The O’Jays vs. Gerald & Eddie Levert | Head 2 Head 🗣️

In the 22^nd edition of Head 2 Head (2022), The O’Jays and Gerald & Eddie Levert contend for the best rendition of “You Got Your Hooks In Me.” 

Welcome to Head 2 Head 🗣️! On Head 2 Head, we pit at least two musicians singing the same song together, comparing their performances.  Then, after much deliberation, we deliver a verdict of which performance was the best, or at least, subjectively, which performance moved us more.  In the 22^nd edition of head-to-head (2022), 🎙 The O’Jays and 🎙 Gerald & Eddie Levert contend for the best rendition of 🎵 “You Got Your Hooks In Me”. So, without further ado, let the Head 2 Head commence!

1. The O’Jays, “You Got Your Hooks In Me”

💿 Ship Ahoy • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 🗓 1973

🎙 The O’Jays, most famously comprised of 🎙 Walter Williams, Sr., 🎙 Eddie Levert, and the late William Powell, ranks among the greatest R&B groups, and groups regardless of the musical style, of all time. The hits are endless for this Philadelphia soul proponent. The O’Jays worked with legendary, dynamic duo 🎼✍ 🎛 Kenneth Gamble and 🎼✍ 🎛 Leon Huff on the stellar five-and-a-half-minute gem, 🎵 “You Got Your Hooks In Me”, which appears on the collective’s 1973 album, 💿 Ship Ahoy.

Gamble & Huff provide an awesome backdrop that’s dynamic, smooth, and lushly orchestrated. Eddie Levert handles the lead, bringing his assertive, energetic, and gritty vocals.  What I heart about Eddie is the personality and drama he brings when he performs, something perceptive from the start of the record. “I just can’t understand for the life of me / What I see you in you,” Levert sings in the first verse, continuing, “Yet, every time you talk of leavin’ me / I get so shook up, I don’t know what to do.” Woo! That’s a complicated situation right there. In the second verse, he sings about telling his friends he’s leaving, but of course, when confronting ‘her,’ he proclaims it’s not true. The centerpiece is the chorus, where joined by the rest of The O’Jays, Levert asserts, “Oh, oh, baby, I guess you’ve got your hooks in me / And, I, oh, oh, I’m caught like a fish, y’all.” The bridge, which adds Walter Williams in a more prominent role, is exceptional too. There’s an emphasis on contradiction: “I’ll be goin’ around tellin’ all my friends that I’m leavin’ / No, and I ain’t goin’ nowhere, no, no. All told, 🎵 “You Got Your Hooks In Me” is another surefire O’Jays classic.

Appears in 🔻:

• The O’Jays, “You Got Your Hooks in Me”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 45 (2022)

2. Gerald Levert & Eddie Levert, “You Got Your Hooks In Me”

💿 Father and Son • 🏷 Elektra • 📅 1995

In 1973, 🎙 The O’Jays did a bang-up job with the original version of 🎵 “You Got Your Hooks In Me”.  This marked another magnificent composition and production by dynamic duo 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Kenneth Gamble and 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Leon Huff.  Had “You Got Your Hooks In Me” solely been recorded by 🎙 Eddie Levert, 🎙 Walter Williams Sr., and the late, great 🎙 William Powell, it would’ve been sufficient.  However, in 1995, the late, great 🏆 Grammy-winning R&B artist, 🎙 Gerald Levert, recorded a duets album with his father, Eddie.  One of the covers that appears on 1995’s 💿 Father and Son is none other than “You Got Your Hooks In Me.”  It’s always intriguing when you cover yourself, as Eddie does here.

By the 1990s, the sound of R&B had changed – no longer was the Philly soul sound dominant as it had been in the 1970s (a bummer, when you consider how lush and soulful that brand of R&B was).  Therefore, “You Got Your Hooks In Me” in the hands of Gerald and Eddie embraces the adult contemporary R&B of the 90s – grown-folks R&B if you will.  No problem considering both vocalists are powerhouses, characterized by their dynamic, gritty vocals that finds them enveloping themselves into the performances.  As to be expected, the vocal chemistry is awe-inspiring, as it should be between father and son.  Sure, we lose some of that Philly soul luster but Gerald, 🎛 Edward Buddy Banks, and 🎛 Melvin Sphus do a fine job behind the boards all told.  We also lose 30 seconds of song between this version and the original, but the contrast is welcome. The strongest moments of this duet edition is the chorus which is utterly sublime.

The Verdict 👨🏿‍⚖️ 

🎙 The O’Jays or 🎙 Gerald & 🎙 Eddie Levert?  Both renditions of 🎵 “You Got Your Hooks In Me” are F-I-R-E 🔥. Both do 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Kenneth Gamble and 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Leon Huff proud as songwriters and producers. Interestingly, the first version of the song I heard was the 1995 cover; I hadn’t actually heard the original (long before my time).  Even so, the champions of this hard-fought Head 2 Head 🗣️ are the OG’s – rather, The O’Jays! That Philly soul sound is timeless, y’all!

The O’Jays vs. Gerald & Eddie Levert: Head 2 Head 🗣️ No. 22 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Layers, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, RODNAE Productions, Valentin Tikhonov]