“One of the best ever! Not a bad song, Back Stabbers. But what’s incredible is, when The O’Jays were first presented with it, they hated it. Couldn’t stand it. They said it wasn’t their sound, wasn’t their thing. That’s when I learned that artists just need to sing. [laughs]

“Gamble and I produced the track. When McFadden and Whitehead brought me the lyrics, they just had the story, there was no music.

“I took the words home and looked at 'em: ‘What they do?/ They smile in your face, all the time they want to take your place/ the back stabbers.’ I liked it. I wrote some stuff to it, and that was that. Gamble convinced The O’Jays to come into the studio, and we got a killer track.

“It’s not like they were jumping up and down, though, but we did get a Grammy-winning performance out of them. They ought to be glad they did it, ‘cause it started their ball rolling. I still love it. There's a lot of moods going on. You get lost in a song like this. I still listen to it and let it take my mind away."

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