Philly Comes to LA

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of going to see The Mighty O'Jays and a number of other acts who were part of the Philadelphia sound of the sixties and seventies acts such as Eddie Holman, The Intruders, The Jones Girls,The Delfonics, Harold Melvin's BlueNotes, Jerry Butler, Russell Thompkins Jr. and the New Stylistics, and last but not least The O'Jays.

Each performance left it's own significant mark on the evening bringing back to the memory of songs that have caused relationships to start or end and less we forget songs some call baby making music. There were a few groups that stood out and took you back to what is considered the innocence of real R&B music where a parental warning was not needed to enjoy the lyrics .

Eddie Holman performed his hit " Lonely Girl " in his classic faucet o style that made girls scream. The Intruders and the Jones Girls gave the audience a well tuned performance, expressing energy and excitement that drew the audience into their party .

The Iceman Mr. Jerry Butler exemplified a special vocal integrity that still remains after all these years. The Delfonics were a highly anticipated act who showed signs of vocal in cohesiveness within the group, howbeit if there performance skills were as flashy as their wardrobe it would have been more pleasing. Harold Melvin's Blue Notes and Russell Thompkins Jr. and the New Stylistics did not show any audible or visible signs of age all the right notes were hit. Both groups were flawless in sound and style , these so called balladeers coming up today could truly learn from them.

The show stopper of course was the Mighty Mighty OJay's... Eddie Levert who opened the show with a hardy dose of levity but also spoke of the sadness in the loss of Michael Jackson a friend and acquaintance, this was even more special coming from a father who has lost his own two sons Gerald and Sean in recent years

The Mighty O'Jays took the audience to a place where Gods gift of song and music resides Rev Walter Williams and the Right Rev Eddie Levert preached a musical sermon like no other. If it were just the O'Jays alone it would be worth the show.

It was an exciting moment to witness all of the acts who performed their hit songs from back in the day bringing back memories of my youth when love & relationships were taken for granted we had fun and we had some sad times but bottom line is this music is a map of our lives.

K Gerard Thomas