The O'Jays Perform At The Lehman Center For The Performing Arts 1/14

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts celebrates its 31st season with the return of THE O'JAYS, on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 8pm. Still going strong, the O'Jays epitomized the Philly sound with their smooth, rich harmonies, elaborate arrangements, and a touch of contemporary funk. With 24 Top Ten hits, including "Love Train," "Backstabbers," "Use Ta Be My Girl" and "For the Love of Money," they have earned ten gold albums, with nine going platinum; ten #1 hits; and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468.

Tickets for THE O'JAYS on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 8pm are $65, $60, and $55 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718.960.8833 (Monday through Friday, 10am–5pm and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low-cost on-site parking available for $5.

The O'Jays began in 1958 in Canton, OH, when five high school classmates, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell, Bill Isles, and Bobby Massey, started a singing group after seeing Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. A regionally popular group in Cleveland (and named after local deejay Eddie O'Jay, who gave them airplay and career advice), the group was together for a decade before getting a major break by teaming with young songwriters/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. A trio, after Isles and Massey quit, the group's first album on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records, 1972's Backstabbers, became a landmark of Philly soul and made them stars. The title song made Top Five on the pop charts, and "Love Train" went all the way to #1, with both singles topping the R&B charts. It was the beginning of a remarkable union that produced nearly 30 chart singles during the '70s, plus a series of best-selling albums and numerous #1 R&B hits. The O'Jays followed their breakthrough with another classic album, 1973's Ship Ahoy, featuring one of their signature songs (and theme song of the NBC hit "The Apprentice"), the #1 R&B hit "For the Love of Money." 1975's Survival was another smash, spinning off the hit "Let Me Make Love to You" and the R&B #1 "Give the People What They Want." For Family Reunion, the group incorporated the emerging disco sound with their own on their third Top Five pop charts hit, "I Love Music, Pt. 1."

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