O'Jays try to block release of old songs

PHILADELPHIA, June 22 (UPI) -- The O'Jays have gone to court to keep their Philadelphia record company from releasing an album of early songs they consider rejects.

The soul group, enjoying a resurgence as a result of their hit "Money" currently being used as the theme for the NBC reality series "The Apprentice," epitomized the "Philly sound" in the 1970s and 1980s with dozens of hit records like "Love Train," and "Backstabbers."

The cable show "Celebrity Justice" reported Tuesday Eddie Levert and Walter Williams think Philadelphia International Records could wreck the group's reputation if it releases a new CD containing old songs bandmembers describe as "stale" and "artistically inferior."

"I tried to forget all of those songs," Williams told "Celebrity Justice."

"We're going to try to stay in court until it's resolved," Levert added.

However, in the court's latest ruling, the judge said the record company, not the O'Jays, owns the songs and can do what it wants, however, the band members said, "It's not over."