Jays in Philadelphia on Neptune Records owned by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and distributed by Chess. Gamble and Huff started a new label Philadelphia International (PI) with Columbia distribution. The O'Jays were thinking of quitting the music business and Massey and Isles did leave. But they signed with PI and Back Stabbers was the first album in 1972. The first single Back Stabbers reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then Love Train topped the charts. The album was certified Gold. The O'Jays had great success for the rest of the 70s. It also established Gamble and Huff's PI formula. They wrote and produced everything with studio musicians like Bunny Sigler, Bobby Eli, Norman Harris, Ronnie Baker, Earl Young and Thom Bell. This is why the Philly Soul sound is so consistent. These guys worked on all the records. You can get all of The O'Jays PI hits on this budget comp. After William Powell died in 1977, he was replaced by Sammy Strain of Little Anthony and the Imperials. Neither The O'Jays or PI were as successful after that. PI moved from Columbia to Capitol and The O'Jays left PI for EMI America. The O'Jays are still around. They released an album in 2019. Philadelphia International still exists for licensing purposes. But PI hasn't released any records since the 90s. It's a good thing we still have all that great music. Here's the video for Love Train by The O'Jays. I didn't know there was a video for this. I thought I would have to use The O'Jays' Soul Train appearance.