New York-based trio Odyssey were one of the late-70s’ most successful soul/ disco acts. Popular on both sides of the Atlantic, they had numerous top 10 hits including Native New Yorker, Use It Up and Wear It Out, If You’re Looking For A Way Out, and Inside Out.
The original Odyssey line-up comprised Virgin Islander sisters Lillian and Louise Lopez and Tony Reynolds, a Filipino former marine. In 1977, Lillian co-wrote the title song of Grammy-winning musical ‘Bubbling Brown Sugar’. That same year, the group met another songwriter, Sandy Linzer, who wrote Odyssey’s first hit Native New Yorker, a powerful disco track which reached 5 in the UK Singles chart.
Odyssey’s first number one was another disco classic Use It Up and Wear It Out, which reached the summit of the UK charts in 1980. However, despite the success of their disco singles, Odyssey were first and foremost a soul act, with Lillian Lopez’s rich vocal timbre soaring high above more subtly-laid orchestration.
Odyssey have experienced many line-up changes since their inception. By the time they were at number 1 in 1980, Reynolds had been replaced by gospel singer Bill McEachern. In 1985, as their popularity and that of their genre was beginning to dwindle, McEachern left and Lillian’s husband Al Jackson joined. From the late-90s, Lillian and Al began touring the world as a Golden Oldies Act and re-recorded a number of hits as a duo. Now, the latest Odyssey incarnation is led by their son, Steven Andre Colazzo and features twin singers Annis and Anne Peters.
