Ohio Players in Ecstasy

Ohio Players: "Ecstasy" and "(I Wanna Know) Do You Feel It"
From: Ecstasy (Westbound, 1973)

It always seems strange to me how little coverage there is of The Ohio Players in blogland so consider this my first step in changing that for the better. What originally caught my eye with these funk fiends was their brilliantly over the top album covers for their westbound recordings, a mixture of overt sexuality and bizarre s&m featuring a rather scary bald woman. It's really worth a post of it's own but you can find a selection of their fold out covers here.

Formed at the very end of the 50's as the Ohio Untouchables before reforming as the Ohio Players in 1968, the group really hit form at the start of the seventies releasing at least one album a year throughout the decade and maintaining an amazingly high standard throughout. If you see any of their seventies albums in the shops pick them up as they're pretty much a guarantee of quality.

Anyway, onto today's music, two songs from the band's 1973 album Ecstasy. The first of their albums I was introduced to, it still holds a fond place in my heart being of consistently excellent quality throughout (excluding the rather limp Silly Billy).

The first song is the title track itself, a wickedly funky little number. From the moment the bass riff starts proceedings it's a tune that dares you to attempt not to nod your head along to it. I love the raw passion of the vocals and the piano that tinkles over the top of the groove. Great backing vocals as well on this one. Having done a quick check this song appears to be pretty much free from sampling which astonishes me as it's bassline alone is crying out for use in some g-funk production.

The second track, (I Wanna Know) Do You Feel It, starts as a more downtempo number, a slow groove for gettin' it on if you like. Lovely vocal harmonies again and my old friend the hammond organ is used to excellent effect in the breakdown three minutes in. The change of tempo to upbeat gets me everytime as the players lay down the funk for the last minute and a half of the track.

Well there you have it, if you like what you hear let me know and I'll continue my campaign to get The Ohio Players music back on more people's playlists...........