Ohio Players
| Company type | Musical group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Headquarters | Dayton , United States |
| Products | Funk music, albums, singles |
Ohio Players were a notable American funk ensemble that rose to prominence during the 1970s, widely recognized for tracks such as "Fire" and "Love Rollercoaster". They also gained attention for their daring album artwork, which frequently featured Playboy models. Their singles "Funky Worm", "Skin Tight", "Fire", and "Love Rollercoaster", alongside the albums Skin Tight, Fire, and Honey, all achieved Gold certification status.
On August 17, 2013, Ohio Players were honored as part of the first group inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame at Cleveland State University.
History
Originating in Dayton, Ohio, the band was initially formed in 1959 under the name Ohio Untouchables. The founding members comprised Robert Ward (vocals/guitar), Marshall "Rock" Jones (bass), Clarence "Satch" Satchell (saxophone/guitar), Cornelius Johnson (drums), and Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet/trombone). They began as the backing group for The Falcons, but internal conflicts, including Ward’s inconsistent behavior and a physical altercation with Jones, led to their split in 1964.
Following this, the remaining members returned to Dayton and recruited 21-year-old Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (guitar) as Ward’s replacement and new frontman, alongside drummer Greg Webster. Shifting towards an R&B sound with distinctive style to differentiate from Ward’s direction, they rebranded themselves as Ohio Players by 1967, a name reflecting their musical prowess and image.
The band expanded by adding vocalists Bobby Lee Fears, Dutch Robinson, and Helena Ferguson Kilpatrick, becoming the house band for New York’s Compass Records. After disbanding once more in 1970, they reassembled with Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist/vocalist Walter "Junie" Morrison. Their track "Pain" (1971) released on Detroit's Westbound label reached the Billboard R&B top 40. During this period, James Johnson joined as a vocalist and saxophonist. Their connection with George Clinton at Westbound Records helped establish their reputation for innovative album art featuring model Pat "Running Bear" Evans.
Their major breakthrough came with the single "Funky Worm", which topped Billboard’s R&B chart and reached No. 15 on the Hot 100 in May 1973. This track sold over one million copies and received a gold disc award. In 1974, after signing with Mercury Records, lineup changes included keyboardist Billy Beck replacing Morrison; Jimmy "Diamond" Williams taking over drums from Webster; followed by additions of guitarist/vocalist Clarence "Chet" Willis and conga player Robert "Kuumba" Jones. Morrison departed to join Funkadelic, contributing to their hit One Nation Under a Groove. As of 2017, Beck, Williams, Willis, and Jones continued to perform actively.
From 1973 to 1976, Ohio Players achieved seven top 40 hits including "Fire", which reached No. 1 on both R&B and pop charts, along with "Love Rollercoaster", another chart-topping gold-certified single. Saxophonist James Johnson was part of the group during this period. Their final significant hit was "Who'd She Coo?", which led the R&B charts in August 1976 and peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. The song "Ecstasy" from their album Ecstasy was later sampled by Jay-Z featuring The Notorious B.I.G. on "Brooklyn's Finest".
In 1979, three members branched off to create Shadow, producing three albums. Ohio Players persisted through the 1980s with modest success including the single "Sweat" released in 1988; they also issued albums such as Tenderness, Ouch!, Graduation, and subsequently Orgasm in 1993.
Their induction into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2013 solidified their influential role within funk music history.
Personnel
Core members
- Marshall "Rock" Jones – bass guitar (1959–1984)
- James "Diamond" Williams – drums, chimes, percussion, lead and backing vocals, timbales, congas (1972–1980; unspecified–2022)
- William "Billy" Beck – piano, organ, Rhodes piano, clavinet, ARP synthesizers, percussion, lead and backing vocals (1974–1988; unspecified–2022)
- Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner – guitar, percussion, lead and backing vocals (1964–1997)
- Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks – trumpet, trombone, backing vocals (1959–1984)
- Clarence "Satch" Satchell – saxophones, flute, percussion, lead and backing vocals (1959–1980)
- Marvin "Merv" Pierce – trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone, backing vocals (1972–1982)
Additional contributors
- Robert Ward – guitar (1959–1964)
- Cornelius Johnson – drums (1959–1964)
- Gregory "Greg" Webster – drums (1964–1972)
- Bobby Lee Fears – vocals (1964–1970)
- Dutch Robinson – vocals, keyboards (1964–1970)
- Helena Ferguson Kilpatrick – vocals (1967–unspecified)
- Charles Dale Allen – vocals (circa 1970–unspecified)
- Bruce Napier – trumpet (1972–1974)
- Walter "Junie" Morrison – keyboards, vocals (1970–1974)
- James Johnson – vocals, saxophone (circa 1971–unspecified)
- Clarence "Chet" Willis – guitars (1977–1980)
- Robert "Kuumba" Jones – congas (1977–2022)
- Wes Boatman – keyboards (1980–1981)
- Jimmy Sampson – drums (1981–1982)
- Dean Simms – trumpet (1980s)
- Ronnie "Diamond" Hoard - lead vocals and guitar on Graduation album
Timeline
<timeline> ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:120 bottom:80 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1959 till:01/01/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:4 start:1959 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1960
Colors =
id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:wind value:tan2 legend:Wind_instruments id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:album value:black legend:Studio_album
BarData=
bar:Bobby text:Bobby Lee Fears bar:Dutch text:Dutch Robinson bar:Charles text:Charles Dale Allen bar:James text:James Johnson bar:Peewee text:Pee Wee Middlebrooks bar:Satch text:Satch Satchell bar:Merv text:Merv Pierce bar:Bruce text:Bruce Napier bar:Robert text:Robert Ward bar:Sugarfoot text:Sugarfoot Bonner bar:Chet text:Chet Willis bar:Rock text:Rock Jones bar:Junie text:Junie Morrison bar:Billy text:Billy Beck bar:Cornelius text:Cornelius Johnson bar:Greg text:Greg Webster bar:Diamond text:Diamond Williams bar:Kuumba text:Kuumba Jones
PlotData =
width:11 bar:Rock from:01/01/1959 till:07/01/1984 color:bass bar:Peewee from:01/01/1959 till:07/01/1984 color:wind bar:Satch from:01/01/1959 till:01/01/1980 color:wind bar:Cornelius from:01/01/1959 till:06/01/1963 color:drums bar:Robert from:01/01/1959 till:06/01/1963 color:guitar bar:Sugarfoot from:06/01/1963 till:01/01/1997 color:guitar bar:Greg from:06/01/1963 till:01/01/1974 color:drums bar:Dutch from:06/01/1963 till:06/01/1970 color:vocals bar:Bobby from:06/01/1963 till:06/01/1970 color:vocals bar:Merv from:06/01/1970 till:06/01/1982 color:wind bar:Bruce from:06/01/1970 till:01/01/1974 color:wind bar:Junie from:06/01/1970 till:01/01/1974 color:keys bar:Chet from:01/03/1977 till:01/01/1980 color:guitar
width=7 bar:Dimaond from=01/01/1974 till=03/01//1977 color=perc
width=3 bar:Satch from=1959 till=1980 color=vocals bar:Sugarfoot from=1963 till=1997 color=vocals bar:Dutch from=1963 till=1970 color=keys bar:Dimaond from=1974 till=1980 color=vocals
</timeline>
Deaths
- Clarence Satchell passed away at 55 on December 30, 1995, due to a brain aneurysm.
- Ralph Middlebrooks succumbed to cancer on November 15, 1997.
- Vincent Thomas, also known as "Venny Wu," died from cancer in Lubbock, Texas, on February 16, 2008.
- Robert Ward died at home on December 25, 2008.
- Cornelius Johnson passed away on February 1, 2009.
- Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner died of cancer at age 69 on January 26, 2013.
- Marshall "Rock" Jones, the last surviving member of the Ohio Untouchables lineup, died of cancer in Houston, Texas, at age 75 on May 27, 2016.
- Walter "Junie" Morrison passed away at age 62 on January 21, 2017.
- Shaun Dedrick died following an illness in Dayton, Ohio, on May 2, 2018, aged 55.
- Gregory "Greg" Webster, the final surviving member of the original Ohio Players lineup, died at age 84 on January 14, 2022.
- Clarence "Chet" Willis passed away in March 2025 at the age of 74.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Highest chart positions | Certifications (sales milestones) |
Record label | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop | US R&B | CAN | ||||||||||||
| 1969 | Observations in Time | — | — | — | Capitol | |||||||||
| 1972 | Pain | 177 | 21 | — | Westbound | |||||||||
| Pleasure | 63 | 4 | — | |||||||||||
| 1973 | Ecstasy | 70 | 19 | — | ||||||||||
| 1974 | Skin Tight | 11 | 1 | 15 |
|
Mercury | ||||||||
| Fire | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| ||||||||||
| 1975 | Honey | 2 | 1 | 36 |
| |||||||||
| 1976 | Contradiction | 12 | 1 | 26 |
| |||||||||
| 1977 | Angel | 41 | 9 | 58 | ||||||||||
| Mr. Mean | 68 | 11 | 65 | |||||||||||
| 1978 | Jass-Ay-Lay-Dee | 69 | 15 | — | style="text-align:left;" | |||||||||
| 1979 | Everybody Up | 80 | 19 | — | style=text-align:left; | Arista | ||||||||
| 1981 | Tenderness | 165 | 49 | — | style=text-align:left; | Boardwalk | ||||||||
| Ouch! | 201 | 52 | — | style=text-align:left; | ||||||||||
| 1984 | Graduation | — | 78 | — | style=text-align:left; | Century Vista | ||||||||
| 1988 | Back | — | 55 | — | style=text-align:left; | Track Record | ||||||||
| "—" indicates albums that did not chart or were not released in that market. | ||||||||||||||
Live recordings
- Jam (1996, Mercury)
- Ol' School (1996, Essential Music)
- On Fire! (2023, Delta Music)
Compilation releases
| Year | Title | Highest chart rankings | Certifications (sales criteria) |
Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop | US R&B | CAN | ||||
| 1972 | First Impressions | — | — | — | Trip | |
| 1974 | The Ohio Players | — | 32 | — | Capitol | |
| Climax | 102 | 24 | — | Westbound | ||
| 1975 | Greatest Hits | 92 | 22 | — | ||
| Rattlesnake | 61 | 8 | — | |||
| 1976 | Gold | 31 | 10 | 28 |
|
Mercury |
| 1977 | The Best of the Early Years, Vol. 1 | — | 58 | — | Westbound | |
| 1991 | The Best of the Westbound Years | — | — | — | Westbound | |
| 1993 | Orgasm: The Very Best of the Westbound Years | — | — | — | Westbound | |
| 1995 | Funk on Fire: The Mercury Anthology | — | — | — | Mercury | |
| 1997 | The Best of Ohio Players | — | — | — | PolyGram | |
| 2000 | 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Ohio Players | — | — | — | Mercury | |
| 2008 | Gold [2-CD] | — | — | — | Island/Mercury | |
| 2014 | Icon | — | — | — | Mercury | |
Singles
See also
External links
- Ohio Players profile at Wenig-LaMonica Associates
- StarVista Live channel, August 29, 2020 – 2019 All Access Pass Interview featuring The Ohio Players (video)
| Year | Track | Top chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100 |
US R&B |
CAN RPM |
UK Singles Chart | |||
| 1967 | "A Thing Called Love" | — | — | — | — | 'First Impressions' |
| 1968 | "Trespassin'" | — | 50 | — | — | |
| "It's a Crying Shame" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1969 | "Bad Bargain" | — | — | — | — | 'Observations in Time' |
| "Find Someone to Love" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1971 | "Pain (Part 1)" | 64 | 35 | 91 | — | 'Pain' |
| rowspan=2 |1972 | "Pleasure" | — | 45 | — | — | rowspan=3|'Pleasure' |
style="text-align:left;"|"Varee Is Love"
— — — — - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - | ||||||
| rowspan=3 | ||||||
| 1973 | ||||||
| style=“font-weight:normal;” | ||||||
| style=“font-weight:normal;” | ||||||
| style=“font-weight:normal;” | ||||||
| style=“font-weight:normal;” | ||||||
| style=“font-weight:normal;” | ||||||
- Musical groups established in 1959
- Musical groups disestablished in 2022
- African-American musical groups
- American dance music groups
- Mercury Records artists
- Funk musical groups from Dayton, Ohio
- Progressive soul music groups
- American rhythm and blues musical groups
- Tangerine Records artists
- 1959 establishments in Ohio