Honey

Performer: The Ohio Players
Engineer: Barry Mraz
Producer: Ohio Players
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion), Claren "Satch" Satchell (vocals, saxophone, flute), Ralph "Pee-Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet), Marvin Pierce (trumpet, trombone, percussion), Billy Beck (keyboards, vocals), Marshall Jones (bass), Jimmy "Diamond" Williams (vocals, drums, percussions). Recorded and mixed at Paragon Recording Studios, Chicago. This is a DTS CD, which features DTS 5.1 Surround Sound technology and is playable on a DTS-capable 5.1 Surround Sound system. Personnel: Leroy "Sugar" Bonner (vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion); Claren "Satch" Satchell (vocals, saxophone, flute); Jimmy "Diamond" Williams (vocals, drums, percussion); Marvin Pierce (trumpet, trombone, percussion); Ralph "Pee-Wee" Middlebrooks (trumpet); Billy Beck (keyboards); Marshall Jones (bass). Recorded at Paragon Recording Studios, Chicago, Illinois. The follow-up to FIRE, the band's breakthrough smash, HONEY continued the Ohio Players' golden streak by building on the elements that made FIRE such a hit: smooth soul balladry, churning funk, and plenty of freaky, outrageous attitude (due in large part to the cartoonish lead vocals of Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner). Slow songs and balladry seem to play a larger part here, as the lush leadoff title track and the carpe diem anthem "Let's Do It" indicate. "Alone" strikes an unusually somber note for the Players in its sincerity, a mood marked by the song's comparatively spare arrangements. But the Players thrive on pulse-quickening jams, too, and "Ain't Givin' Up No Ground," with its jittery pop-and-lock rhythms, and the stomping groove of "Fopp" rank with the band's best sweaty workouts. Of course, the irrepressible "Love Rollercoaster" may be HONEY's highlight. (Its instantly memorable three-chord riff and vocal hook have been sampled endlessly in the decades since.) Add to all this some rather explicit and provocative cover art (the photo, of a naked female model covered in honey, was the band's most controversial), and you've got another feisty, fun slab of classic funk.

One of the most important and successful funk bands of the '70s, the Ohio Players made effective use of aggressive horns and big, butt-shakin' bass lines. The group produced a wide variety of great, sex-savvy soul music, many of their biggest hits were sex-related novelties. Unfortunately, the Ohio Players are now remembered almost as much for their erotic cover art as for their music.

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