You know, now that he has surfaced as a candidate for president, you got to be careful who you take money from. “e used our ‘For The Love of Money’ for the theme song for his Apprentice show. Eddie laughs when I suggest the video needs re-filming, chuckling that “ I regret I didn’t put him in the video!” Then he turns serious, for, as Eddie puts it, The O’Jays and the Donald do “ have some history”: Since Eddie released the video last summer things in American politics have, of course, become much darker thanks to the rise of poorly made wig enthusiast Donald J.

And since I did the video he’s changed his haircut and got a new suit!” So I do admire the man a great deal, I just don’t like the things he’s saying. Above and beyond doing the CD and to focus on him primarily, it only says that he is the man that I recognise that you are a guy sitting in a position that you can make the news or break the news. “ Listen, we were just playing the Beacon Theatre in New York, and you want to know who was on the front row? O’Reilly! I mean I couldn’t believe it you know, and I was on stage and doing the show, and I kept walking over there and I had to stop the performance and say, ‘You know man, you look like Bill O’Reilly!” And he gave me the peace sign! It was really great.

So, it seems like they were always looking for bad things to say about him, so I made this record called ‘Shit Starter’ because they never had anything good to say.”īut what about his singling out of Bill O’Reilly? Would Bill, famous for his seemingly un-ironic use of the slogan ‘no spin-zone’, be welcome at an O’Jays concert? “ I was trying to make a statement about what’s going on politically right now, with some of the newscasters and the news stations, and how they were so negative as far as our president is concerned. For those who haven’t seen it, Eddie has spliced himself into an interview with Fox News’ aggravator-in-chief Bill O’Reilly, with Eddie advising O’Reilly to ‘ get a better suit, and a better haircut’. ‘ Shit Starter’ is probably our favourite, if only because the music video is so good. However, his new singles are really rather good. If Eddie’s latest work wasn’t very good, then perhaps we would argue differently. That’s all well and good, but I don’t think you should kill someone off.” They want you to feel that you’re old and you should make room for the new. But I don’t think you should just throw away the people who have helped trail blaze this music. “ I think, you know, we’ve had a time where it seems they were trying to bury us and trying to through us in the background and just making room for new artists, which is great because you got to keep evolving. Understandably, Eddie is annoyed with the state of the musical industry, saying that: But, for Eddie, along with many other artists of his generation, getting momentum for a new record and airplay is an ever increasingly difficult thing. In fact, Eddie has two more singles out: the brilliant ballad ‘ Did I Make You Go Ooh‘, and the political ‘ Shit Starter‘. I feel that old school artists don’t get much airplay anymore, so I feel like I’m exploring, discovering new territory for old school music.” We start by talking about his new music, and the fact that his latest single ‘ Say It Ain’t So‘ has reached number 25 on one of the US charts: “ I feel like a pioneer, I just got to be number twenty five on the charts here. (The O’Jays (L-R): Eddie Levert, William Powell and Walter Williams)īy the magic medium of Skype we’re connected with Eddie. And now, one of them wanted to speak to us.

They’ve released eight top twenty albums, they’ve been awarded the BET Lifetime Achievement Award, and they’ve been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Together they have crafted hit aft hit, creating classics such as ‘ Backstabbers’, ‘ For The Love of Money’, and ‘ I Love Music’. Along with friend and bandmate Walter Williams, Levert has been recording and performing with The O’Jays for over half a century. As soulies everywhere know, Eddie Levert is one of the greatest singers and performers of all-time. How do you react when you get an email that Eddie Levert, co-founder and co-lead singer of The O’Jays, would very much like to do an interview with you? Well, for us, we immediately turned to our vinyl collection and put ‘ Love Train’ on repeat. The legendary O’Jays lead singer speaks exclusively with TFSR about his new music, his career, and Brandy the dog.

Eddie levert new song