Ohio Players

The Ohio Players were an American R & B, soul and funk band from Dayton, Ohio. Their most successful hits were Fire and Love Rollercoaster.

History

The band was formed in 1959 as the Ohio Untouchables by Robert Ward (vocals, guitar), Marshal Jones ( bass), Clarence Satchell (saxophone, guitar), Cornelius Johnson ( drums), and Ralph Middlebrooks (trumpet, trombone) in Dayton, Ohio founded. At first they were known as backing the Detroit group The Falcons. 1963 left frontman Robert Ward for a solo career, the band, the other four members were in the group. In the same year Gregory Webster (drums) and Leroy Bonner Foot (guitar) joined the Group, to Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson (both vocals).

In 1970 the group split up again. But a short time later founded Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones and Webster, the Ohio Players with Bruce Napier (trumpet ), Charles Dale Allen ( vocals), Marvin Pierce ( trumpet ) and Billy Beck (keyboard) again. A year later, she landed her second studio album Pain again a success in the USA.

1973 landed the group with Funky Worm her first big hit song; the song made ​​it to number 1 on the Billboard R & B charts. He even received a gold record by the RIAA. In addition, in the same year were replaced by Billy Beck Walter Morrison and Gregory Webster by James Williams. Later came more Clarence Willis (guitar, vocals ) and Robert Jones (percussion) to do so.

Between 1973 and 1976, the Ohio Players 7 Top 40 hits in the U.S., among others, Fire and Love Rollercoaster had.

In 1976, the Group Who'd She Coo with? their last success Shit and thus their only success in England.

On December 30, 1995 Clarence Satchell died at 55 years of a brain aneurysm in November 1997, Ralph Middlebrooks 58- year and 25 December 2008 Robert Ward 70 years old.