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