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Ohio Players
The Ohio Players were among the top funk bands of the mid-'70s. Emerging from Dayton, Ohio in 1959, the group was originally dubbed the Ohio Untouchables, and initially comprised singer/guitarist Robert Ward, bassist Marshall "Rock" Jones, saxophonist/guitarist Clarence "Satch" Satchell, drummer Cornelius Johnson, and trumpeter/trombonist Ralph "Pee Wee" Middlebrooks. In late 1961, a relative of Ward's founded the Detroit, Michigan-based Lupine Records, and the group traveled north to the Motor City to back the Falcons on their hit "I Found a Love"; the Ohio Untouchables soon made their headlining debut with "Love Is Amazing," but when Ward subsequently exited for a solo career, the group essentially disbanded. At that point, the nucleus of Middlebrooks, Jones, and newly added guitarist Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner returned to Dayton; there they recruited saxophonist Andrew Noland and drummer Gary Webster, the latter a somewhat elusive figure whose true involvement in the group's history has never been definitively answered — some sources credit him as a founding Untouchable, others even as the band's early leader. In any case, by 1967, with the subsequent addition of singers Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson, the newly rechristened Ohio Players were signed as the house band for the New York City-based Compass Records, backing singer Helena Ferguson on her lone hit, "Where Is the Party," before issuing their solo debut, "Trespassin'," which hit the R&B charts in early 1968.
Oliver Cheatham
Oliver Cheatham (born 1948, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.) is an American singer. He now resides in Surrey in England. Cheatham had a few hits in the 1980s, and he returned to the charts in 2003, when he was featured in Room 5's UK #1 single, "Make Luv", which sampled his 1983 song "Get Down Saturday Night". Elements of the same song were also used in Michael Gray's 2005 hit, "The Weekend". Cheatham's other U.S. charting singles included the Top 40 U.S. R&B hit "S.O.S," "Celebrate Our Love," and two duets with Jocelyn Brown: "Turn Out the Lights" and "Mindbuster." Other Cheatham singles were "Mama Said," "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," "Things to Make U Happy," and "Wish on a Star."