Entertainment
In Brief
pe ing fbrother g i t
brother ... "Eazy-E" h flied
luit gain t two fellow
members of N.W.A. It ms
that Eazy-E (Eric Wright) d
exclusive recordi contra
ith Dr. Ore. (Andre Young
Dd rapper "D.O.C.". Wright
clai he w coerced nd
defrauded into ignin
documents reteaslng hi
fellow bandm te from their
contrac .
no rescinding those
release , which he ys were
illeg By obtained. The
rappers counter that Wright
breached the corurac . Wright
is seeking dec aration that
ould biM tbem to the old
contract a ell as
unspecified actual and
punitive damag .
a 0 �
Denise (Dee) Barnes in a
Hollywood nightclub. Young
. was fined $2,513, and ordered
to perform 240 hour of
community service and 24
months probation. He also
ordered Young to pay $1,000
to the California Victims
Restitution Fund.
On top of all that, Young
was ordered to produce an
antt-volence public ervice
TV announcement. Young
had been accused of picking
Barnes up by her hair and
smashing her face into a wall.
Barnes till ha a $22
million law uit pending
against Young and three other
members of the group,
including Eazy-E.
Run will tand
trial for rape
After examining the rape
allegations of a 22-year old
Cleveland woman, Joseph
Simmons of the rap group
"Run D.M.C." (also known as
"Run") was indicted.
The complaint lists three
counts of rape, one count of
kidnapping, and gro sexual
imposition. The rape
allegedly occured when the
woman went to the hotel room
of the 25 year old rapper after
an August 9 concert.
Rap world of
high fa hlon
, If you want to get the latest
looks happening in the hood,
then drop in to Greenspan 'a
Department Store located near ,
Compton, C81ifornia. In fact,
the latest inner city fashion
trend to hit the mainstream is
the "Boyz N TM Hood" look.
The store say they've been
clothing ·the 'Boyz N The
Hood' for the pa t three
gener tions, including
N.W.A., Digital
Underground, and Kid Fro t.
Lately, they've also
provided wardrobe for the film
"B'oyz N The Hood", as the
o-called "rap look" appears to
be penetrating the world of
high f hion. Designers for.
the houses of Chanel on down
have incorporated the big
medallion, gigantic gold chain
took into their f; hion lines.
It's the latest in haute couture.
ucc
in the 1905
,
t itherone of you
n to the y goodbye, bout t
unforgettable midnight train to Georgia.
It ppe Glady ghttoo: "One day
I hoppi in - ben 'Midnight
Train to Georgia' came on. I j tent down
the . lehummin t I've it in eleva
all over ... Tbe ironic thing i hen it comes on
and you're among people, they never kIlo
it' you."
1bis Inger of our time i now a 010 artist,
change reflected both in her ne est MCA
Records album. Good Woman, and in perfor
mance. "I'm ctually performing alone now,"
ys Gl dy , "and the group i, 0 to peak,
uspended."
I've a1 been with Pips beca I
wanted to be there, not because I had to be
there. I felt that I could do anything I anted
to inside the group.
"But now e all have other things ou ide
of the b mess that e need to do and that we
want to do," Y Glad . "This· the filst
time that I've performed one lnce e
fOIDled the group .•
parable bout love
I've r riucn
re e jUlDldDa
n I y throu
t I called Zane,
thelyri thatI'd
wri n, He 'd,' .If you could j t
my ann -it' co ered with chill bum .It i
metblng really pedal.' I pent all day writ
ing. hen I looked up it d outside.
And I finished the song in that day. 'Mr. Love'
w the very fi tong that I wrote on thi
album.
"After that, it if Zane and I had
kno each other forever.. He ould do a
trac and as oon he had fini bed it, I'd
come up with omething. Or if he had an
idea, he'd give m title."
Songs written by Gl dy for the album
include "Men, ""Good oman," "Waiting On
You" "Meet Me In 1M MidI.Ik," "Mr. Love,"
and "11 You Only Knew." Gladys tal
thusi tically about each of her son ,
he talks be describes the people and the
landscape of each song in great detail, includ
ing the subtlest motivations that animate the
cbarscters. "When I wri I try to paint
picture in my mind," he says,:ra r than
come up with 0 that rhyme.
"I could never do a ng that I didn't
believe in. I'm aware of the fact that my
music touches people's lives on a personal
basi . So I have to be careful what I tell
people, how I relate to them. Every song has
to touch me emotionally and spiritually in
some way. I couldn't do a song that I
cold about Even if it a hit, if just on't
be a hit for me.
THE NEW ALBUM aI 0 mar . the
emergence of Gladys Knight a major
songwriter. The proce began when
producer Zane Gil� played ber ome music
he bad written. "When I got through . tening
I was pellbound. I didn't kno Zane very
well, but asked if! could the track home
Ii lyrics.
t mo
lot of people
(
came in to put their toucbes on different songs
to make them m gic. Different people added
different tbinp tQ each one of theSe sonp.
For instance, George Duke came in on 'This
Is Love' and gave it the magic hat it needed.
We really pamd each other."
Louil Silas, Jr., �ve Vice P ideo
A&.W Artist Developme Black Music
Divi ion,MCARecords, ntG "InThis
life," "Walk � Line," "T1Us Is Love" and
� Wowld 1 Be." Tbe t almo t
S •• KNIOH,T, -3
Life
, .
curtain rises on a small sub
ban town in Ohio. The year is
1950, and the town is Canton. 1\vo
teenagers, Eddie Levert and Walter
Wllliams are inging go pel tunes on
a local radio station. Their name: The
Levert BrothelS.
The following account traces the
rise of these two young men and all
the trials and tribulations they en
dured to eam and maintaill the
respect of the music ind tty and
m ic fans. On the threshold of a
brand De decade, and reaching for
yet another high. we look back over
the past three decades to see what it
too for THE OJAYS to become the
living legends they are today.
first-ever single. "Miracles" and "Working On Your Case," and by the
adopt nIB O'JAYS their name 'end of that year, they had moved
after their newfound manager and batk to Ohio, minus Bill Isles.
radio personality, Eddie O'Jay. In 1967, a ne management deal
In 1963, The O'JAYS entered a brought new life to the band. Under
studio in Los Angeles with the guid nee of former Motown
producer/arranger HB Barnum, a producer George Kerr, the group
session which resulted in a ha\Ulting began recording for Bell Records.
ballad c lIed "Lonely Drifter," "Look Over YourShouJ�r," and the
penned by Eddie Levert and Walter Top Ten R&B hit, "1'11 Sweeter
Williams. Released first on the little Tomol'roMS" re-es ta b Ii hed THE
Star I bel, it w picked up by 1m- O'JAYS on the airwaves. These, and
perial Liberty Records and edged other tta were rele on a self
into the To 100 in September 1963. titled Bell album.,
Over the next three years, more Later on that year however, a
singles foUowed, induding "Let It label hake-up at Be11 led to 1HE
Al OUl," "Stand 111 For Love, " and O'JAYS departure from the label,
"Lipstick Traces," along with the - but meanwhile, a writer-producer
group' first album, O'Jay Comin' team from PhUad lpbia, Kenny
THE 1 T'IanL Gamble and Leon bad seen the
In 1951, The Levert Brothers During this time. The O'JAYS band perform in Ohio, and liked
added William Powell, Bobby - were frequently employed as back- what they saw.
ey, and Bobby Isles to the group, ground vocalists for artists uch as In 1968, nIB O'JAYS moved to
made the transition to pop/R&B Nat King Cole and The Ronnet . Philadelphia, igned with Gamble an
music, and became The Masco. The group continued to harpen their Huff's new Neptune I bel, di -
They became an increa ingly own performing kill. The final trlb by Chess Records.
popular live act in Ohio, and actually year of the old TOBA Black "OM Night AI/Gir," their first
ecured demo deal with Decca evillc"t 1966, however, on tuDe, t to umber
Records. Although Decca never TbcO'JAYScut tbeirftDal· e for B and other
igned the band, the domos surfaced Liberty "Working-On Your Case;" tunes like "Deeper: In Love,"
later on King Records of CinciJmati. and by the end ofthat year, they had "Brawled Bad. " aDd "Looky Looky
movi ck to Ohio, min Bill . (Look At M� Girl)" lped to define
In 1966, however, The O'JAYS a DeW O'JAYS
t ir
THE 1
THe 197Oa:
another platinum album, titled
7TavdUa' At 'I'M Speed 01 11wught.
So FIlU Of'Love came out in 1978,
and also �rti6ed platinum. It
pun off the group's biggest pop hit
since "Love 7Tain," when "Ust:tl To
B� My Girl" went straight into the
nationallbp Five.
1HE O'JAYS dOled the Seven
tie itb • num1>er four Single,
"Forever Mine," and another mil
lion-selling album, I dmtify Yourself.
But, in 1971, thedeathofl..eonard
Chess, and the consequent end of the
Neptune label, led to TIlE O'JAYS
return to Ohio, They recorded a
single titled "Peace," for the
Cleveland-based Saru label, but
shortly after, Bobby M ey left the
&!'Oup, leaving behind the nucleus of
Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, and
William Powell. It was this very trio
that Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff
signed to their now legendary
Philadelphia International label. THE 188Oe:
Their first album, Th O'jays 111
PhillJdelphia was released that same
year.
1972 saw the release ofBaclcstab
bers, and it w tbi album which
broke some real musical ground and
established THE O'JAYS as a
pop/ ouI force to be reckoned with.
"Backstabbers," the single went to
Number Three on the national pop
charts and earned: gold status. The
fOllow-up, "Love Train," ent to
Number one in January 1973, result
ing in the album becoming the
band' first gold aJbum.
The remainder of the seventies
saw nothing but huge hits and huge
successes: 1973's Ship Ahoy yielded
two Top Ten pop ingt , "Put Your
HaNl Togetho," aDd "For T1reLove
Of Money."
1975' Survival pun a pair of Top
Ten R&B tun�, "Let M� � Love
To You," and the number one "Give
The People What They Want. " nm
O'JAYS began headlining huge
sho , drawing crowds of 50,000
-60,000 to their outdoor gigs.
In late 1975, The O'Jays' Family
Revraion album went platinum, did
the ingle "1 Love Music. "
IJ1 the midst of all this ucce ,
however, William Powell left the
group due to heal th reasons, and
p ed away two years later. 1HE
O'JAYS replaced him with Sammy
Strain, a brooklyn native who bas THE 1
been ith them ever since. ginning 0 the new
Message In Our Music released in decade, the cl , sophistication, and
1976, produced three n\DDber one excellence of TIlE O'JAYS liv on.
R&B hits, "Livin' For The W� '.
"M�ssage 111 Our Music," and EmotioruUly Y�rs i the ne
"Darlin', Darlin', Baby." album. The album is climbing the
In 977,nmO'JAYS dyet popandR Bc
The early lK)' w Levert, Wil-
li and Strain continuing to ex
pand and refine their UDd on TM
Year 200 (19aJ), My Favorite Per-
011 (1982), When Will I S« You
Again (1983), an<! Love And More
(1984). Popular ongs such "Girl;
Don't L�t it Get You Down," "Your
body's Here With Me," and "1 Just
Want To SaJisfy, " kept nIB O'JAYS
on the radio.
In 1985, THE O'JAYS joined
EMI, and released Love Fever.
1987' Let Me Touch You reunited
THE O'lAYS with Gamble and Huff
and Thorn Bell. In November that
year, the Ingle, "Lovin' You" knoCk
ed Michael Jac on's "Bad" off the
number one spot on Billboard's Hot
Bl Singl Chart. It TIlE
O'JAYS'eighth number one hit ,
ucce wroughtchanges
O'JAYS touring and busi
arran emen . The group pacted
with Shelly Berger and Billie Bul
lock for management. The latter two
were the long-time manage of The
Temptations and Billy Dee Williams.
In 1989, Serious produced by
Eddie Levert and Walter Williams)
featuring "Have You Had YOIU Love
Today"w released. Thi firstsingle
was one of four tracks produced or
CO-Produced by Eddie's on Gerald
Levert and partner Marc Gordon.