Scribbler's Rave & Favorite Five: R&B Bands, #4 Ohio Players

When I think of a band that epitomizes funk, you'd be hard pressed to sell me on many other bands than the Ohio Players.  Probably like most people from the tail end of the Generation X spectrum, my first introduction to the Dayton, Ohio band was "Fire" and, even as a young boy, I realized quickly that the song lived up to its namesake.  However, like everyone else in my "Rave & Favorite Five", I began digging deeper into their catalog, hearing more of their songs and falling more in love with their sound with each new discovery.  Not to mention that as a teenager with a growing penchant for crate digging as well as an eye for anything and everything aesthetically pleasing (or what can also be seen as "raging hormones"), I was convinced that no one was touching their album covers...well, at least "touching" in the sense of being as dope.  Ultimately, although they jammed on their most popular uptempo songs like "Skin Tight" and "Rollercoaster", I gravitated more towards their ballads as you will see in the revelation of my top five favorite songs by the Ohio Players.  Let's roll...

#5 "FIRE" (Fire, Mercury, 1974).  Judging from some of my recent posts, maybe it's not as rare as I thought when a song as widely known as this smash is among my favorites for any artist.  However, after the sirens sound and the beat drops, the song smacks you in the face right away with those blaring horns, the band singing "hey, now, huh-huh" and then that signature groove once they start singing "fiiiiii-yuhhhh" that totally drives this song into instant classic status.  Not to mention that this is one of the many songs where the late, great Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner controlled the flow with his unmistakable voice that largely came about out of necessity rather than actual talent--at least that's more or less how he perceived his voice.  Whenever I think of someone laying the mack down to a "fine young hammer" in the 70s--got that term from one of my father's neighbors back in like '96 and it still tickles me to this day--this is one of the first songs that comes to mind.  I mean, come on...how can you not love lyrics like "when you're hot, you're hot, you really shoot your shot"?!?!  "Shoot your shot" though...that's pimpin' since been pimpin' since been pimpin'.  (Need to bring that saying back along with "fine young hammer".)  Interesting note: they let Stevie Wonder hear a basic version of the song in California and he predicted that it would be a hit.  Whelp, after topping both the Hot 100 and the R&B charts, even a blind man could see that one coming a mile away...

#4 "HEAVEN MUST BE LIKE THIS" (Skin Tight, Mercury, 1974).  Here's another secret about me: when I hear music being played in certain keys and chords, it automatically puts me in a certain state of mind.  Some songs make me think of taking a long, brisk walk on a bright, sunny Saturday afternoon in the spring, while other songs make me imagine being on the Pacific Coast in Southern California during a picturesque summertime sunset.  Given the pace, the silky smooth vocal tonality, the chord progressions and the plushness of the opening strings, everything about this song is a high.  I really do feel like I'm laying on the puffiest nimbus cloud in the sky with my favorite girl in the whole wide world whenever I hear this song.  My favorite lines have always been, "The sweet and sour taste of love we just made, a good place in the shade."  That's about as cool as it gets and performed by some of the coolest dudes to ever make music.  Truth be told, I feel some kind of way about having this song as low as it is, but we have to make room for... 

#3 "HONEY" (Honey, Mercury, 1975).  So let's talk about this album cover for a second.  Whenever I think about Ohio Players album covers, this is the one.  I mean, it's a chick with a jar of honey...and honey dripping off of a spoon and into her mouth...and more honey dripping off of her fingers.   Yeah...I'm sure that Disney wasn't calling on this woman to make cameo appearances in The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  Then the brightness of the honey jar makes every bit of natural sweetness in this picture even more tantalizing.  Moreover, between a recent picture I've seen with an artfully naked woman with an afro drenched in honey and local producer Soulful's album cover for his album, Mumbo Sauce & Drumbreaks, the Honey album cover might have a cult following all on its own.  As for the actual subject of this part of the post, this is yet another example of how the Ohio Players perfectly fuse their melodies with the lyrical concept behind the song; in this case, the brightness of the melody pairs well with the sweet sentiment.  Also, as much as I've always loved this song, I never paid attention to just how dope the words are--that and I honestly couldn't audibly understand some of the words.  Although the lines "I love you because you're honey/Would you love me if I had no money" always jumped out to me, the first two lines in the first verse are grippingly delectable: "Mother nature must have made you/You've got a smile on the rising sun."  That's some kind of woman right there--the kind you bottle up to keep to yourself because she's that good, and those are the kinds of songs folks used to write back in the day.  Again, straight mackin'...

#2 "SWEET STICKY THING" (Honey, Mercury, 1975).  As the stickiness continues, this is one of the Ohio Players' best musical masterpieces in their catalog.  Between Sugarfoot and Marshall Jones respectively driving the groove on guitar and bass, James Williams killing it on the drums in the breakdowns, Clarence Satchell absolutely owning it on the sax, it's absolutely difficult to conceive anything else in their catalog outdoing this.  Off the music alone, this should be my favorite Ohio Players song.  This is also another song to which I didn't originally pay as much attention lyrically and in doing so now, I realize that it's a "sucker for love" anthem on the sneak.  Like seriously, Too Short's world-famous "you can't turn a ho into a housewife" knowledge drop on The Notorious B.I.G.'s "The World Is Filled" was necessary 22 years prior when you hear the fellas sing, "Your beehive is full of bees/I wish you had a place for me/I'm really trying hard to change you sweet sticky thing."  The irony is that she apparently wouldn't just "stick" with or to him, which means that ol' girl probably had a little more sourness in her sauce packet.  I'm just sayin'.  Anyway, now that I've gushed enough over the greatness that is "Sweet Sticky Thing", let's get to the moment for which all ten of you have been waiting...

#1 "I WANT TO BE FREE" (Fire, Mercury, 1974).  Three words: James "Diamond" Williams.  Four more words: give the drummer some.  Between his work on tracks like "Sweet Sticky Thing" and "Jive Turkey", he had already had a fan in me.  However, the first time I ever heard the former jazz drummer's opening drum line, I was dumbfounded because I had never heard such a beastly performance to open up an R&B/funk/soul ballad in my entire life.  In fact, before I heard the first couple of "shoop shoop's", I was like, "I thought the Quiet Storm only played slow jams?!?!"  Then Sugarfoot comes in and vocally does his distinctively funky 1-2 per the usual, while the rest of the Players sweetly croon behind him in that influential way that probably inspired Andre 3000.  (I've never heard him actually say it, but I swear that dude listened to a lot of Ohio Players and Cameo growing up; it's all up and through his singing style.)  If the musicianship and artistry isn't enough, then "I Want to Be Free" also has the ever-important relatable factor lyrically as Bonner sings these cuff-breaking lines that many of us know all too well: "You don't know how it makes me feel, child/To be able to walk away from your smile/And I'm gonna be alright after awhile/I think the Lord done gave me a strength now."  Sugarfoot admittedly may not have been an initial fan of his own voice, but songs like these are why the Ohio Players' fan base is so strong.  He just gets the job done and makes it convincing because you really believe that he's going to walk away from this woman...for now.

Whelp, three down, two to go.  Come back next week and see who takes the No. 3 spot on my list of favorite R&B bands.  In the meantime, please feel free to comment with your favorite Ohio Players songs!