姓名： TheOhioPlayers 英文名：- 性别：- 国籍：- 出生地：- 语言：- 生日：- 星座：- 身高：- 体重：-
by Jason AnkenyWith their slinky, horn-powered grooves, impeccable musicianship, and eye-popping album covers, the Ohio Players were among the top funk bands of the mid-70s. Emerging from the musical hotbed of Dayton in 1959, the group was originally dubbed the Ohio Untouchables, and initially comprised singer/guitarist Robert Ward, bassist Marshall Rock Jones, saxophonist/guitarist Clarence Satch Satchell, drummer Cornelius Johnson, and trumpeter/trombonist Ralph Pee Wee Middlebrooks. In late 1961, a relative of Wards founded the Detroit-based Lupine Records, and the group traveled north to the Motor City to back the Falcons on their hit I Found a Love; the Ohio Untouchables soon made their headlining debut with Love Is Amazing, but when Ward subsequently exited for a solo career, the group essentially disbanded.At that point, the nucleus of Middlebrooks, Jones, and newly added guitarist Leroy Sugarfoot Bonner returned to Dayton; there they recruited saxophonist Andrew Noland and drummer Gary Webster, the latter a somewhat elusive figure whose true involvement in the groups convoluted history has never been definitively answered — some sources credit him as a founding Untouchable, others even as the bands early leader. In any case, by 1967, with the subsequent addition of singers Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson, the newly rechristened Ohio Players were signed as the house band for the New York-based Compass Records, backing singer Helena Ferguson on her lone hit, Where Is the Party, before issuing their solo debut, Trespassin, which hit the R&B charts in early 1968. Although the Players trademark bottom-heavy, horn-driven sound was already blossoming, their follow-up, Its a Cryin Shame, flopped, and as Compass teetered on the brink of bankruptcy they exited the label. (Their early Compass sides were later packaged as First Impressions.) The Players then landed on Capitol, where 1969s Here Today, Gone Tomorrow was a minor hit; an LP, Observations in Time, soon followed, with covers of Summertime and Over the Rainbow offering a strong hint of the stylistic detours to follow. In 1970 the group disbanded, however; Fears and Robinson both mounted solo careers, while the remaining members again decamped to Dayton, eventually re-forming with keyboardist Walter Junie Morrison, trumpeter Bruce Napier, and trombonist Marvin Pierce.Influenced by the groundbreaking funk of Sly & the Family Stone — and with the nasal, cartoon-voiced Bonner assuming vocal duties — the new Ohio Players lineup made their debut with the single Pain, issued on the small local label Rubber Town Sounds; it was soon picked up for distribution by the Detroit-based Westbound label, reaching the R&B Top 40 in late 1971. An LP, also titled Pain, appeared that same year, and was followed in 1972 by Pleasure, which launched the absurdist smash Funky Worm. Ecstacy appeared in 1973, and after 1974s Climax, the Players signed to Mercury; the label change also heralded yet more lineup changes, with keyboardist Billy Beck replacing Morrison (who later signed on with Parliament) and drummer Jimmy Diamond Williams taking over for Webster. At Mercury, the Ohio Players enjoyed their greatest success; not only did their sound coalesce, but they became notorious for their sexually provocative LP covers, a tradition begun during their Westbound tenure. Their 1974 Mercury debut, Skin Tight, was their first unequivocal classic, launching the hit title track as well as Jive Turkey. Its follow-up, Fire, remains the Players masterpiece, topping the pop charts on the strength of its bone-rattling title cut, itself a number one hit; I Want to Be Free, one of the bands few attempts at social commentary, was also highly successful. 1975s Honey — which featured perhaps the Players most controversial and erotic cover to date — was another monster, generating the chart-topping masterpiece Love Rollercoaster in addition to the hits Sweet Sticky Thing and Fopp.The insistent Whod She Coo? from 1976s Contradiction, was the Players last number one R&B hit; O-H-I-O, from 1977s Angel, was their last major hit on any chart, and as the 1970s drew to a close, the bands fortunes continued to decline. 1979s Jass-Ay-Lay-Dee was their final Mercury effort, and upon signing to Arista, the Players returned with Everybody Up, followed by a pair of dismal releases on Boardwalk, 1981s Tenderness and 1982s Ouch! After 1984s Graduation, four years passed prior to the release of their next effort, Back; no new material was forthcoming, although various lineups continued performing live well into the following decade. Founding member Satch Satchell died in late 1995, while Pee Wee Middlebrooks passed on in late 1996.
