With a new administration in Washington has come a federal funding freeze, which has impacted many federal programs and agreements. U.S. District Judge John “Jack” McConnell Jr. on February 10 issued an Enforcement Order that clarified his previous Temporary Restraining Order, which ordered the Trump administration to release federal funds. While that’s being sorted out, the funding remains frozen and the Song of the Week is a funk classic from 1974, “For the Love of Money” by the O’Jays.
Included on the group’s seventh album Ship Ahoy, the song features an iconic introductory bass line from Anthony Jackson. “For the Love of Money” peaked at #3 on the Billboard R&B chart and #9 on the Pop Singles chart. The album version is 7 minutes long, while the single was about half that.
The song has been covered by artists as varied as Utopia, Defunkt, Queensryche, Bulletboys, Carole Davis and Katey Sagal, and it has also been sampled numerous times in songs by Grandmaster Melle Mel, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Charli Baltimore, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Dr. Dre.