Their song "Runnin' from the Devil" inspired the Van Halen song "Runnin' With the Devil".
The group disbanded again in 1970. After again reforming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison, the Players had a minor hit on the Detroit-based Westbound label in 1971 with "Pain" which reached the Billboard R&B Top 40. Detroit vocalist Dale Allen shared co-lead vocals on some of the early Westbound material, although not credited on the albums "Pain" and "Pleasure".
The band’s first big hit was "Funky Worm", which hit #1 on the Billboard R&B Charts and made the pop Top 15 in May 1973. The band signed with Mercury Records in 1974. By this time, their lineup had changed again, with keyboardist Billy Beck instead of Morrison and Jimmy "Diamond" Williams on drums instead of Webster. On later album releases, they added second guitarist/vocalist Clarence 'Chet' Willis and conga player Robert "Rumba" Jones to the lineup. Bonner sang lead vocals on most of the band's hits.
The band had seven Top 40 hits between 1973 and 1976, including "Fire" (#1 on both the R&B and pop charts for two weeks and one week respectively in February 1975) and "Love Rollercoaster" (#1 on both the R&B and pop charts for 1 week in January 1976). The group's last big hit was "Who'd She Coo" a #1 R&B hit in August 1976.
The band became widely known not only for their sound, which has been sampled and copied by countless R&B and hip-hop artists since, but for their sexually provocative album covers, including the cover of 1974's Ecstasy, which featured a man and a woman in a pose of arousal wearing chains and leather, and 1975's Honey, which featured a nude woman holding an overflowing jar of honey and dropping some into her mouth with a ladle.
There is an urban legend that has it that a scream on "Love Rollercoaster" that came during the break after the second verse was the sound of someone being murdered in the studio while the track was being recorded. It is widely believed to be the scream of a female model (the nude woman Ester Cordet featured on the image for the Honey album) after being stabbed with a knife by the band's manager. She was complaining that the honey and fibre glass she was sitting on reacted when mixed causing permanent damage to her legs during the image photography, ending her modelling career. She then approached the manager seeking compensation during the recording of "Love Rollercoaster" only to be stabbed and attacked.
The Ohio Players then left the scream in as a sick tribute.[1] The band did not discredit this rumor at the time, because, as one band member put it later, "that makes you sell more records." This is just an urban legend however, as are any other disturbing explanations, including a person murdered outside the recording studio (although recording studios are soundproof and the scream would not have been heard), a band member murdering his girlfriend or a cleaning woman in the recording studio, or a real scream taken from a 911 call or a Psychiatric ward.
Clarence Satchell died in January 1996 after he had a brain aneurysm. Ralph Middlebrooks died in November 1997.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers were one of the bands heavily influenced by the Ohio Players, covering "Love Rollercoaster" for the film Beavis and Butt-head Do America. In the UK, there was a chain of music and DVD stores named after one of their hit songs, "Fopp". "Fopp" was also covered by Soundgarden for an EP called Fopp.
Never Had a Dream
Ohio Players Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Chasing everything that's new
I've forgotten how I got here
I have not forgotten you
We were just children but our eyes opened and
You were all that i could see
You came close enough to know my heart beat but
Still not close enough for me
Through the good times and the bad
You were the best I never had
The only chance I wish I had to take
But there was no writing on the wall
No warning signs to follow
I know now and I just can't forget
You're the best I never had
Nanana
Mmmm
In this motel
Well passed midnight
When I'm bluer than a bruise
You come drifting in through the half light
In your funny yellow shoes
And I hope that's you standing at my doorway
That's the scratching of your key
And I hope this song I'm singing
Someday finds you
My letter to Elise
Through the good times and the bad
You were the best I never had
The only chance I wish I had to take
But there was no writing on the wall
No warning signs to follow
I know now and I just cant forget
You're the best I never had
Nana nanana
Best I never had
Nana Nanana mmm
Best I never had
Nana Nanana
Source: click here
The Ohio Players' "Never Had a Dream" is a poignant meditation on the missed opportunities of love, and the lingering pain that can come with them. The lyrics speak to a sense of regret and longing for a past love, someone who was never fully appreciated or reciprocated, and who now haunts the singer's memories in moments of isolation and despair. The song begins with the singer lamenting his long absence from the person he once cared for deeply, underscored by a sense of lost time and missed opportunities. As the lyrics progress, we see a portrait of a relationship that was never quite fully realized, but which still holds an inexplicable power over the singer.
The chorus of the song beautifully captures the sense of missed opportunity that defines the song's central theme. The singer sings of his former lover as "the best I never had," a phrase that poignantly encapsulates the sense of attachment that lingers long after the relationship has ended. Despite the pain and heartache that come with this type of unrequited love, the singer is ultimately unable to forget or move on from the person who has captured his heart, even as he knows that he can never truly be with them again.
The final verse of the song introduces a new character, someone who the singer hopes might be his former lover returning to him at long last. This character is described with great detail, from their funny yellow shoes to the haunting sound of their key in the door. The sense of anticipation and hope that the singer feels in this moment is palpable, even as he knows deep down that he is likely to be disappointed once again.
In summary, "Never Had a Dream" is a beautifully crafted song that speaks to the painful longing and regret that can come with the loss of a love we were never able to fully realize. The singer's wistful vocals and the song's gentle, melancholic melody combine to create a haunting portrait of a love that was always just out of reach.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been gone for so long now
It has been a long time since I left
Chasing everything that's new
I have been pursuing novelty
I've forgotten how I got here
I cannot remember my reason for coming
I have not forgotten you
But I have not forgotten about you
We were just children but our eyes opened and
We were young, yet we were perceptive
You were all that i could see
I was infatuated with you
You came close enough to know my heart beat but
Our proximity allowed you to perceive my feelings
Still not close enough for me
But I wanted more
Through the good times and the bad
Despite the ups and downs
You were the best I never had
You were the greatest opportunity I missed
The only chance I wish I had to take
The sole opportunity that I regret not pursuing
But there was no writing on the wall
I had no indication of what the outcome could be
No warning signs to follow
There were no hints for me to follow
I know now and I just can't forget
Now I am aware, but I cannot forget
You're the best I never had
You were the one that got away
In this motel
I am currently in a motel room
Well passed midnight
It is late at night
When I'm bluer than a bruise
When I am feeling incredibly sad
You come drifting in through the half light
You appear mysteriously in the dim light
In your funny yellow shoes
Wearing your distinctive, odd yellow footwear
And I hope that's you standing at my doorway
I hope that it is you outside my door
That's the scratching of your key
The sound I hear is the anticipated jangling of your keys
And I hope this song I'm singing
I am hoping this song
Someday finds you
Will eventually reach you
My letter to Elise
This song serves as an analogy to a letter directed at Elise
Nana nanana
Vocalization of melody/chords
Best I never had
Reinforcing the opportunity missed
Nana Nanana mmm
Vocalization of melody/chords
Writer(s): Marshall Jones, Andrew Noland, Marvin Pierce, Gregory Allen Webster, le Roy Bonner, Ralph Middlebrooks, Norman Napier, Walter Morrison
Contributed by Juliana W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Lppolymath90
Man, I'm always puzzled as to why Walter "Junie" Morrison didn't have a bigger career in the music biz- his keyboard work had a beautifully abstract, almost discordant quality to it. The Pain Lp is in my Top 5 R&B albums of all time!!!
Geoffrey White
Junie Morrison went on to perform with Parliament/ Funkadelic.
ua
such a sad but beautiful song
Hal Early
It bespeaks the depths of a soul's anguish . . . pass me a tissue!!!!
Oh Jay
Love this song..
Amanda Alfrey
Coolest Album cover I've come across yet, lol. Love the song!
earthwormtom93
so far this has gotta be my fave by these chaps :)
jeerry napier
bruce napier is still around he played trumpet on all back ground awesome
Annette Solorzano
Miss you sugarfoot,sugarcoat, struggle so young ,but you made it, saw you perform like 31 yrs.ago, excellent performance
jengasias
that break tho...