Ocean (band)

The group disbanded in 1975. Ralph Middlebrooks died in November 1997. They are best known for their million-selling 1971 single Put Your Hand in the Hand, penned by Gene McLellan. Clarence Satchell died in January 1996 after he had a brain aneurysm. Ocean was a gospel rock band formed in 1970 in London, Ontario. [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.". Put Your Hand in the Hand LP: Billboard Pop Albums, #60 (1971). 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.

Put Your Hand in the Hand single: Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles, #4 (1971). 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. I've Got A Dream. The group's last big hit was "Who'd See Coo," a #1 R&B hit in August 1976. One More Chance (1972). 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). Put Your Hand in the Hand (1971). 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.

UBK-4052, 2000. Bonner sang lead vocals on most of the band's hits. CD rerelease on Unidisc Music Inc. 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. Kama Sutra Records 2064, 1972. 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. Give Tomorrow's Children One More Chance