Honey (Ohio Players album)

For the 1958 LP, see Honey (Sonny James album).
Honey
Studio album by Ohio Players
Released August 16, 1975
Recorded February–June, 1975 at Paragon Recording Studios
(Chicago, Illinois)
Genre Soul, Funk, R&B
Length 31:47
Label Mercury
Producer Ohio Players
Ohio Players chronology
Fire
(1974)		 Honey
(1975)		 Contradiction
(1976)
Singles from Honey
  1. "Sweet Sticky Thing"
    Released: August 9, 1975
  2. "Love Rollercoaster"
    Released: November 13, 1975
  3. "Fopp"
    Released: February, 1976
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert ChristgauB+[2]

Honey is the seventh studio album by American band the Ohio Players. Released on August 16, 1975, This album is the band's third release through the Mercury label. It is generally regarded as a classic, the band's best album, and the last great full-length release of their dominant era in the mid-1970s.

History

Like previous albums by the band, Honey is known for a cover photo that was very racy by the standards of the day, in this case depicting a nude woman holding a sticky jar of honey in one hand while lasciviously swallowing a spoonful of it with the other. The inside cover photo is even more famous. It shows the nude woman laying on her back with honey poured all over her body, and the Players looking at her with sheer delight and amazement. The model was Playboy magazine's October 1974 Playmate of the Month, Ester Cordet. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover Art. It was recorded and remixed at Paragon Recording Studios in Chicago, with Barry Mraz as their recording engineer. Marty Link, Steve Kusiciel, Rob Kingsland, and Paul Johnson are credited as tape operators. Gilbert Kong mastered the final mix at Masterdisk in New York City.

It is the fourth of five Ohio Players albums that were also available in quadraphonic (4-channel stereo), released in the 8-track tape format. The quad mix was available on 8-track tape in the U.S., and on vinyl in Japan. It was released digitally as a DTS Audio CD by DTS Entertainment in 2001. Honey peaked at #2 on the Billboard 200 during the week of September 27, 1975, kept out of the top spot by Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.[3] In addition, it was the third album from the band to top the Soul/Black Albums chart where it spent three weeks.

Urban legend

An urban legend surrounded the song "Love Rollercoaster," claiming that the girl on the album cover was stabbed in the studio—when she threatened to sue in connection with supposed skin damages caused by the fake honey used—and that her screams are heard on the song. However, the scream is actually that of keyboardist Billy Beck.[4]

Track listing

All tracks written by James Williams, Clarence Satchell, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, William Beck. 

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Honey"   4:15
2. "Fopp"   3:45
3. "Let's Love"   5:15
4. "Ain't Givin' Up No Ground"   1:45
Side two
No. Title Length
5. "Sweet Sticky Thing"   6:13
6. "Love Rollercoaster"   4:52
7. "Alone"   4:40

Personnel

Production

Cover versions

Charts

Chart (1975) Peak
[5]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs 2
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs 1
Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[5]		 US
R&B
[5]
1975 "Sweet Sticky Thing" 33 1
"Love Rollercoaster" 1 1
1976 "Fopp" 30 9

See also

References

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. Honey review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Honey review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. ↑ "Billboard 200: Week of September 27, 1975". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  4. ↑ "The Ohio Slayers". Snopes.com. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "US Charts > Ohio Players". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

External links

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