In August 2013, the Ohio Players were inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame at the Waetjen Auditorium of Cleveland State University as part of the inaugural class.
In 1979, three members of the group went on to form Shadow , which released three albums. A reconfigured Ohio Players recorded through the 1980s, enjoying a minor hit single with “Sweat” (1988). They also released three albums in that decade, Tenderness , Ouch! and Graduation . Another collection, Orgasm…
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The band’s first big hit single was ” Funky Worm “, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and peaked at No. 15 on the Hot 100 in May 1973. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. The band signed…
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The band had seven top 40 hits between 1973 and 1976. These included ” Fire ” (No. 1 on both the R&B and pop chart for two weeks and one week respectively in February 1975 and another million seller) and ” Love Rollercoaster ” (No. 1 on both the R&B…
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The group disbanded again in 1970. After again re-forming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce and vocalist/ keyboardist Walter “Junie” Morrison , the Players had a minor hit on the Detroit-based Westbound label with “Pain” ( 1971…
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By 1967, the group had renamed themselves the Ohio Players, reflecting its members’ self-perceptions as musicians and as ladies’ men.
The group added two more singers, Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson and became the house band for the New York -based Compass Records . In 1967 they also added vocalist Helena Ferguson Kilpatrick.
Ward proved to be an unreliable leader, who would sometimes walk off the stage during gigs, forcing the group to stop playing. Eventually, the group vowed to keep playing even after he left. Ward and Jones got into a fistfight in 1964, after which the group broke up.
The members first came together in Dayton, Ohio , United States, 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). They were best known at the time as a…
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