"Back Stabbers" is a 1972 song by

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

. Released from the hit album of the same name, it spent one week at number 1 on the

Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart. It was also successful on the pop chart, peaking at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in October 1972. The narrator in "Back Stabbers" warns men about their male "friends" who smile to their faces, but are secretly planning to steal their wives or girlfriends. It was inspired by an earlier hit with a similar theme,

the Undisputed Truth The Undisputed Truth was an American Motown recording act assembled by record producer Norman Whitfield to experiment with his psychedelic soul production techniques. Joe "Pep" Harris served as main lead singer, with Billie Rae Calvin and Bren ...

's "

Smiling Faces Sometimes "Smiling Faces Sometimes" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971. Producer Norman Whitfield had the song re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the sam ...

", the chorus of which is quoted at the end of this song. It was part of the soundtrack for the 1977 movie, ''

Looking for Mr. Goodbar Looking for Mr. Goodbar may refer to: * ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (novel), a 1975 novel by Judith Rossner * ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (film), a 1977 film adaptation, starring Diane Keaton {{disambiguation ...

''. In 2002, the song was sampled by R&B artist

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Stone (née Brown; December 18, 1961 – March 1, 2025) was an American singer-songwriter, rapper, actress, and record producer. With a career spanning over four decades, she has been credited with revolutionizing the sound of Ol ...

for her single "

Wish I Didn't Miss You "Wish I Didn't Miss You" is a song by American recording artist Angie Stone. It was written and produced by Ivan Matias and Andrea Martin for Stone's second studio album, '' Mahogany Soul'' (2001). The song features a sampled composition of the ...

". This was the O'Jays first release with

Philadelphia International Philadelphia International Records was an American record label based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1971 by songwriting and production duo Gamble and Huff, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, along with their longtime collaborator ...

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Stephen Cummings version

In 1983 Australian singer-songwriter

Stephen Cummings Stephen Donald Cummings (born 13 September 1954) is an Australian rock singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from 1976 to 1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but h ...

released Backstabbers in December 1983 through the

Regular Records Regular Records was an Australian record label based in Sydney that operated from 1978 until the mid-1990s. Regular Records released music by acts including Mental As Anything, Icehouse (band), Icehouse, and The Cockroaches. The Regular Record ...

label as the third single from the album Senso. Cummings version peaked at number 40 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music historian David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 19 ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Greg Flood – brass arrangements * Joe Creighton – bass, additional vocals * Mark Ferry – bass * Vince Jones – cornet (solo) *

Martin Armiger John Martin Armiger (10 June 1949 – 27 November 2019) was an Australian musician, record producer and composer. He was one of the singer-songwriters and guitarists with Melbourne-based rock band the Sports from August 1978 to late 1981, whic ...

– drum programming (Drumulator), guitar, keyboards *

Peter Luscombe Peter Luscombe is an Australian drummer and composer. Career Luscombe was a member of The Black Sorrows from 1985 to 1993 appearing on the albums ''A Place in the World'' (1986), ''Dear Children'' (1987), ''Hold on to Me'' (1988), ''Harley and ...

– drums * Andrew Pendlebury – guitar * Robert Goodge – guitar * Duncan Veal – keyboards * Jantra de Vilda – keyboards * Stephen Bigger – keyboards *

Ricky Fataar Ricky Fataar (born 5 September 1952) is a South African musician of Malay descent who has performed as both a drummer and a guitarist. He gained fame as an actor in ''The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash'', a spoof on the Beatles, in which he per ...

– percussion *

Venetta Fields Venetta Lee Fields (born 1941) is an American-born Australian singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach. Fields was a backing vocalist for touring American and British rock and pop acts of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as working as a ...

– additional vocals * Nick Smith – additional vocals * Linda Nutter – additional vocals * Nick Smith – additional vocals * Stephanie Sproul – additional vocals

Charts

References

External links

Song review A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usually ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

1972 singles The O'Jays songs Philadelphia International Records singles Songs written by Gene McFadden Songs written by John Whitehead (singer) Songs written by Leon Huff 1972 songs Cashbox number-one singles Stephen Cummings songs 1983 singles 1983 songs Regular Records singles Warner Music Group singles Song recordings produced by Martin Armiger {{1980s-single-stub