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. 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. Bonner sang lead vocals on most of the band's hits.
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 song was included on the soundtrack of the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (playing on fictional Funk radio station Bounce FM, which also featured the Ohio Players song "Love Rollercoaster"). The band had seven more Top 40 hits between 1973 and 1976, including the smashes "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 also 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 believed to be the scream of a female model (the nude woman 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 sat 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." The real source of the scream -- and the origins of the rumor -- were explained by Ohio Player Jimmy "Diamond" Williams: "There is a part in the song where there's a breakdown. It's guitars and it's right before the second verse and Billy Beck does one of those inhaling-type screeches like Minnie Ripperton did to reach her high note or Mariah Carey does to go octaves above. The DJ made this crack and it swept the country. People were asking us, 'Did you kill this chick in the studio?' The band took a vow of silence because that makes you sell more records."
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 is 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.
Skin Tight
The Ohio Players Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You are a bad bad Mrs.
In them skin tight britches
Runnin' folks in ditches
Baby about to bust the stitches, yeah
Skin tight, skin tight
Hold tight
You are a real fine lady
Though your walks a little shady
Step on the strip on time
There's money you're bound to find, yeah
Skin tight, skin tight
Skin tight, skin tight
Skin tight, skin tight
Hold tight
Gone, gone, gone with your bad self
Walk that walk, talk that talk mama
Skin tight
Hold me barely back girl
Keep on steppin' to me baby
The Ohio Players’ “Skin Tight” is a funk and R&B song about a sexy and confident woman who is dressed in skin-tight pants, strutting her stuff down the street. She’s so striking and alluring that she stops people in their tracks and turns heads wherever she goes. The lyrics describe her as a “bad, bad Mrs” who makes men crash their cars and run into ditches just from looking at her. Her pants are so tight that they look like they’re about to burst, emphasizing her curvaceous figure and further adding to her sensuality.
In the next verse, the Ohio Players sing about how the woman’s walk is “a little shady,” implying she may be a bit of a troublemaker, but she’s still a “real fine lady.” The song also mentions how she walks on the strip and is bound to make money from her looks alone, further emphasizing the attention and admiration she receives from others. The chorus repeats the title phrase “skin tight” four times, emphasizing the tight-fitting pants that the woman is wearing and how they perfectly hug her every curve.
Overall, “Skin Tight” is a song about a woman owning her beauty and sexuality, and the power that comes with it. The Ohio Players use a combination of funk and R&B to create a seductive and groovy track that has become a classic in the genre.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah, yeah
An expression of agreement or acknowledgment of what has been said or done.
You are a bad bad Mrs.
You are a very attractive and confident woman.
In them skin tight britches
You are wearing tight-fitting pants that enhance your beauty.
Runnin' folks in ditches
You are so gorgeous that people are falling for you and going crazy.
Baby about to bust the stitches, yeah
Your pants are so tight that they are about to rip apart because of your stunning curves.
Skin tight, skin tight
Your pants are tightly fitted to your skin and are enhancing your beauty.
Hold tight
Hold on to your confidence and beauty.
You are a real fine lady
You are an incredibly beautiful woman.
Though your walks a little shady
Although your behavior may not be perfect, you are still admired for your beauty.
Step on the strip on time
Take the opportunity that comes your way and make the most of it.
There's money you're bound to find, yeah
You will be successful in your endeavors as your beauty will attract people who will benefit you financially.
Gone, gone, gone with your bad self
You are completely confident and comfortable with your personality and beauty.
Walk that walk, talk that talk mama
Walk and talk confidently, like the beautiful and powerful person you are.
Hold me barely back girl
You are so attractive that it's hard for people to resist you.
Keep on steppin' to me baby
Continue to approach me with confidence and beauty.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: CLARENCE SATCHELL, JAMES L. WILLIAMS, LEROY BONNER, MARSHALL JONES, MARVIN PIERCE, MARVIN R. PIERCE, RALPH MIDDLEBROOKS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@woodsoncircle
What made music great back then ... your hear HORNS, Chords, effective bass lines and REAL singers who could write and compose songs. In my opinion, the 70's was one of the greatest era's of funk. Ohio Players ... LEGENDS in the music game.
@lousantiago3334
Damn right!!
@DjangoThunders
And Rock too! All the music was better back then.
@hectorjordan3232
To start it was LIVE musicians. No studio programming which cuts the expense of the royalties costs.... Second the musicians were all top notch. Took pride in their instruments and not on IG photo pics. The recording, engineering, mixing, all top notch. The groove was insane. Something you don’t hear at all today...... What a shame that these kids now a days listen to crap like trap.....
@TheChrissy1977
Or what’s called a band. 😁
@tubucoco
I agree, but really the 60's started it all when these great bands starting coming out and the music grew into this great sound. It continued all the way through the 80's, the damn 90's is when it started to come to a halt with the gangsta rap crap, NWA and all. Smh These rap fools used to sample great music like this for their songs, and didn't even know where it come from. Lol I'll forever be a child of this sound! Party On!
@garyvaughan7748
Done all from scratch ,no beat machines ,just straight up ,from the core ingenuity on all levels known!
@marciacarter60
The baddest funk bass group of all times. This is a classic. The jawn is TIGHT. Go OHIO PlAYERS.😊😊😊
@bassplayer61
White and 57, and I still say this was some of the best damn music there has ever been. Love that bass line and those smokin' drums. Too bad this kind of music hasn't made a comeback.
@savannahnunley9273
Positive it will if the the early 2000 coming back im sure the 70s will