The O’Jays, For The Love of Money | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 27^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2023), we recollect and reflect on “For The Love of Money” by the iconic soul collective, The O’Jays.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 27^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2023), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “For The Love of Money”, performed by the iconic soul collective, 🎙 The O’Jays.

“Money, money, money, money, money!” Woo! 🎙 The O’Jays waste little time at the beginning of their top-10 soul classic, 🎵 “For The Love of Money”. Following a groovy, instrumental intro, they repeat the subject of “For The Love of Money” 30 times before dropping the first verse! The repetition sets the tone for this money-centric gem that appears on the soul collective’s 1973 album, 💿 Ship Ahoy. This record marks another marvelous example of the pen and production of Philly soul proponents 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff (Anthony Jackson also contributes his pen).

“Some people got to have it, some people really need it / Listen to me y’all, do things, do things, do things, bad things with it.” Facts, O’Jays! A long time before 🎙 Wu-Tang Clan rapped about 🎵 “C.R.E.A.M.”, not to mention more than a decade after 🎙 Barrett Strong wanted money, The O’Jays were singing about how corrupt that “mean green” can be.  “For the love of money, people will steal from their mother,” goes the chorus, continuing, “For the love of money, people will rob their own brother / … For that mean, mean, mean, mean, mean green.” Even though this “Almighty dollar” song is 50 years old as of 2023, the message, theme, nor song is the least bit anachronistic.  Money continues to be the root of all evil, and there may not be a better song to illustrate that point than this exceptional O’Jays gem. Also, it goes without singing that The O’Jays are those guys – the vocals are magnificent!

🎙 The O’Jays • 💿 Ship Ahoy • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1973

 The O’Jays, “For The Love of Money”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 27 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Sony Music Entertainment; John Alan Sperry, PIRO via Pixabay]