Ohio Express

Thousands of young teens who bought the debut album by Ohio Express on the strength of "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" must have been sadly disappointed with what they heard. That classic bubblegum single classified Ohio Express for the ages as a bubblegum outfit, but free of the outside producers and songwriters behind their big hit, the band's sound tended toward mediocre psychedelic pop. In a proto-Milli Vanilli touch, Joey Levine sang and co-wrote most of the band's hits, but isn't even pictured as a member. The album also has the brief "Down at Lulu's," a deservedly minor hit, and beyond that, the only album track that approaches the tone of the singles is the reasonably catchy but rhythmically complex "Mary-Ann." "Turn to Straw" and "The Time You Spent With Me" are psychedelic dreck, while "She's Not Coming Home," with its classic pop chord progression and backing vocals, sounds like something from an earlier era. Producers and bubblegum masterminds Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz were the real visionaries in the bunch, and the Ohio Express was merely their canvas.