1973
FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY * THE O'JAYS * PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL 2186 * UK
The song was written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and, along with that 'keep on truckin' base line, these - what Eddie Levert referred to as - 'heavier' lyrics were the trade mark of the the groups first few records at PI, from Back Stabbers, and 992 Arguments through to Give The People What They Want. The fact that the song was intended as a critique of capitalism only to become the theme tune for the television program The Apprentice - one of the most naked celebrations of the spirit of capitalism yet on television, a program, now in its fourth series, hosted by Donald Trump one of Americas most successful capitalists - is a perfect illustration of the power of capital to usurp or incorporate critique into its body, and often turn it to its advantage. As with the above record, the raw energy and passion in the music and the vocals, are used to lend an air of glory and valorize the participants in the program and engender a feeling of passion and excitement in the (passive) viewer, while the critique of the subject is lost in what many of today's cultural workers like to call 'irony'. Sadly there is nothing ironic about the inclusion of critique into the the capitalist modus operandi, all forms of power have always practiced it and almost certainly always will. Previously, using the example of music, the church (in its day no less an oppressive, controlling, and restrictive power as capitalism) took the secular music and lyrics of the people and crafted them into their artless and dogmatic hymns, thereby not only finding an already receptive mind and soul for the crippling orthodoxy of Christianity to fester in, but, simultaneously, neutering the power of the music of its enemies.
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