One of the difficult aspects of being a music historian involves trying to assess the current cultural impact of an artist who briefly achieved success 40 or 50 years ago… in another country. It’s easy in your own country: Do you still hear them on the radio? On TV shows? In the grocery store? No? Then it’s likely nobody knows who they are anymore.

But what’s playing in a grocery store 7,000 miles away?

Good question. Welcome to Odyssey!

The origins of Odyssey begin with the three Lopez sisters from Connecticut. They formed a singing trio — called The Lopez Sisters, natch — and began playing clubs in nearby New York City. When Carmen left to get married, Lillian (Julliard-trained) and Louise drafted in a male vocalist (there were a few over the years) and dubbed themselves Odyssey. They signed with RCA and their 1977 debut single, “Native New Yorker,” was a moderate hit on the pop chart in the US.

If you’re an American, you’re likely to know “Native New Yorker” only if you were alive and listening to music in 1977. It’s even more likely if you lived in New York or went to discotheques at the time. Today, it’s basically a somewhat obscure disco R&B artifact and would turn out to be Odyssey’s lone hit in this country.

HOWEVER…

If you’re from the UK, this all becomes a very different story. “Native New Yorker” was the first of five Top 5 UK hits (plus one at #6) between 1977 and 1982, including the 1980 single “Use It Up And Wear It Out,” which reached #1.

Both singles were co-written by Sandy Linzer, who made his name collaborating on a number of hits for The Four Seasons back in the 60s. His pen partner for “Use It Up And Wear It Out” was L. Russell Brown, who also worked with him on hits by The Four Seasons, as well as writing “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” for Tony Orlando and Dawn.

“Use It Up And Wear It Out” originally began as a B-side, but when DJs in UK clubs began to flip the record and ignore the A-side, RCA reissued the single and it topped the UK charts in the summer of 1980. In the US, the single didn’t even reach the lowest rungs of the Hot 100.

Is Odyssey still remembered in the UK? Do their songs show up in commercials, in pubs, in elevators? If not, someone needs to boogie on down and pick up the torch.