Ohio Players

Ralph Middlebrooks died in November 1997. As of 2004, founding group member June Pointer had been removed from the group due to reported drug problems; she was "replaced" with Ruth's daughter, Issa, and the group continues to perform. Clarence Satchell died in January 1996 after he had a brain aneurysm. They were also one of the featured acts at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. [1] (http://snopes.com/music/hidden/roller.htm) The band did not discredit this rumor at the time, because, as one band member put it later, "that makes you sell more records.". In 1994 they were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and began touring with a production of Fats Waller's Ain't Misbehaving. There is also an urban legend that has it that a scream on "Love Rollercoaster" that came before the second verse was the sound of someone being killed in the studio while the track was being recorded. They entertained US troops in the Persian Gulf in 1991 with Bob Hope.

The band became widely known not only for their sound, which has been sampled and copied by countless R&B and hip-hop artists since, but for their sexually provocative album covers, including the cover of 1974's Ecstasy, which featured a man and a woman in a pose of arousal wearing chains and leather, and 1975's Honey, which featured a nude woman holding an overflowing jar of honey and dropping some into her mouth with a ladle. In recent years years they have maintained a lower public profile but have continued to perform. The group's last big hit was "Who'd See Coo," a #1 R&B hit in August 1976. The sisters left Planet Records to record for Motown and released several group albums and individual solo albums, but these projects did not achieve the level of success they had earlier attained. The band had seven more Top 40 hits between 1973 and 1976, including the smashes "Fire" (#1 on both the R&B and pop charts for two weeks and one week respectively in February 1975) and "Love Rollercoaster" (#1 on both the R&B and pop charts for 1 week in January 1976). These singles marked the end of their run of US Top 10 hits, with their subsequent releases "Dare Me" in 1985, and "Goldmine" in 1986, reaching numbers 11 and 33 respectively. The band’s first big hit was “Funky Worm,” which hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts and made the pop Top 15 in May 1973. These songs also marked their only appearances in the UK Top 10, with "Automatic" peaking at number two.

Bonner sang lead vocals on most of the band's hits. They received Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Jump (For My Love)", and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for "Automatic". The band signed with Mercury Records in 1974; by this time their lineup had changed again, with keyboardist Billy Beck instead of Morrison and Jimmy "Diamond" Williams on drums instead of Webster. "Automatic" reached number 5, "Jump (For My Love)" reached number 4, a rerelease of "I'm So Excited" reached number 10, and their single from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack "Neutron Dance" reached number 6. After again reforming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison, the Players had a minor hit on the Detroit-based Westbound label in 1971 with "Pain," which reached the Billboard R&B Top 40. In 1984 they achieved four top ten singles in a row. The group disbanded again in 1970. With the advent of MTV the sisters were able to exploit their visual style and extend their audience.

They then became famous and got better than any group alive. All were significant hits. The group added two more singers, Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson, and became the house band for New York City-based Compass Records in 1967. "American Music" and "Should I Do It" were 1950s pop, while "I'm So Excited" was a frenetic contemporary dance track. The Ohio Untouchables broke up in 1963, with Ward leaving for a solo career, but the core members of the group returned to Dayton and added Gary Webster (drums) and Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (guitar) in 1964. In 1980 the medium tempo dance single, "He's So Shy", reached number three on the charts, and the following year a slow, sultry, country and western flavoured song "Slow Hand" reached number two. They formed in Dayton, Ohio in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables, and initially included members Robert Ward (vocals/guitar), Marshall "Rock" Jones (bass), Clarence "Satch" Satchell (saxophone/guitar), Cornelius Johnson (drums), and Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet/trombone). Over the next few years they achieved their greatest commercial success and continued to demonstrate their versatility.

The Ohio Players are a funk band whose heyday was in the mid- to late 1970s. In 1979 they released an album of cover versions titled "Priority" and while it was not a commercial success, it received positive critical reviews. The first single, a cover version of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" climbed to number 2 on the US singles charts, and an upbeat dance song, "Happiness", also charted well. They signed with Planet Records, and with producer Richard Perry began working on an album of contemporary music which was released in 1978 with the title "Energy". Unsure of what style to follow, they unanimously agreed to dispense with the 1940s nostalgia that had become their image.

As they did so, they began talking about the future of the group and what direction it should take. Now a trio, the remaining sisters could not contemplate the group continuing in its current style without her so they cut back their schedules and concentrated on raising their families. In 1977 Bonnie left the group to sign a contract with Motown Records, and this led to a shortlived successful solo career. They scored a few R & B hits from the same album, and in 1976 appeared in the film Car Wash.

In 1975 the group won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Fairytale", and Anita and Bonnie were nominated as songwriters for Song of the Year. Based on this success the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee where they achieved the distinction of becoming the first black female singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. The song "Fairytale" written by Anita and Bonnie was Country and Western, and while it reached number 13 on the pop charts, it became a major hit on the country charts. It continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest.

The following year they released their second album titled "That's A Plenty". A second single also charted well, and the group's thrift shop style began to catch on with fans, many of whom would attend their shows in similar attire. The first single from it, "Yes We Can-Can", reached number 11 on the pop charts. Their self titled first album, was released in 1973 and received positive reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality.

Shortly after they made their television debut on "The Helen Reddy Show". They made their debut performance at the Troubador nightclub in Los Angeles in May 1973 and the reaction from the crowd was enthusiastic. In searching for a visual style they remembered the poverty of their childhood and their mother's ability to improvise, and used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from various thrift shops, that would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for. They agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music, but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz, scat and be-bop music.

Before they began to record their first album, the trio had become a quartet. The resulting single failed to win an audience but the sisters were enjoying themselves, and the temptation to join them finally overwhelmed Ruth. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for such artists as Grace Slick, Boz Scaggs and Elvin Bishop, and it was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance that the sisters were signed to a recording deal. Shortly after this, Anita quit her job to join the group.

After leaving school it was Bonnie who sought a show business career, and she convinced June to join her to form a duo, "The Pointers - A Pair". When June brought home a copy of the Elvis Presley record All Shook Up, she was surprised that her mother allowed her to play it, until she discovered that her mother had been pacified by the "B" side of record, "Crying In The Chapel". They regularly sang at the church but as they grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow. As children the girls were encouraged to sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton and Mrs Sarah Pointer, but in their household they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles of music.

They achieved their greatest success as a trio after Bonnie left the group to commence a solo career. The group originally comprised four sisters: Ruth (born March 19, 1946), Anita (born January 23, 1948), Bonnie (born July 11, 1951) and June, (born November 30, 1954). The Pointer Sisters was an American vocal group and recording act that achieved great success during the 1970s and 1980s.